This panel explores the evolution and cross-cultural exchange of Chinese performing arts.
Hongyan Hao
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney, Ph.D Researcher
Title:
Inheritance and Innovation: A Study of Jingju Master Li
Abstract:
Li Weikang is one of the most famous performing artists of Jingju which is Peking Opera, in contemporary China. She is
deeply loved by the audience and her fans come from all walks of life. Li Weikang has outstanding talents, she has solid fundamentals and innovative spirit. She adheres to the artistic concept of inheritance and innovation. Her vocal style, performing, make up, costumes, stage arts and lighting sets during the performance are all unique. This paper will focus on two questions that why Jingju Master Li Weikang has a large number of fans and whether she can form a new school. From the three aspects, which including her acting career, the characteristics of her vocal style and performing arts and the conditions required for forming a new school, this paper analyses and discusses Li Weikang’s inheritance and innovation of Jingju arts, as well as her contribution to the development of Jingju.
This paper will analyse and discuss Li Weikang’s singing skills, vocal style, performance, makeup, costumes, stage scenery, lighting sets and other aspects in combination with the analysis of her signature repertories. Based on the above analysis, this paper will compare and contrast the subjective and objective conditions of forming Jingju schools, from the literatures on the development of Jingju, to evaluate and analyse whether Li Weikang meets the conditions of forming an independent school. Meanwhile, in light of the social environment of contemporary China, the dynamics and resistance of forming of a new Jingju school are further evaluated. This paper concludes with answers to the two questions raised at the beginning, based on the above analytical conclusions.
Xinying Zhong
School of Communication, Shenzhen University, Ph.D student
Title:
The Most Beautiful Harmony: A New Path for International Communication of Chinese Stories: An Examination of International Student Choirs
Abstracts:
In the context of globalization, the shaping and dissemination of national image is the key to measuring the soft power of a country and an important aspect of international exchange. With the increase of international exchanges, the traditional way of national image communication is developing towards diversification and innovation. Taking the “Cloud” choir as an example, this study explores how the choir spreads China's story through music and Chinese singing, and becomes a new platform for cross-cultural exchanges and national image dissemination. Using case studies and content analysis, the study combines theories of communication, cross-cultural communication and social identity to analyze how the choir presents Chinese stories to the international community visually and emotionally through music. The study finds that the choir, as a platform for cross-cultural communication, promotes the cultural adaptation and identity of international students and enhances their understanding of China through musical art and emotional expression. By utilizing the “music + Chinese” model, the choir successfully portrayed the image of China and aroused emotional resonance through original stories and multimodal narratives. The study also points out that choirs should adjust their performance strategies according to different cultural environments, and utilize VR, AR, AI and other technologies to enhance the effect of cultural communication. In the era of globalization, international student choirs not only promote cross-cultural exchanges, but also contribute to the building of a community of human destiny and the international recognition of the national image, demonstrating the innovative and diversified nature of China's national image communication.
Yukiyo Hoshino
Nagoya University, Professor
Title:
Performing Arts Exchange in the Absence of Sino-Japanese Diplomatic Relations: Focusing on the Reaction of The White-Haired Girl in the Japanese Workers' Journal
Abstract:
Even though Japan and China did not have formal diplomatic ties from the 1950s to 1972, there were many instances of cultural exchange. How were these exchanges conducted, and what kind of cultural production and exchange of ideas took place? With this question in mind, this study takes up the Matsuyama Ballet Company's The White-Haired Girl, an adaptation of the Chinese opera, as a case study to examine how Japanese laborers evaluated The White-Haired Girl (WHG)” at the time. We are highlighting the ballet WHG because it represents the Japanese's affinity for China and Chinese literature and art during no formal diplomatic relations. Japan's achievement in adapting the opera WHG into a ballet is noteworthy, as it later became one of the Model Operas during the Cultural Revolution.
This paper utilizes the magazines of the Laborers' Music Council as the new material. Since Ro-On had branches throughout Japan at the time, we'll concentrate on the branches in the capital, Tokyo and Nagoya, the largest city in central Japan. The Laborers' Music Council, or Ro-On for short, was an organization formed voluntarily by Japanese workers in the 1949-60s to organize stage performances and to make them available to laborers at low cost. Tokyo Ro-On was founded in 1953, one of the first Ro-Ons in Japan, and its journal was called Hibiki(which means “echo”). Founded in 1955, Nagoya Ro-On's journal was known as Harmony. According to the articles in these journals, Nagoya Ro-On organized a WHG performance in 1959, and Tokyo organized one in 1961.
In summarizing the audience response to WHG, it is evident that although there are regional differences, labor members are impressed by the story and also appreciate its value in responding to their workers' needs for expression. Tokyo Ro-On members had stronger demands for performers, which echoed Mao Zedong's Talks at the Yan'an Conference on Literature and Art. It is said that Tokyo Ro-On's policy around 1960 was based on the Talks at the Yan'an Conference on Literature and Art. For instance, the article about WHG in Hibiki referred to Lu Xun Institute's Academy of Arts in Yan’an, which created the opera WHG, which is not covered by Harmony. Therefore, it can be said that Hibiki was able to accurately portray the role of WHG in the ideology of the People's Republic of China more clearly than Harmony. It should be noted that not only the creators, but also many Japanese laborers at the time understood that the ballet WHG was not just expressing a simple desire for the liberation of oppressed people, but rather conveying Mao's ideology.
