Quyi (Simplified Chinese: 曲艺; Traditional Chinese: 曲藝; pronunciation as: chiǔ yì)
It refers to an ancient performing art spread all over China that covers a large number (it recorded 500+) of different types of performances consisted of singing and narrative storytelling using staged monologues and dialogues. It could refers to such traditional art forms as ballad singing (唱曲), story telling (说书), comic dialogues (小品), clapper talks (快板) and cross talks (相声), with all of which sharing some special features as:
1) generally not a full-fledged theatrical play. The performers therefore have to try their best to stimulate the audiences through their words and songs so as to inspire them to conjure up images.
2) usually performed by a small number of people. The most standard number is 1 or 2, sometimes extending to 4 or more. Each person may play multiple roles for multiple characters in the story.
3) The language used is usually associated with the spoken dialect of the local area.
4) a lot of body movements may be used in the portrayal of the characters in the story, no matter what the performers sitting or standing.
5) often accompanied by clappers, drums, or Chinese traditional stringed instruments (like pipa/danxian), with simple props and no stage scenery.
6) the performer wear various costumes depending on the era of the story plot (unlike the chinese operas). Costumes range from dynastic period 'hanfu' to the more modern female 'qipao'/male 'yet-san suit' or even western suits.
...
This term came into my mind because it's kinda 'everywhere' in China, both among han people and other minority ethnic groups (in fact, has been a major means for the transmission of the history and culture of many ethnic groups), but in my opinion without enough academic focus as, as least, as the traditional operas, which has a shorter history. Its aesthetics are simple and unsophisticated, however, many excellent quyi items reflect the ordinary Chinese people's thought, ideals and moral aspirations. Here are two different types of quyi, the 1st one is Suzhou Pintan from the south China and the 2nd one Shandong Kuaiban from the north. for your reference:
Key word response: Quyi
ReplyDeleteWe would like to open our response by commenting on the way in which we approached reading this entry and what questions emerged. First of all, we really enjoyed watching the video examples, the second one in particular! We were impressed with the multitude of roles the performer assumed, his musicality, and how engaging he was. We found him so talented.
Two of the three members of our group were struck with the performances’ similarities with those within our own culture. Some of the questions that came about were 1. why we enjoyed it? 2. what were our own assumptions about what we were watching, considering that we don’t actually know what he was saying in terms of language, (i.e. do not know the more subtle messages his speech conveys. Was it purely descriptive? Was it moral? Was he telling dirty jokes?). 2a. Do we approach this work in ‘comparison’ with the folk performances that we know, and how does this inform our viewing of it?
In the blog entry Ian refers to how this form “reflect[s] the ordinary Chinese people's thought, ideals and moral aspirations”. In this respect we are interested in what the authors concept of ordinary is. We can guess what he means, but don’t want to assume. We wonder who is it that reads “ordinary” and how is the “ordinary” manifested in these performances.
This brings us to what we read in the authors’ description of what might be identified as “folkloric” art, and wonder if he is here calling attention to what he sees as a distinction between “high and low” art concepts as perhaps evidenced by a lack of academic attention for this form.
In this respect, we are interested in what it is about this form that does not lend itself to scholarly inquiry. If we were hypothetical scholars in this context, what would be the questions we would want to address? Why wouldn’t we want to address it? In terms of Diana Taylor’s writing, would this performance fall into that of the “archive” or the “repertoire”? Neither, both? (If we accept these binaries.)
Lastly, we are wondering what kind of liberty the performer has in deciding the content of his stories. Are they always based on historical stories, or folkloric traditions and what are the regional differences (or are there?) within Quyi?
Yours Truly, Group C Tampere Naresh, Johanna, Rania