Mushroom opera (菇民戏) in Qingyuan County, Zhejiang, China - 1 (of 4)
A performance of mushroom opera (gu min xi, 菇民戏), also known as Yingchuan luantan (英川乱弹) or Erdou xi (二都戏), in Qingyuan County (庆元县), Lishui (丽水), southwestern Zhejiang province, southeastern China, near the border with Fujian province.
This form of opera is believed to have originated in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and became especially popular in the late Qing Dynasty. The spoken portions are in Qingyuan dialect, and, at present, all of the roles appear to be played by women. Qingyuan, which is famous throughout China for its unspoiled environment, has long been renowned as a mushroom-growing area. Mushrooms are essential to the economy of this area, and local residents claim they originated there. Performances of mushroom opera are dedicated to the Mushroom Deity (菇神).
This performance was filmed on Sunday, December 4, 2011 by Dr. Terry E. Miller, emeritus professor of ethnomusicology at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States. It took place at the Xiyang Temple (西洋殿), an important, ancient temple dedicated to the Mushroom Deity (菇神庙会) located in Wudabao Township (五大堡乡), Qingyuan County, during the 4th Chinese Lounge Bridge International Academic Seminar (Qingyuan) (第四届中国廊桥国际学术（庆元）研讨会), an international conference on covered bridges. Qingyuan is also famous for its covered bridges, and is home to a covered bridge museum. Not far from the Xiyang Temple is a striking woven timber arch covered bridge, called the Lanxi Bridge (兰溪桥), which was built in 1575, rebuilt in 1795, moved to its present location in 1983 when a dam was built.
The Xiyang temple, which is the largest temple dedicated to the Mushroom Deity, has a built-in stage facing the altar and statue of the Mushroom Deity, with little space for spectators. The stage is entered from a surrounding wooden balcony, where the musicians play, on stage right in the balcony. The musical instruments used for accompaniment include huqins (banhu, jinghu, and erhu), dizi, pipa, suona, and a variety of small percussion. As a form of luantan (乱弹), the melodies that are used in mushroom opera include xipi (西皮), yin diao (阴调), erhuang (二簧), wengong (文宫), fangong (反宫), etc.
The performance is discussed at the following links:
And an earlier article, from 2007, also mentions the mushroom opera: