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

The Yiyang tune was born 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.

Features of the Yiyang tune

During a Yiyang tune performance, an actor performs a solo on stage, with others joining in offstage to accompanying percussion instruments. Artists of the Yiyang tune 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 can be enjoyed by people in different places and spreads quickly across the nation.
Influence on other tunes

Facial make-up of Huang Cao, the leader of an uprising at the end of the Tang Dynasty (618-907)

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

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Qingyang greatly tune improved the gun diao performing 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 and Shandong 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 word between two arias. Some operas also use wind and stringed instruments.

Current situation

Compared to the Kunshan tune, which has been placed under systematic protection, the survival of the Yiyang tune is currently being threatened. According to statistics from Chinese cultural departments, 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.

Li Yuying, director of the Jiangxi cultural department, submitted an appeal this March to the National People's Congress to put Yiyang under immediate preservation and care, drawing close attention from the Ministry of Culture.

Yiyang tune listed for preservation

Experts and scholars have varying views about whether the dying Yiyang tune should be preserved or not. Some scholars believe that the 500-year-old art has been so long removed from real life that its preservation would no longer have any relevance to modern society. However, most experts and scholars agree that the art's long history carries many profound cultural connotations, and is the very reason why it should be protected and preserved.

In April 2004 the Ministry of Culture in China listed the Yiyang tune for preservation, together with 38 other cultural folk arts.

The preservation project, which will kick off this year and conclude in 2007, includes such major protective measures as building a museum, compiling and publishing a book and organizing 10-12 performing societies of the Yiyang tune.

The move may breathe new vigor into the ancient art, said 59-year-old Yang Dianrong, one of the few remaining Yiyang artists and an official from the Cultural Bureau of Yiyang County in East China's Jiangxi Province.

With the launch of the protection project, the Chinese government has vowed to invest in gathering materials on the Yiyang tune; within five years, a professional troupe of the tune, a museum and an opera institute are expected to emerge.

Apart from the great efforts by the central government, Yiyang County will also rebuild its Yiyang tune troupe and join hands with Ganju Opera troupes of Nanchang, Poyang and Leping cities to restore and stage 10 traditional Yiyang tune performances to revive 22 Yiyang tune sagas in five years.

In addition, three ancient stages of the Yiyang tune from the Jingtai reign of the Ming Dynasty and the Wanli and Kangxi reigns of the Qing Dynasty will be repaired and reopened for business.