Shajiabang (opera) explained

T2:	蘆蕩火種
S2:	芦荡火种
Also Known As:	Sparks amid the Reeds
P2:	Lúdàng Huǒzhòng
C:	沙家浜
P:	Shājiābāng
W:	Sha^1-chia^1-pang^1

Shajiabang (Chinese: 沙家浜, also Shachiapang);^{[1] [2]} first produced under the title Sparks Amid the Reeds,^[3] is a Chinese revolutionary opera and one of the eight "model plays" permitted during the Cultural Revolution.^{[4] [5] [6]}

Production

It was first produced as a Shanghai opera entitled Sparks amid the Reeds (芦荡火种) or Emerald Water and Red Flags in 1958 by the Hu Opera Troupe.^{[7] [8]} In October 1963, the First Peking Opera Company adapted it as a Peking opera. Mao Zedong saw it in 1964 and asked that the title be changed, as sparks would not set wet reeds alight, so it was named after its setting, the town of Shajiabang ("sands family creek").^[9] Jiang Qing (Mao's wife, a leading figure in the Cultural Revolution), insisted that the role of the Red Army political commissar be expanded.^[10] The dance routines were also revised, the opera not reaching its final form until 1970.^{[11] [7]} Wang Zengqi also contributed to it.^{[12] [13]}

Synopsis

Set during the Second Sino-Japanese War ("War of Resistance", early 1940s) in Japanese-ruled territory west of Shanghai. Shajiabang is a town by Yangcheng Lake. Sister Aqing runs a teahouse visited by officers of a Chinese collaborationist group; unbeknownst to them, she is a member of the Chinese Communist Party, and is helping wounded soldiers of the New Fourth Army who are hiding in the marshes.

Legacy

Shajiabang was made into a film in 1971 by the Changchun Film Studio, and the score has also been performed as a "revolutionary symphony."^[14]

An exhibition hall of Shajiabang's revolutionary history was opened in 1988, and expanded in 2006.^{[15] [16]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts. United States Central Intelligence. Agency. February 16, 1966. Google Books.
2. Web site: Shachiapang: A Modern Revolutionary Peking Opera. Rev. Collectively by the Peking Opera Troupe of Peking, May 1970 Script. February 16, 1972. Foreign Languages Press. Google Books.
3. "Shachiapang": Strive to Portray Proletarian Heroes of People's War. 1971. The Drama Review: TDR. 15. 2. 270–273. JSTOR. 10.2307/1144651. 1144651.
4. News: Why This Nostalgia For Fruits of Chaos?. Sheila. Melvin. Jindong. Cai. The New York Times. October 29, 2000.
5. Web site: Shajiabang；沙家浜 » Productions 作品 » Digital Library of Chinese Theatre 中国戏剧资料库. chinesetheatre.leeds.ac.uk.
6. Book: Chen, Xiaomei. Acting the Right Part: Political Theater and Popular Drama in Contemporary China. January 31, 2002. University of Hawaii Press. 9780824824839. Google Books.
7. Book: McDougall, Bonnie S.. Popular Chinese Literature and Performing Arts in the People's Republic of China, 1949-1979. May 18, 2018. Univ of California Press. 9780520301917. Google Books.
8. Web site: Opera gives delta town a reason to be proud - Chinadaily.com.cn. epaper.chinadaily.com.cn.
9. Web site: Elementary Chinese. Defense Language. Institute (U.S.). February 16, 1977. Defense Language Institute. Google Books.
10. Book: Yaping, Ding. General History of Chinese Film II: 1949–1976. October 26, 2021. Routledge. 9781000434873. Google Books.
11. Web site: Shajiabang - maozhang.net. www.maozhang.net.
12. Book: Encyclopedia of China, Vol. 22 (2nd edition, 中国大百科全书（第二版）第22册). Encyclopedia of China Publishing House. 2009. 978-7-500-07958-3. 576–577.
13. Deng. Youmei. 漫忆汪曾祺. Free Forum of Literature (文学自由谈). zh. 1997 . 5. 98–105.
14. Book: Chingchih, Liu. A Critical History of New Music in China. July 20, 2010. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. 9789629969707. Google Books.
15. Web site: Memorial Hall of Shajiabang Revolutionary History.
16. Book: Denton, Kirk A.. Exhibiting the Past: Historical Memory and the Politics of Museums in Postsocialist China. December 31, 2013. University of Hawaii Press. 9780824840068. Google Books.