Drama culture in Shigang Town

Shigang Town is an ancient town with a long cultural history and is known as the "Hometown of Peking Opera". In October 2000, it was named "Hometown of Chinese Folk Art (Peking Opera)" by the Ministry of Culture. Its drama history has a long history. Mass drama singing, drama puzzle plates, drama lanterns and drama porcelain plates have painted a colorful opera picture in Shigang Town. At the beginning of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Shigang was one of the five fortresses of the "Jinghai Capital Zhiyuan". It was a famous salt field in the Song Dynasty. In the 14th year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, the Lianghuai Salt Transportation Company moved here from Tongzhou (today's Nantong City), and Shigang topped the Tongzhou salt field. The developed salt business brought merchants to gather, and the opera industry also developed day by day. In the second year of the Southern Song Dynasty, the national hero Wen Tianxiang rested here and boarded a boat to cross the sea and return to the south. The Shigang people once performed Nuo opera and left magnificent poems such as "Shigang".

In the old days, there were as many as seventy-two and a half temples in Shigang. Among them, the statue of Dutian Temple was enshrined on both sides of the statue of Lao Lang, the founder of the Liyuan, and the old tablets of deceased artists. After the reform and opening up, the town's amateur Peking Opera team established in 1984 has grown to more than 30 people, including old, middle-aged, young and old, with a full range of roles including birth, dan, and ugly, and supporting performances in the civil and military arena. More than 10 people have participated in the provincial and municipal amateur Peking Opera Grand Prix. Zhongfen won the first, second and third prizes, and successively received visits from the Provincial Rural Cultural Work Conference, the Provincial Civilized Village and Town Construction Conference, and the Japanese Haza City Friendship Delegation. In June 1987, Shigang Town held its first drama festival, each with different characteristics. Famous Peking Opera performing artists Song Changrong, Li Bingshu, Tong Xiangcen, Wang Mengyun, and Ai Shiju have all come to perform in "People's Daily", "China Culture News", "Drama News", "Drama News", "Liberation Daily", "Tonight News" News media such as provincial and municipal radio and television stations have reported on it, praising "the first township drama festival in Shigang". Shigang is a hot spot for promoting the art of Peking Opera and a model for mass Peking Opera singing activities.