Why do you say that the establishment of Qionghua Guild Hall marks the maturity of Cantonese opera?

Qionghua, Jiqing and Bahe are three famous halls of Cantonese Opera in different historical periods.

There was a saying:

There was no "Eight Harmony", there was "Jiqing" first, and

There was no "Jiqing", there was "Qionghua" first.

The appearance of Qionghua Guild Hall indicates that Cantonese opera has entered a mature period, which is of epoch-making significance in the history of Cantonese opera.

It was an early morning in yongzheng emperor period in Qing Dynasty. When it was just dawn, a rush of hooves broke the tranquility of the morning.

There was a man sitting on the horse's back. The man grabbed the reins with both hands, clamped his legs on the horse's belly, whipped the horse with his whip, and ran in the direction of Zhuojun in a panic.

Half an hour later, a group of government troops appeared on the man's escape road, and the chief officer kept urging: "Hurry up, hurry up, don't let the stand hand get away, it's a prisoner named by the long live grandfather, and if he gets away, we'll all get hit by the board."

if you want to talk about this stand hand five, the famous actress Zhang Wu, that was a famous person in the 49 cities of Beijing at that time. No matter in the folk or the official, it was famous, and it was one of the most famous actresses in the 49 cities at that time. Later, I don't know why I offended the royal family. I was wanted by yongzheng emperor and had to leave Beijing to escape.

A few hours later, at the dock of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Tanshou Wu sold his horse and boarded the ferry south of Hangzhou. Looking at the disappearing Beijing, his hanging heart was a little more stable.

A few months later, Tanshou came to Foshan, Guangdong Province after five rounds of twists and turns. He went incognito in Dajiwei, Foshan Town, got on a red boat, joined the ranks of Guangdong artists at that time, and returned to his old job.

When Tan Shouwu was in Beijing, he became famous in the field of Quyi with all his skills. After he came to Guangdong, he was soon called the leader of the local Quyi field, and he worked hard to create a new world of his own in a short time.

Tanshou Wu is proficient in Beijing Opera and Kunqu Opera, and has a very deep understanding of various roles, especially the roles of life and ugliness. His singing skills are also unusual, and his tone is in place. With his movements, his figure has reached a state of ecstasy. At that time, the red boat where Wu is located was red all over Guangdong, and people came to see him singing in an endless stream, not only locals, but also audiences from Fujian, Guangxi and even Taiwan Province.

With the popularity of Tan Shouwu, Dajiwei, Foshan Town, where he lives, has become an actor's paradise, and many outstanding actors and students with great potential have gathered around Tan Shouwu.

Seeing the development of traditional Chinese opera in Foshan, Tanshou Wu decided to set up an institution here to teach artists the skills of Quyi. This organization is different from the previous theatrical troupes, and its scale is larger.

So Tanshou Wu named this institution Qionghua Guild Hall. Since the establishment of Qionghua Guild Hall, it has immediately become the core of Guangdong Quyi, and countless actors are flocking to it. With the passage of time, Qionghua Guild Hall has become the symbol of Southern Opera, just like Shaolin and Wudang in Wulin Jianghu.

The emergence of Qionghua Guild Hall is recorded in A Brief History of Guangdong Drama written by Mai Xiaoxia:

Yongzheng succeeded to the throne ... when the famous Beijing actress Zhang No.5 spread her hand ... fled to Guangdong and lived in Dajiwei, Foshan Town ... The children of the Red Boat were given Kunqu Opera, which changed their organization and expanded their scale. Establish Qionghua Guild Hall.

According to the Records of zhongyi township in Foshan compiled by Wu Rongguang in Daoguang period of Qing Dynasty,

There are 37 guildhall halls in the town, and Qionghua Guildhall is the most magnificent building.

Qionghua Guild Hall is located in Dajipu, which was later known as Hongqiang block in Foshan City. There are four big columns and a pavilion at the entrance of the guild hall. The plaque at the entrance of the museum is the word "guild hall", and the whole museum is larger than the ancestral temple at that time.

Qionghua Club has three entrances, the first entrance is the bell and drum, followed by a detachable temporary stage; The second entrance is the Qionghua Palace Hall, in front of which is day order; The third step is the clubhouse. Whenever the founder of the opera troupe, Emperor Huaguang, was born, the artists of the opera troupe gathered in the main hall of Qionghua Palace to offer sacrifices to Emperor Huaguang.

Near Qionghua Club, it is Qionghua Water Port near Dajiwei River in Foshan, which is convenient for the actors who take the red boat to go ashore or perform in other places. It is said that the actor first hired a purple hole boat as a play boat, and later added sails, and painted Long Lin and chrysanthemum patterns on the hull, and the bow was painted red, so it was called a "red boat".

As a guild of Cantonese Opera, Qionghua Guild Hall has a strict management system. There are eight halls in the Guild Hall, namely Shenhe, Zhaohe, Qinghe, Fuhe, Xinhe, Yonghe, Dehe and Puhe, which are in charge of their congregations respectively. The appearance of Qionghua Guild Hall shows that Foshan has become the center of the development of Cantonese opera at that time. It can be seen that Cantonese opera was already in its heyday at that time.

Tanshou Wu taught Cantonese opera artists with Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera here, and established Qionghua Guild Hall. This is the earliest theatrical organization in Cantonese opera, and Foshan is called the hometown of Cantonese opera.

At that time, there were many God-welcoming competitions in Foshan, and it was necessary to stage Cantonese opera on God's birthday.

In Qing Dynasty, there was a Zhuzhi poem describing this grand occasion, which said:

The Liyuan Song and Dance Competition was prosperous, and the red boats were moored in the sand at night,

But every year, thousands of people surrounded the Qionghua.

during the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, Guangdong was relatively stable and developed in commerce and trade. Foshan is a gathering of businessmen and gangs, and its entertainment requirements are more prosperous, thus attracting more than 1 provincial theatrical troupes to perform in Guangdong. These classes from other provinces mainly come from Jiangxi, Hunan, Anhui, Suzhou and other places.

In addition, the "Xiasi Mansions" in the west of Guangdong Province, namely Gaozhou, Leizhou, Lianzhou and Qiongzhou, have frequent acting activities. Every year, Guandi, Tian Fei and Mrs. Xian have the custom of acting to greet God.