Shanbangzi Opera of Yanjiatai Village in Beijing
2 min readThe diverse folk arts and festivals of Yanjiatai Village, strongly represented byShanbangzi Opera and Goddess Meeting, embody the folk customs of Mentougou Districtand demonstrate the diligent and pristine characters of the local villagers.Bangzi Opera, originating from Shanxi and Shaanxi areas, is mainly devoted tohistorical events. A branch of Bangzi, Shanbangzi is an opera genre typical to Beijing,mainly prevalent in Zhaitang Town.
Yanjiatai Village is outstanding player in preservingand passing down the traditional Shanbangzi Opera.The opera troupe of Yanjiatai can be traced back more than 200 years. A traditionhanded down through the generations, the troupe performs Shanbangzi Opera during festivals,at temple fairs, and on such occasions as worshiping the gods and praying for a good harvest.The popularity of Shanbangzi Opera lies not just with its cultural and recreationalfunctions. The content and staging of the opera is mostly devoted to social reality, familylife, and interpersonal relations, and thus the form fully represents earthly truth and falseness,goodness and evilness, and beauty and ugliness.
This reflects the fact that folk culture, at ahigh artistic level and with strong countryside flavors, still prevails among the folk people.Qingshui Town once was home to many theatrical troupes. But during the CulturalRevolution period (1966-1976), many of the villages within the town burned and destroyed the theatrical costumes and props of the troupes. Fortunately, in 1978, thanks to the initiationand pioneering efforts of Zhao Yongcheng and some other opera lovers, Yanjiatai Villagebegan the salvage the traditional opera. The younger generation wrote down the opera scoresaccording to the dictation of senior artists, and then compiled the pieces into a completebook. Under the guidance of senior opera players, the resumed opera troupe began rehearsalsand has 110w become the best preserved among the opera troupes in the town, boasting acollection of nearly 100 sets of theatrical costumes, many of which date to the Ming andQing Dynasties.
Yanjiatai also houses a large theater of a sort rarely seen in rural areas.Shanbangzi Opera, a treasure house of folk customs and representative of the intangiblecultural heritage of western Beijing, deserves even greater attention and protection. Thatspecial artistic glory must be maintained and passed down from generation to generation tobenefit the local villagers and all Beijing citizens.
