Qinqiang

Qinqiang ( ) is a genre of folk Chinese opera originated in Shaanxi Province of Qing China in 1807 and soon took over other genres to be the representative genre of the province. It plays a key role

Terminology#

Qinqiang originated in Shaanxi Province (abbreviated as Qín) of Qing China in 1807 and soon took over other genres to be the representative genre of the province. Historically, there were two separate genres both referring themselves as Qinqiang, the one with a longer history was later renamed as Handiao Erhuang (). Earlier scholars lumped various genres in Shaanxi Province (“Qin”), including but not restricted to Handiao Erhuang, as Qinqiang; hence, mistakenly they traced such Qinqiang to Qin dynasty (221BC - 206 BC).

Music style#

Qinqiang has four forms of performance: singing, narration, dance, and martial arts. During performances the combination of singing and narrative is used to express other scenes and characters, such as general combat or soldiers attacking enemies on the stage. Supporters of Qiniang state that this creates a unique charm and atmosphere. Actors require a foundation of vocal music, as this is how the character of different humanities is expressed.

Characters#

There are 13 kinds of characters in Qinqiang including four kinds of “Sheng” (, male) (), six kinds of “Dan” (, female) (), two kinds of “Jing” (, painted face male) () and one kind of “Chou” (, Clown), also knowns as " 13 Tou Wangzi" ().

Artist#

Yang Wenying, a famous artist after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and his achievements in the study of Qinqiang Opera art. Yang Wenying is a famous director and actor. He adapted many music works of Qinqiang art to promote the development of modern Qinqiang art in China, such as the modern Qinqiang opera “Red coral”, “Red Lantern”, “Ports” and so on.

Musical work#

In 1958, Zhao, Zhenxiao and Lu Rilong, professors of Xi’an Conservatory of Music, created the “Capriccio on a Qinqiang Theme”, which is inspired by Shaanxi Opera, in order to promote the development of national music. The “Capriccio on Qinqiang Theme” is a representative work of the Qingqiang style. This music work is written for Erhu, which is called Chinese violin.

External links#

*China Qinqiang Website (Chinese)