Yiyang Tune

The Yiyang tune -- one of the four great tunes from the Southern Opera (the other three are Yuyao, Kunshan and Haiyan tunes) -- played a significant role in the development of Chinese opera.

The Yiyang tune was formed at the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in Yiyang county, Jiangxi province. As early as the Yongle reign (1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty, the Yiyang tune was not only prevalent in Jiangxi province, but also in Anhui, Fujian, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.

In fact, the tune first emerged by combining operas around the Yiyang region with its local dialects. Reputed as the overlord of Chinese opera, together with the Kunshan tune, the Yiyang tune exerted great influence on the 44 types of Chinese opera, including Peking Opera, Sichuan Opera, Hunan Opera, Qinqiang Opera, etc. The Yiyang tune is therefore regarded as the absolute forefather of Chinese high-pitched operas.

As a highly refined opera, the Kunshan tune was favored by scholars, bureaucrats and literati, but only captured the attention of the Wuzhong region in the Ming Dynasty; the Yiyang tune, on the other hand, which was almost completely neglected by scholars, became a folk art adored by ordinary people.

Torturing Jin Zhen (photo from cjwy.net)

II. Main features

During a Yiyang tune performance, an actor performs a solo on stage, with others joining in offstage to accompanying percussion instruments. Yiyang tune artists have created "gun diao" -- a type of spoken word, where each sentence of the same length is added after the long or short aria. Gun diao can be subcategorized into "gun bai", where a paragraph is recited between two arias, and "gun chang ", where a paragraph is sung between two arias.

The Yiyang tune, which does not have musical scores, is performed according to the local folk tune patterns. Free from the restriction of musical scores and embracing local dialects, Yiyang has a competitive edge over the refined Kunshan tune.

Since the Yiyang tune features one singer with others joining in, it can be performed in squares and on grasslands, and caters to the tastes of ordinary people. Therefore, the tune could be enjoyed by people in different places and because of this, spread quickly across the nation.

III. Influence on other tunes

After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the Yiyang tune was introduced to Beijing, Nanjing city, Jiangsu province, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Combined with local dialects and folk songs, it quickly gave birth to many new local operas, such as the Jiangxi province Leping tune, the Anhui province Huizhou tune, the Qingyang tune (also called "Chizhou tune"), and the Beijing Jing tune.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Qingyang tune improved the gun diao performance style created by the Yiyang tune, where spoken words of equal length are added after the long or short aria, thus boosting the development of the high-pitched opera system. The high-pitched operas then spread to Hubei, Sichuan, Henan, Shanxi andShandong provinces, and were collectively called "qing xi" ("pure opera").

At present, high-pitched operas mainly include Sichuan Opera, Hunan Opera, Chenhe Opera and Ganju Opera, which have inherited such characteristics of the Yiyang tune as beating time with a drum, featuring one singer with others joining in, and adding spoken words between two arias. Some operas also use wind and stringed instruments.

Coming across the Son in the Pavilion (photo from cjwy.net)

IV. Current situation

Compared to the Kunshan tune, which has been placed under systematic protection, the survival of the Yiyang tune is currently being threatened. Due to the passage of time and changes in people's aesthetic tastes, the Yiyang tune has gradually declined.

First of all, fewer and fewer people are paying attention to the Yiyang tune, and its remaining artists, who have graduated in the 1950s, are all around 60 years of age. Currently, only five to six old artists can still master the opera.

Due to funding shortages, the collection and arrangement of related materials have been put on the back shelf. And no troupes or venues currently exist to stage public performances. Some experts warn that this ancient art form is on the verge of extinction; they say it will die out in 20 years unless new blood is trained.