Theatre in China's Sichuan Province

Abstract

With over 100 million people, Sichuan is China's most populous province.1 It has a rich theatre history and its capital Chengdu was the source whence the great actor Wei Changsheng (1744-1802) took his clapper opera troupe Beijing and with it an important artistic influence leading the rise of the Beijing opera (jingjua). Although there are known and surviving drama traditions in Sichuan dating back the late Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and before, it was not until the early decades of the present century that reforms led the integrated style currently called Sichuan opera (chuanjub). Reforms have continued since the accession power of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949 but, despite severe suppression during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Sichuan opera remains by far the most popular form of theatre in the province as a whole. However, other forms widespread throughout China, such as the spoken drama (huajuc), Beijing opera, and song drama (gejud), are now found also in Sichuan. As in other parts of China, there exist in the old music-drama forms like Sichuan opera and Beijing opera three types of plays: traditional plays, newly written historical dramas, and contemporary plays (chuantong xi, xinbian lishiju, and xiandai xie). This report focuses on the second half of 1985, much of which I spent based at the Sichuan University in Chengdu. I was able see many theatre performances and develop new contacts in the theatre world as well as renew some I had made during an earlier visit Chengdu in 1980. In July 1982, the Sichuan CCP Provincial Committee issued a directive to get the Sichuan opera moving (zhenxing chuanjuf). The emphasis was on salvaging, inheriting, reforming, and developing