{"id":14143,"date":"2019-11-21T20:09:52","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T20:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-culture\/chinese-opera-artists-zhong-guo-xi-qu-12-yueju-artist-yuan-xuefen\/"},"modified":"2019-11-21T20:09:52","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T20:09:52","slug":"chinese-opera-artists-zhong-guo-xi-qu-12-yueju-artist-yuan-xuefen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/fr\/chinese-opera-artists-zhong-guo-xi-qu-12-yueju-artist-yuan-xuefen\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Opera Artists \u4e2d\u56fd\u620f\u66f2 12 Yueju Artist Yuan Xuefen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chinese<\/p>\n

When talking about Yueju <\/em>(Shaoxing Opera), the famous actress Yuan Xuefen can not be forgotten. Yuan Xuefen (1922- ), the leading reformer in the 1940s, contributed a great deal to the development and enrichment of Yueju.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the early 20th century, a form of opera called Luodi Changshu Diao <\/em>was popular in the area of <\/span>Shengxian <\/span>County <\/span>in <\/span>Shaoxing<\/span>, <\/span>Zhejiang <\/span>Province. It was named "Yue Opera" because it has its origin in part of <\/span>Yue <\/span>State <\/span>in the Spring and Autumn Period dating back about 2,000 years ago. As the performers sang to the accompaniment of a rhythmic didu, didu <\/em>sound made by a drum and sandalwood clappers, they were also called "Didu <\/em>troupes". At that time, the most outstanding Didu <\/em>troupe in Shaoxing consisted of only male performers. In the late 1920s, with the emergence of a large number of female performers, a Didu <\/em>troupe with only female performers appeared; it was called the Women’s Refined Opera<\/em>. In the autumn of 1938, it formally adopted the name of Yueju.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 1950s, a reform of Yueju <\/em>started, under the influence of Yuan Xuefen. Maintaining its soft, sweet tunes and melodies, and gentle and refined style, Yueju <\/em>adopted artistic achievements from the modern drama, Kunqu <\/em>and Western music, in an attempt to create a new performing style. The women artists replaced the Mu Biao <\/em>system (Each drama used to have only an outline, rather than a script; actors performed as they wished, but within the outline.) with scripts. The operas now had definite directors. A special kind of ancient costume was created, modern stage settings and lights were introduced, and some western musical instruments were incorporated in the orchestra.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yuan Xuefen’s representative works are Sister-in-Law Xianglin<\/em>, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai<\/em>, and Wang Zhaojun<\/em>. In September 1944, the professional Xue Fen Yueju <\/em>Troupe was established, and its style is named the <\/span>Yuan <\/span>School<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sister-in-Law Xianglin<\/span><\/em>, performed by leading actress Yuan Xuefen, was adapted from the story New Year’s Sacrifice <\/em>by Lu Xun (1881-1936). As Sister-in-Law Xianglin<\/em> became a widow twice, people regarded her as an inauspicious woman. After her son has been eaten by a wolf, she is driven insane. On a winter night, she is driven out by her employer, and dies in the snow. However, the story has the optimistic theme of the awakening of the Chinese people.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n