Jiangsu： Polishing the ＂Gold Business Card＂ of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Giving Kunqu Opera a New Charm.

On the morning of March 7, the Jiangsu delegation of the Second Session of the 14th National People’s Congress held a plenary meeting, at which the topic of how to protect, utilize and innovate the intangible cultural heritage in Jiangsu in the new era was discussed. In recent years, by strengthening protection, cultivating talent teams and innovating artistic expressions, Jiangsu has made Kunqu Opera, one of the world’s intangible cultural heritages, constantly glow with new charm.

Intangible protection

Ancient Kunqu opera reappears the glory of the times

Kunqu Opera is one of the oldest existing operas in China, and it is called "the father and teacher of hundreds of operas". In May 2001, Kunqu Opera was awarded the title of "masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of mankind" by UNESCO. Kunqu opera has both cultural heritage and cultural products. Its protection and inheritance will help to enhance people’s awareness of traditional culture and group identity, and promote social cultural prosperity and development.

Kunshan, Jiangsu Province is the birthplace of Kunqu Opera. In recent years, Kunshan regards the protection of Kunqu Opera as an important part of exploring new experiences in building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, strengthens cultural self-confidence, highlights the spirit of the city, shows the characteristics of the city, and thoroughly implements the three-year action plan for promoting the brand of Kunqu Opera. At the same time, it holds brand activities such as "Beautiful Days and Elegant Collection", "Kunqu Opera Home" and "Chongyang Music Festival", and at the same time, it strengthens the creation of excellent Kunqu Opera, promotes the tour of excellent Kunqu Opera, and promotes it with multiple subjects, types and channels.

Since 2022, the "New Three Years, New Hundred Operas" program has been launched in the Grand Festival of Traditional Opera (Kunshan), focusing on the selection and training of leading opera talents, the support of endangered operas and the construction of China opera heritage base, actively exploring new modes such as "Opera+Tourism", "Opera+Fashion" and "Opera+Industry", which has effectively promoted the protection and development of China operas.

One stage will be Kyushu, and one city will watch hundreds of plays. Since the opening of the Hundred Drama (Kunshan) Festival in 2023, 40 opera troupes across the country have given 26 wonderful performances, with over 15,000 people watching live performances, over 70 million people watching online performances, and nearly 300 million people in five sessions. Sina Weibo has read 400 million people and over 1.6 billion people in five sessions. The Tik Tok has been broadcast for 300 million people, with the cumulative number exceeding 1.2 billion people in five sessions, which fully shows the enduring vitality and colorful weather of Chinese opera.

personnel training

"Xiao Kun Ban" blooms the flower of inheritance

The performance of Kunqu Opera lasted for 400 to 500 years, and there were strict norms for oral instruction. Besides, cultural elites have been involved in the refinement process of Kunqu Opera for a long time since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so it was inherited in an orderly manner and left us a valuable cultural heritage. Inheritance is the soul of Kunqu Opera’s eternal life. Only by getting more young people to participate in the creation and appreciation of Kunqu Opera can we store endogenous power for the sustainable development of Kunqu Opera.

In 1921, the establishment of Kunqu Opera Studio opened the prelude to the inheritance and development of Kunqu Opera since the 20th century. In April, 1992, the first small Kunqu class in China was formally established in Kunshan No.1 Central Primary School, marking the entrance of Kunqu culture into the campus. By 2023, Kunshan had successively set up 22 small Kunqu classes in primary and secondary schools in the city, and trained more than 5,000 Kunqu students. More than 100 students were selected for further study in professional colleges, and nearly 20 students have become national excellent Kunqu actors.

The establishment of Kunshan Contemporary Kunqu Opera Theatre has also created a platform for outstanding Kunqu students to dream of Kunqu Opera. Many young actors who had the experience of learning opera in Xiaokun class have grown up and matured on the stage of Kunqu Opera Theatre, contributing to the inheritance and promotion of Kunqu Opera culture. At the same time, in the Kunqu Opera Talent Training Class of the Opera School affiliated to Shanghai Theatre Academy, there are also students from Xiaokun Class, who are moving towards the growth of professional actors and waiting for six years to stand on the stage of Kunqu Opera Theatre.

innovative development

Traditional culture realizes cross-border integration.

Under the background of the integration of literature and tourism in the new era, more and more people began to know and like Kunqu opera, and even fell in love with this kind of intangible culture. On the stage, masterpieces of famous rookies such as Peony Pavilion, White Snake and Gu Yanwu continue; In the theater, there are more and more young audiences, which makes people feel that the ancient Kunqu opera art is rejuvenating.

"Immersion" performance is one of the most effective and popular performances of Kunqu Opera. Compared with the past, Kunqu Opera not only exists in professional academies, folk music clubs and inheritance institutions, but also generally appears in various tourist sites and experience projects. Kunqu Opera performances went out of the theater and into the gardens and halls. A series of immersive Kunqu Opera performances were launched, which integrated the appreciation of landscape gardens and listening to operas, making the audience more immersive.

In addition, Kunqu opera is also combined with modern science and technology, relying on technologies such as the Internet and Metauniverse to innovate artistic expression forms. In August, 2022, the Kunqu Opera "Huansha Ji" was performed simultaneously in the Grand Theatre of Kunshan Culture and Art Center and Dayuwan Square through the 5G holographic live broadcast technology, realizing the stage performance "time travel".

This exhibition is an innovation in the way of traditional Chinese opera communication. Holographic projection technology has broken the limit of the number of people and venues in the theater, and made the traditional Chinese opera art really "go out of the theater and approach the public". The first show of "Opera+Science and Technology" has aroused enthusiastic response, which is a new way to promote the spread of opera art to people’s lives. At the same time, the digital guidance of Kunqu opera has also promoted the transformation, application and development of digital resources of traditional culture.

(Zhang Wenwen)

Editor: Tang Xinci

Editor: Hu Su Xiaoling

Audit: Yuan Xianglin

Editor: Cheng Juren Editor: Hu Su, Xiao Ling Audit: Yuan Xianglin