Two theaters, one stage
Bai Opera (Baiju) is the minority opera of the Dali region, born from the fusion of Chuichuiqiang and Dabenqu, further seasoned with Bai folk songs and dance. After 1949 the two were formally merged into Baiju.
Chuichuiqiang is traced back to the Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty — roughly five hundred years — flourishing especially under the Guangxu reign. Originally a classic theater beloved by farmers of the valley basins, it at one point retreated to the mountains and neared extinction. Dabenqu is older still: as far back as the Tang, libretti in the "three-seven-one-five" mountain-flower verse form appeared. Its content was rich, mixing entertainment, historical education and moral teaching — a popular cultural activity of the Bai people.
Over four hundred plays and a "three-aria-nine-beat-eighteen-tone" music
Baiju's repertoire is large — more than four hundred traditional and newly written plays — with a distinctive music system described as "three arias, nine beats, eighteen tones." Traditional works include Burning the Mill and Du Chaoxuan, among some four hundred, plus close to a hundred newly arranged and adapted pieces. Leading artists include Gu Yaoyuan, Li Chunfang, Yang Han, Hei Mingxing and Yang Shaoren, while Yang Hongying, Ye Xintao, Ma Yongkang and Yang Yikun have won renown at home and abroad. Red Sanxian, Wangfuyun and Cangshan Hongmei toured Beijing three times; more than twenty full and short plays, including Princess Age, Warmth over Cangshan, Saint Consort Baijie and Erhai Flower, have won national awards.
From historical costume plays, new historical dramas and folk-tale theater to modern plays and musicals, Baiju moves easily across forms with deep popular roots among the Bai — a unique treasure in China's theatrical world.
