ITTA Chairman Guo Xiaonan
《Peach Source in Dream, Not Negative to Jiangnan》
The foundation of Yueju Town in 2016 is a cultural tourism project jointly invested and planned by Shengzhou Municipal Committee, Municipal Government and Mr. Song Weiping, a native of Yueju Opera. The small town of Yueju Opera takes Yueju Opera and theatrical performances as its core, and integrates leisure, vacation, recreation, agriculture and other life complexes. On August 2, 2017, the establishment of Wen Tour Company was launched globally.
In China, it is the first town to be named after a drama genre. The reason for this choice is based on the long history and culture of the region. The traces of human life and work here can be traced back to the Xiaohuangshan cultural site thousands of years ago. The outstanding poets of the Chinese nation left immortal poems when they passed through here. They were not inspired by one or two poets, but a large number of popular poems came out because of the rivers. Shengzhou formed a "Millennium Tang Poetry Road". A hundred years ago, Shi Jialan, the seat of the town, was born a woman's Yueju opera. The famous actors of Yueju opera represented by "Three Flowers and One Juan" trained by women's classes were the founders of women's Yueju opera. In 1922, the first batch of actresses of Yueju Opera set out from Luoxi with bamboo platoons and flower coats. They traveled 273 kilometers on the water and arrived in Shanghai, the metropolis of China. After half a century of efforts, they completed the construction of Yueju Opera. The ten sisters of Yueju Opera have created numerous classical works of Yueju Opera, such as Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, The Story of the Western Chamber and A Dream of Red Mansions, which have a wide and far-reaching influence and are the pride of Yueju Opera art. In 2006, Yueju Opera was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage.
The site of Xiaohuangshan for thousands of years, the road of Tang poetry for thousands of years and the hometown of Yueju for one hundred years have consolidated the qualification of Yueju Town as an ancient cultural town. In this area, there are 200 folk Yueju troupes performing every day, which is totally spontaneous. Yueju and people's life naturally blend together.
As the hometown of Yueju opera, of course, this is a small town of Yueju opera. With the establishment of the International Drama Town Alliance, Yueju Towns have gone beyond the scope of geography and the cultural significance and coverage of Yueju Opera. The Alliance aims to promote the exchange of drama origins in different regions and cultures, to pay attention to the inheritance and protection of intangible cultural heritage, and to find the possibility of innovation based on tradition.
In the planning of Yueju Town, the ancient theatre building is a very important theatre project. The stage is a traditional theatre in China. Until the first framed stage was built in 1847, Chinese opera took place on three-sided stage. This way of acting and watching, as well as the relationship between watching and acting, determines the face of traditional operas. The ancient theatre buildings in Yueju Town have algae wells, old-fashioned buildings and traditional stage features. They abide by the principle of conveying the Chinese cosmology of heaven, man and earth in three-storey space and do not need Western-style seats in the audience seats. However, the new design enlarges the performance area and increases the depth of field. The whole building has reserved a variety of temporary exhibition space matching the performance, which facilitates the audience to feel more deeply. Know and experience tradition.
On the other hand, it should not be neglected that besides the highly creative system of Chinese opera, the moral connotations of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith in opera make it have the nature of folk religion. The historical cognition, judgment of likes and dislikes, aesthetic choices and emotional catharsis of Chinese people are all accomplished by opera. We adhere to the idea that Chinese opera is the second religion besides Confucianism, combing the root of Chinese opera, protecting its inheritance and highlighting its spirit.
According to the latest national opera census, there are only one performing group in 120 of the 348 existing operas in China. These groups, known as "the first group in the world", are distributed all over the country as representatives of regional culture. The "first regiment" is a reputation, but also the reality of its endangered state. If you don't pay attention to it, you may lose it. The ancient theatre building will invite such a troupe to perform and take on such a responsibility of protection, so that these scattered pearl-like operas can be continuously displayed in a series of performances, shining up. In this way, it will show the vivid regionality and diversity of Chinese opera, make it a part of tourism, let more young people understand and appreciate, and then complete the cultural continuation.
In the future, there will be different theatres and 10 artist workshops in Shaoxing Opera Towns. Why focus the speeches of the International Theatre Towns Alliance Forum on this project? I think that the construction of Yueju Town with the attitude of the government and artists should first achieve the inheritance and protection of non-heritage, then the creative transformation and innovative development. In the future, the small town of Yueju Opera will not only have the performance of "the first group in the world", but also welcome the non-legacy from all countries to show here. The ancient opera building expresses the adherence of the small town of Yueju Opera to traditional culture. It is also the idea that I would like to share with all the members in the first forum of the Alliance.
There is a great poet in China, Tao Yuanming. His "Peach Blossom Source" has always placed the ideals of Chinese literati and artists. We build a small town of Yueju opera and hope that it can become a real art Taoyuan, not only belong to artists, but also belong to the Chinese people, it is a "dream Taoyuan". We also have four words called "not negative Jiangnan". We hope that Jiangnan culture with historical background will enter modern Chinese society. It is still elegant and gentle, but it will become a symbol of life style and open a new high-end culture.
"Peach Garden in Dream, not to take responsibility for the South of the Yangtze River", is our goal, but also our responsibility.
On March 26, Director Guo Xiaonan introduced the evening's performance to members of the International Theatre Town Alliance.
(These contents are from the tape recordings of the speaker.）