National ICH: Liyuan Opera

Originating in Quanzhou during the Song-Yuan period (960-1368), Liyuan Opera boasts over 800 years of history. It is hailed as a "living fossil of ancient Southern Opera". Today, it continues to be performed in southern part of Fujian province — including Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and Xiamen — as well as Chaozhou located in Guangdong province, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Southeast Asian Chinese communities.

Liyuan Opera preserves numerous plays, vocal styles, and stage practices from Southern Opera during Song-Yuan period. It is divided into three lineages: namely xiao liyuan (qizi ban, which means seven-people troupe), and the "shanglu" and "xianan" of da liyuan. Each lineage maintains "shiba pengtou", a repertoire of eighteen traditional plays, including Zhu Wen among 25 surviving Southern Opera scripts, still performed in their original forms.

The opera follows strict performance conventions, with music characterized by drums, flutes, and strings, and singing in the Quanzhou dialect using vocal styles rooted in the Tang (618-907) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties. Performances take place in traditional "peng" (the stage), preceded by a ritual known as "xianpeng" (inviting the deity), with long benches behind the stage.

As a vital carrier of Southern Opera and Minnan culture, Liyuan Opera represents a rich and integrated artistic heritage. Yet today, it faces a survival crisis due to its declining audiences.

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