Opera and Drama
2 min readQiong Opera: Qiong Opera is the main kind of opera in Hainan. It originated from the tune of Yiyang, Jiangxi. In the Ming Dynasty, it was introduced to Hainan Island by Minnanese and Chaoshanese. Qiong Opera then came into being after having absorbed the folk ditty. Qiong Opera has a history of more than 300 years. The traditional repertoires of opera are very rich. Each type of its role has it own traditional performance art and different mask, and different tune. The types of role are comparatively complete. Qiong Opera has strong local characteristics. It is a popular artistic form in Hainan area, Leizhou Peninsula of Guangdong and Southeast Asian countries with overseas Chinese with family origin in Hainan.
Puppet Plays with Human Actors: Hainan’s Puppet Plays with Human Actors originated in Lin’ gao County,a neighboring county of Haikou. Much different from the puppet plays of other places, the stage of Lin’ gao PuppetPlay is the same with that of an ordinary theatre: there’s no curtain on the stage, and the puppet and its manipulator play the same role. The chief accompanying music is produced by double suona horn. The actor makes himself up and then appears on the stage with the puppet. The puppet is finely made. With moving eyes and mouth, the puppets look as if they have life. Sometimes the actor and the puppet coordinate in the play. The actor manipulates the puppet and performs his own role at the same time. Because of its special local color and different presentation, this kind of puppet play has been much liked by people both at home and abroad.
