The Text Study Of Liyuan Opera’s Traditional Repertoire

Liyuan opera is one of the oldest Chinese operas, which originated in Quanzhou. Ac tors are sung in accent of Quanzhou, located in southern Fujian. The opera was once pop ular in South Fujian, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. It retains most of the literary features an d performance styles of the classical opera. People usually call it the "living fossil of the opera in Yuan dynasty." Liyuan opera do not have many literature record or opera script since the contents of repertoires are taught in face-to-face manner only. Starting from the middle of 20th century, researchers begin to record the of Liyuen opera in script forms. U p to now, there are still not many comprehensive and systematic research studies of Liyu en opera. In this thesis, I will discuss the historical, cultural and literature values of Liyue n opera by studying more than 70 Liyuen scripts recorded with the introduction of some r elevant Chinese opera history and opera theory. In particular, the relationship between Li yuen opera and the culture in its originated region will also be shown so as to give a all-r ounded picture on Liyuen opera.