Dang Zhongxin:Breathing New Life into an Antique Opera

By+staff+reporter+JIAO+FENG

THE reporter met Dang Zhongxin in a newly opened nursing home in Heyang County. The 67-year-old and his wife live beside the main gate on the ground floor. This is particularly convenient for his new job as janitor.

The couple moved to the town at their sons suggestion， as they were getting too old to grow crops. Instead of sitting bored at home， Dang soon found a job as a janitor. “In our village， we would often visit our neighbors and talk with people we met. When we moved to town， we didnt know anyone. It was boring and lonely for us. But my job means I can meet and interact with people daily.”

A Living Fossil

Dang was born in Xingjiazhuang， a village 20 miles from Heyang County where the traditional Chinese art form Hop Opera has been performed and admired for centuries.

There are no written records on the origins of this form of opera； its history can be traced to around the 13th century. Unlike other traditional drama forms in China， Hop Opera has neither professional artists nor specialized troupes. Instead it is performed by amateurs for their fellow villagers. It is， thus， a cultural activity specifically for the entertainment of farming communities.

Hop Opera， as the name suggests， is based on basic rhythms and a distinct jumping style. Every move and step the player makes resembles ancient worship rites， so the performance appears primitive but powerful. It is， therefore， classified as a type of Nuoxi Opera， a crude and wild folk art form originating in sacrificial rituals of the distant past.

The musical instruments used in Hop Opera include gongs， bass drums， cymbals and other percussion. Some plays may involve the suona trumpet， but string instruments never feature. The performance is a dance， and the actors tell rather than sing stories.

Dang recalled the traditions of Hop Opera in his village： Every year during the last month of the Chinese lunar calendar， villagers would start to rehearse the opera because by then， their farming work was done. Those rehearsals served as preparation for performances during the coming Spring Festival. Beginning from the fifth day of the new lunar year， opera actors would eagerly change into their costumes before sunrise and each team would make their way to their designated performance area. The opera， thus， lifted its curtain annually. By the 15th day of the new lunar year， a Hop carnival would be in full swing throughout the village. When the buzz died down， performers would store their costumes and instruments until the next year. For the rest of the year， they were just ordinary farmers， busy with their families and agricultural work.endprint

“There were two unwritten rules for opera actors in our village，” explained Dang. “The first one was the innervillage rule. Every troupe performed in their communities only， performing in other villages was forbidden； the second rule was no performing during the busy agricultural season.” These rules may be the reason why fewer people are performing the opera today.

Hop Opera is only popular in the villages along the Yellow River of Heyang County， so it has distinct regional features. Compared with Qinqiang， the predominant opera in Shaanxi Province， Hop Opera is older and more primitive. Before the founding of the Peoples Republic of China， residents in a dozen villages in the area knew how to perform it. However， today， only Xingjiazhuang retains this art form. Still， as Dang lamented， “Even nowadays， there are only about 20 Hop performers in my community. Its a far cry from its heyday.”

Path of Growth

Raw talent runs deep in the Dang family. Dang Zhongxins grandfather and father were both Hop masters in their village. They loved the opera and were good at it， too. Traditionally， Hop actors dont ask for payment； the local community provides their meals during the performance season and donations of costumes and props. According to Dang， his family were not rich when he was young. But despite their meager means， the family would sell their cottons and crops in order to fund the village opera troupes annual performances.

Dangs fondest memory is of a story told by his father. In the spring of 1949， ordinary folk from his village organized the first Hop show in years to celebrate the end of the war and liberation of the region. It was warmly welcomed by a big audience including PLA soldiers and local farmers. “Whenever he remembered that time， my father would recreate the spectacle of that celebration excitedly and in vivid detail. And from that moment， I dreamt that I would one day perform the opera as well，” recalled Dang.

From a young age， Dang would accompany his father to rehearsals. At the performances， he and other young admirers would stand close to the stage， intently watching every move. There wasnt much in the way of entertainment in rural China back then， so the opera was a big delight. Dang would even skip meals and naps to watch it. “Sometimes the show would last five to six hours. The longest could even take nearly a whole day and night. Even then， I still insisted on watching every scene to the very end，” Dang recalled. “If I got hungry， I would grab a steamed bun but never leave my spot near the stage.”endprint

It was at these early performances that Dang started copying what he saw. His talent and perseverance helped him to stand out from the crowd. His first performance opportunity came one day when one of the actors quit suddenly. Dang jumped at the chance to fill the spot and was welcomed by the rest of the troupe.“The reception for my first performance was not bad and the experience only increased my love for the opera.” Dang was only 10 years old.

He went on to serve an apprenticeship under the famous opera artist Dang Yunlong. In 1964， 17-year-old Dang appeared in a government video. By then， he had already become a leading actor on the scene.

Scripts Salvaged

As with most dramatic art forms， the script is the foundation for the performance. Most Hop scripts were originally hand-written editions passed on from generation to generation. Under the protection of a designated guard， the opera scripts were not allowed to circulate freely among the performers and were only taken out from under lock and key at rehearsals. Whats more， the actors were only given their specific lines and dance routines， which meant that often， they wouldnt know the complete contents of the script until performance day.

There were once more than 500 volumes of Hop scripts in Xingjiazhuang. But less than 300 had survived the ravages of war by the time the PRC was founded in 1949. During the “cultural revolution” from 1966 to 1976 large numbers of antique paintings and literary works were burnt as symbols of feudalism. Hundred-year-old opera scripts were marked for destruction， without exception. A critical turning point for the future of Hop Opera occurred as Dang was standing before the cultural pyre in his village. Overcome with a sense of pity for the precious scripts that had been protected for centuries， Dang rushed to the fire when nobody was looking and rescued the scripts before they were burnt to cinders. He salvaged about 30 volumes， among them， the oldest copy， The Agate Cup， was the original edition from 200 years ago.

His recollections over， Dang retrieved a box from his bedside cabinet that he carefully held out to show us. Inside the box was a pile of yellow， rough straw paper – the scripts： Some of the brushwritten characters were fading， some of the script cover pages were damaged， and some scripts still had obvious burn marks. Dangs rescued scripts are the only original Hop Opera editions that survive today， and as such， they form the foundation of the future of this time-honored art.endprint

After the “cultural revolution，” Xingjiazhuang resumed its Hop performances. To improve the performance conditions， during his tenure as the village head Dang raised funds for the local troupe to acquire a number of storage trunks， costumes， props and other performing essentials. To ensure the old art would be passed on， he championed apprenticeships at the village troupe， which have successfully cultivated dozens of young opera actors in the village.

An Inheritors Concern

China places great value on the protection and development of intangible cultural heritage. Relevant authorities have visited Xingjiazhuang several times in order to collect information and recordings of Hop Opera. The village also from time to time receives international tourists who come to the seemingly ordinary place especially to appreciate this fossil of Chinese Opera. At the Shanghai Expo in 2009， a video of Hop Opera was shown to reach an even wider audience. However， with the abundance of forms of entertainment today， less and less people in the region are interested in studying the relatively simple art of Hop Opera.

“Hop actors do not have steady incomes. And the performance doesnt appeal to young people， who prefer karaoke. These days， only the older generations retain a fondness for it，” said Dang. In 2008， Hop Opera was named Chinas Intangible Cultural Heritage， and the following year， Dang was designated its inheritor. In fact， he was one of three candidates for the title， and the youngest， at 61 years old. “The other two were in their 70s or 80s. My age was maybe the reason why I was selected. With more years ahead of me， I am expected to have more time to pass this art on to more people，” Dang explained. The other two candidates have since passed away.

Dangs son left their village as a young adult to work in Heyang County. Despite his fathers attempts to teach him the skills of Hop Opera， he had little interest in learning about it. “I remember when I was young the whole village would be involved in the opera， whether they were actors on stage， or audience off it. These days， even though there are performances every year， the actors are always the elders，” Dangs son said. Many elders from the village， including Dang， regret this development.

In a recent initiative， the Chinese government plans to offer extra support for “intangible cultural heritage villages.” On discovering this news， Dang was eager for Xingjiazhuang to be included on the list and consulted relevant government offices about this possibility. If the village receives state protection， it would be allocated a special fund for the promotion of Hop Opera， and with this fund， it could subsidize the expense of rehearsals and performances and put this native art firmly on the cultural map of China.

“I hope it will encourage more visitors to the village， and attract young people into this craft， so Chinas ancient opera can be passed on to the next generation，” said Dang.endprint