Survival And Development Of Datong "Shuahai'er"

"Shuahai'er" is a popular opera in northern Shanxi, Datong, Huairen, Shanyin, Yingxian. It is considered the "living fossil in opera history" due to the long history. The beautiful melodies, humorous lyrics, together with the rich regional flavors, win the love of people. "Shuahai'er" is unique in the styles of lyric, melody, and dancing. Since the 80's, the same as many other folk operas, "Shuahai'er" from Datong began to diminish, even showed signs of being extinct. Recently, the government made many policies to protect the opera. In 2003, "Shuahai'er" was listed in the recommendation catalog of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Catalog. The government also listed it in the Chinese Folk Culture Protection Pilot Project on April, 2004, and "Shuanhai'er" was included in the first national Intangible Cultural Heritage Catalog on December, 2005. This book continues to launch the thorough investigation on the basis of previous investigation. Taking the cultural anthropology broad angle of view, using sociology analysis methods, basing on the on-the-spot investigation, the author investigates the artistic forms, the theatrical troupes, the entertainers and the performance operation of "Shuahai'er" from historical angles. The author studies "Shuanhai'er" following the policy of protecting the Intangible Cultural Heritage Catalog, emphasizing on the survival conditions of the opera. Some realistic, solid opinions and suggestions are proposed. The author conducts research on its historical and artistic shapes and summarizes its development through on-the-spot investigation. The author also objectively unfolds its survival conditions as far as possible, analyzes the reasons of its descent. And for the reservation and development of this ancient opera, the author gives some constructive comments and tentative plans.This book consists of six chapters. The first chapter is about the origin of "Shuahai'er". It analyzes the formation and development of the opera through the folklore, academic viewpoint and the historical research. The second chapter shows the development of "Shuahai'er". It illustrates how "Shuahai'er" is developed. The third chapter is about the artistic characteristics of "Shuahai'er". It outlines the difference between "Shuahai'er" and other operas in terms of melodies, characters and scenery modeling. The fourth chapter is about the plays of "Shuahai'er". The author lists the traditional as well as the newly adapted plays, and classifies them according to the themes. The fifth chapter shows the present situations of the opera through the on-the-spot investigation of the state-operated and the privately operated amateur theatrical troupes, as well as some small theatrical troupes. The sixth chapter discusses future development of the opera. Carrying on the protection to the Intangible Cultural Heritage in the country, taking Datong as the key point, realistic comments and suggestion are given to protect, preserve, and develop this ancient opera.