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Abstract
This study explores traditional Chinese oral performance in a contemporary urban environment and is based on fieldwork on gezai xi in Singapore between 2004 and 2018. Gezai xi is a genre of highly improvisational plays performed in Hokkien (Minnan 閩南) language. While the genre was quite popular in Singapore from the 1930s to 1970s, the later language policy of privileging Mandarin and English over local languages and dialects has challenged the relevance of gezai xi performance in Singapore. How do performers of recent years learn gezai xi? What is the role of oral transmission, improvisation, and dependence on “fixed texts”1 in the education of young performers and in their daily preparations for the stage? Reading and writing seem to play only a minor role in the process of putting on a play. However, how individual performers learn their art and prepare for performance depends on the performer’s degree of literacy. In the period after the 1970s, the dependency on aural and visual “fixed texts,” such as cassette-tapes, CDs, and videos, has had a great impact on education and rehearsal practices, while written or printed texts – apart from the taishu [stage outline] – seem marginal for this art.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Margaret Wan, editor of CHINOPERL, for making this article possible. I would like to express my gratitude to the two anonymous reviewers for greatly improving the presentation of this paper. I would also like to thank Associate Editor Vibeke Børdahl for offering her expertise and her meticulous guidance; I definitely learned a lot from her valuable comments.
Notes
1 By the term ‘fixed text,’ I want to clarify the difference with ‘oral tradition,’ where an art form is transmitted by oral/aural communication and the words are ever changing for each performance or communication. A ‘fixed text,’ on the contrary, is stable and does not change each time it is consulted or heard, be it a written document (a novel, a script, personal notes, etc.) or a performance on cassette-tape, CD, video, radio, or TV. I am grateful to Vibeke Børdahl for suggesting this very useful concept as a framework for my analysis.
2 The term ‘Hokkien’ originally referred to people living in the region of Fujian. ‘Hokkien’ is a transliteration of the Mandarin term ‘Fujian’ 福建 in the Minnan/Hokkien language. However, in modern usage Hokkien refers specifically to the population of southern Fujian and migratory communities residing outside mainland China. Hokkien terms will appear frequently throughout this paper. For Hokkien romanization included in this article, I adopt the Pe̍h-ōe-jī 白話字 system as it has been used to document the Hokkien vernacular since the nineteenth century. Also, as so far there is no standardization of Singapore Hokkien, I referred to the Penang Hokkien dictionary due to relative similarity and geographical proximity. There is occasional reference to the Taiwanese Hoklo dictionary when regional tones differ in the Penang version. See Taiwan Minnanyu changyongci cidian 台灣閩南語常用詞詞典, http://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/default.jsp, last accessed 12 September 2018. For non-English terms, I will provide the English translation, followed by the Hanyu pinyin, Chinese term and Hokkien romanization (if available and commonly used) in parentheses, unless otherwise stated. H: indicates Hokkien romanization. The names of Singaporean performers are written in transliterated Hokkien spelling (if available/known) whereas the names of their Taiwanese counterparts are written according to the Wade-Giles spelling.
3 Sin Sai Hong was disbanded in 2014; many of its members have now joined Xiao Dong Tian, a new troupe established not long after Sin Sai Hong was disbanded. In March 2018, I further interviewed some members of Shuang Ming Feng.
4 Bell Yung, “Reconstructing a Lost Performance Context: A Field Work Experiment,” CHINOPERL Papers 6.1 (1976): 120, 123–26.
5 For a more detailed study of potehi in Singapore, see Caroline Chia, “Potehi in Singapore,” in Potehi: Glove Puppet Theatre in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, eds. Kaori Fushiki and Robin Ruizendaal (Taiyuan: Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, 2016), pp. 65–80.
6 The term “氣口” (H: khuì-kháu) here, which means “manner of speech” (kouqi 口氣), is commonly used in the Taiwanese language (Taiyu 台語) and theater. Chen Long-ting 陳龍廷, Ting budai xi: Yi ge Taiwan koutou wenxue yanjiu 聽布袋戲: 一個台灣口頭文學研究 (Gaoxiong shi: Chunhui chubanshe, 2008), p. 132.
7 Chen Long-ting, Ting budai xi, pp. 158–59.
8 Lin Ho-Yi also compared gezai xi with the Italian commedia dell’arte; see Lin Ho-Yi 林鶴宜, Dongfang jixing juchang: Gezai xi ‘zuo huo xi’, Shangbian: Gezai xi jixing xiju yanjiu (Vol. 1) 東方即興劇場：歌仔戲 ‘做活戲,’上編： 歌仔戲即興戲劇研究 (Taibei: Taida chuban zhongxin, 2016), pp. 27–29, 43–45, 47–63.
9 Ibid., 1: 228–29.
10 Researcher and theater enthusiast Xu Yongshun 許永順 has collated many primary sources including newspaper articles, interviews and pictures on various theatrical forms in Singapore. See Xu Yongshun, Xinjiapo Fujianxi jishi 新加坡福建戲紀實 (Singapore: Xu Yongshun gongzuo chang, 2013); Xu Yongshun, Xinjiapo Fujianxi: 1963–2005 新加坡福建戲: 1963–2005 (Singapore: Jiucai ba chenghuang miao lianyihui, 2007).
11 In 2015, Tsai Hsin-hsin provided a detailed study of Taiwanese Bo Hua Troupe 柏華閩劇團 who travelled to Singapore to perform in the 1960s. See Tsai Hsin-hsin 蔡欣欣, “1960 niandai Taiwan gezai xi ‘Bo Hua Minju tuan’ Xinjiapo yanchu yinji kaosuo” 1960 年代台灣歌仔戲 “柏華閩劇團” 新加坡演出印記考索, Xiju xuekan 戲劇學刊 (Taipei Theater Journal), 21 (2015): 97–134.
12 Shen Huiru 沈惠如, “Lun Taiwan gezai xi yu Xinjiapo de jiaoliu” 論台灣歌仔戲與新加坡的交流, in Qiu Yue Dui Ge: Taiwan Xinjiapo gezai xi de fazhan yu jiaoliu yantaohui lunwenji 秋月對歌：台灣新加坡歌仔戲的發展與交流研討會論文集, ed. Taibei shi Xiandai Xiqu Wenjiao Xiehui臺北市現代戲曲文教協會 (Taibei: Wenjianhui, 1998), pp. 52–54.
13 For the study of gezai xi in Malaysia, see Lin Ho-Yi, “Hunza yu jiaorong de ‘chuantong’ xiangxiang; Malaixiya zaidi zhiye xiban ‘Qilin’ Minju tuan gezai xi jumu ji yanchu guancha” 混雜與交融的 ‘傳統’想像：馬來西亞在地職業戲班‘麒麟’閩劇團歌仔戲劇目及演出觀察, Minsu quyi 民俗曲藝 198 (December 2017): 63–126.
14 Lin Ho-Yi, “Cong yanchu jumu kan Xinjiapo zaidi zhiye jutuan dui Taiwan gezai xi de jieshou he chuangfa—yi ‘Xin Sai Feng’ wei li” 從演出劇目看新加坡在地職業劇團對臺灣歌仔戲的接受和創發—以 ‘新賽風’爲例, Minsu quyi 191 (March 2016): 5–70.
15 According to Lin, although many of the Sin Sai Hong plays were influenced by gezai xi shown on Taiwanese television and only the general structure was adapted, some verses were copied down word for word and memorized. No examples were given though. See Lin Ho-Yi, “Cong yanchu jumu kan Xinjiapo,” pp. 47–48.
16 Hsieh Hsiao Mei, “Across the Strait: History, Performance, and Gezai xi in China and Taiwan,” (Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 2008), p. 236.
17 For the indoor type of performance of gezai xi, some of my informants report the use of full-length scripts. Unlike the performers in the outdoor theater type who perform for a living, these indoor theater performers are mostly amateurs. As the focus of this paper is on the outdoor type, I shall not elaborate in great detail.
18 According to the statistics on the religious faith of Singaporeans, practicing Taoists accounted for 38.2% of the population in 1980, but in 2010 dropped to 14.4%. Those with no religion increased from 16.4% in 1980 to 21.8% in 2010. See Table 2.3 in Lai Ah Eng ed., Religious Diversity in Singapore, (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies jointly with Institute of Policy Studies, 2008), p. 39; and Census of Population 2010, Table 2 “Resident Population aged 15 years and over by Religion and Ethnic Group,” Singapore Department of Statistics, https://www.singstat.gov.sg/-/media/files/publications/cop2010/census_2010_release1/cop2010sr1.pdf, last accessed 21 August 2018.
19 In this paper, I refer to the Minnan group in Singapore as “Hokkien” but for the discussion of gezai xi, I will avoid using terms such as “Fujianxi” 福建戲 or “Minju” 閩劇 as the latter refers to Fuzhou opera in Fujian. See also Wu Yuting 吳羽婷 et al, Xi pin zhen wei: Xinjiapo Fujianxi de jiupei yu xinniang (1997–2015) 戲品珍味：新加坡福建戲的舊醅與新釀 (Singapore: Yi An Ligong Xueyuan, 2015), which uses the terms ‘Hokkien opera’ and ‘Fujianxi’ to refer to gezai xi.
20 It was believed that the term ‘gezai’ was changed to ‘Jin songs’ (Jin ge 錦歌) when China implemented revolutionary changes to the theatrical scene (xiqu gaige 戲曲改革) in 1951. See Lin Ho-Yi, Taiwan xiju shi 台灣戲劇史 (Taibei: Guoli Taiwan Daxue chuban zhongxin, 2015), p. 163.
21 A number of scholars have provided varying accounts on the prototype of gezai xi. For example, Lin Ho-Yi mentioned amateur performers (zidi 子弟) whereas Chiu Kun-liang stated the performance was conducted by blind singers (jianghu mang yiren 江湖盲藝人). I have decided to categorize these performers as ‘folk performers’ to avoid further confusion. See Lin Ho-Yi, Taiwan gezai xi 台灣歌仔戲 (Taibei: Xinzhengyuan Xinwenju chuban, 2000), pp. 9–10; Chiu Kun-liang 邱坤良, Rizhi shiqi Taiwan xiju zhi yanjiu (1895–1945): Jiuju yu xinju 日治時期台灣戲劇之研究 (1895–1945): 舊劇與新劇 (Taibei: Zili Wanbao wenhua chubanbu, 1992), pp. 183–186. Most scholars agree that gezai xi originated in Ilan. See Hsu Lisha 徐麗紗 and Lin Liang-che 林良哲, Cong rizhi shiqi changpian kan Taiwan gezai xi, Vol. 1, Tansuo pian 從日治時期唱片看臺灣歌仔戲，第1冊： 探索篇 (Yilan: Guoli chuantong yishu zhongxin, 2007), p. 43.
22 Hsu Lisha and Lin Liang-che, Cong rizhi shiqi changpian kan Taiwan gezai xi, p. 43.
23 Angela Chan, “Fujian opera in Singapore: Cases of Oral History” (Honors Thesis, National University of Singapore, 2000), p. 12. For a brief overview of Gaojia xi opera troupes in Singapore, see Yee Sok Kiang 余淑娟, “Ya su de duihua—Xinjiapo Minnan xiqu biaoyan de jieshou fenxi” 雅俗的對話—新加坡閩南戲曲表演的接受分析, in 2009 International Conference on Min-nan Culture, ed. Ch’en I-yüan 陳益源 (Tainan shi: Chengda zhongwen xi, 2009), pp. 712, 714.
24 From 1881 onwards, the Hokkien population in Singapore grew from 28.8% to 37.6% in 1891 while the other regional speech groups have little significant change over the same period. See Cheng Lim Keak, Social Change and the Chinese in Singapore: A Socio-economic Geography with Special Reference to Bang Structure (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1985), Table 2.1, p. 14. Regarding the reference of ‘Hokkien’ to people from southern Fujian, scholars have attributed the reason to the prominence of the Hokkien group, especially their involvement in maritime trade and socio-economic status in Southeast Asia. See Ng Chin-keong, Trade and Society: The Amoy Network on the China Coast, 1683–1735 (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1983), p. 2; and Naosaku Uchida, The Overseas Chinese: A Bibliographical Essay Based on the Resources of the Hoover Institution (Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, Stanford University, 1959), p. 31.
25 Lisa Lim, “Migrants and ‘mother tongues’: Extralinguistic forces in the ecology of English in Singapore, in English in Singapore: Modernity and Management, eds. Lisa Lim, Anne Pakir, and Lionel Wee (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2010), p. 24.
26 Phyllis Chew, A Sociolinguistic History of Early Identities in Singapore: From Colonialism to Nationalism (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), p. 44. Definitions of words with possible Hokkien origin are also taken from Merriam Webster Dictionary.
27 Zhou Ning 周寧, Dongnanya huayu xiju shi 東南亞華語戲劇史, vol. 2 (Xiamen: Xiamen daxue chuban she, 2007), p. 498.
28 Gwee Bock Huat, National Archives of Singapore, Accession No. 002985/19 (2005–2006), p. 39.
29 Chor Boon Goh and S. Gopinathan, “The Development of Education in Singapore since 1965,” in Toward a Better Future: Education and Training for Economic Development in Singapore since 1965, ed. Sing-Kong Lee (Washington, D.C.: World Bank Publications, 2008), pp. 12–14.
30 C.J. Wan-ling Wee, The Asia Modern: Culture, Capitalist Development, Singapore (Singapore: NUS Press, 2007), p. 58.
31 Thompson Teo and Vivien Lim, Language Planning and Social Transformation Strategies to Promote Speak Mandarin Campaign in Singapore (Singapore: Faculty of Business Administration, National University of Singapore, 2002), p. 3.
32 Teo and Lim, Language Planning, 3; Terence Chong, The Theatre and the State in Singapore: Orthodoxy and Resistance (London: New York, NY: Routledge, 2011), p. 70.
33 Teo and Lim, Language Planning, pp. 2–3.
34 Evangelos A. Afendras, Language and Society in Singapore (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1980), pp. 49–50.
35 “Address by the Prime Minister Mr. Lee Kuan Yew at the Opening Ceremony of the ‘Promote the Use of Mandarin’ Campaign on 7 Sep 79 at Singapore Conference Hall,” http://mandarin.org.sg/en/∼/media/smc/documents/goh%20pm%20lee%20kwan%20yew_smc%20launch%20speech_070979.pdf , accessed 12 July 2015.
36 Speak Mandarin Campaign, http://mandarin.org.sg/en/about/milestones/, accessed 12 July 2015.
37 The Promote Mandarin Council, Hua ren, Hua yu, Hua wen [Mandarin: The Chinese Connection] (Singapore: Tui guang huayu lishihui, 2000).
38 An example was yangqin 揚琴 (struck zither) player Gwee Ling Kiat, aged 25, who intended to leave the opera troupe but was held back by his lack of English skills. See Arnold Perris, “Chinese Wayang: The Survival of Chinese Opera in the Streets of Singapore,” Ethnomusicology 22.2 (May 1978): 301.
39 A female bank officer said, “I have never sat through a wayang (theater) show, simply because I don’t understand what’s going on. I think it is a bore and the noisy banging of gongs and clashing of cymbals is a vexation.” Another interviewee said, “Hokkien wayangs I don’t go for anymore. The performances frequently infuse crude, sometimes vulgar language into their lines.” Another said, “The noise can be irritating if the stage is near one’s home.” Perris, “Chinese Wayang,” p. 303.
40 Compared to other opera types of the various regional groups in Singapore, gezai xi is a relatively popular theatrical form because there is still a fairly large group of Hokkien-speaking middle-aged and elderly people.
41 Gezai xi performances are staged in the day and at night. In the past, the duration of performances could last three to four hours each time. Particularly before Singapore gained independence in the 1960s, the day performance could run from 12 to 3 or 4 P.M. and the night performance could last from 8 P.M. to midnight. However, due to state noise control regulations and the decreasing enthusiasm of the audience, day performances usually last from 2 to 4 P.M. with night performances from 7:30 or 8 to 10 P.M.
42 This information is gathered from various Hokkien performers such as Ong Lipeng and Goh Guat Beng of the Shuang Ming Feng Troupe, and Goh Swee Theng 吳瑞丁 of the Chew Yee 秋藝 Troupe.
43 This is similar to the expression “shuo si shu” 說死書 in Yangzhou storytelling; see Vibeke Børdahl, The Oral Tradition of Yangzhou Storytelling (Surrey: Curzon Press, 1996), p. 461. Similar terminology is also used in drum songs (dagu 大鼓). See Da Lin, “Heluo dagu chuantong dashu xuan (Selected Traditional Grand Stories from Heluo Drumsinging): An Attempt to Negotiate between the Fixed and Plastic Aspects of Chinese Traditional Narrative Oral Literature” CHINOPERL 35.2 (Dec. 2016): 134–42.
44 Both the traditions of Huju (Shanghai opera) and gezai xi in Singapore rely on preparation of the story by the troupe leader and construction of a stage outline to tell the story. See Jonathan Stock, “Learning “Huju” in Shanghai: 1900–1950: Apprenticeship and the Acquisition of Expertise in a Chinese Local Opera Tradition,” Asian Music, 33.2 (Spring/Summer 2002): 12.
45 The performers are more relaxed with the day performance. The night performance is regarded as more important because there is a bigger group of spectators. Night performances sometimes include the “star performers,” that is, the Taiwanese performers.
46 Lin Ho-Yi states that the jiangxi system has facilitated the popular dissemination of lively plays, which then become the repertoire of gezai xi troupes. Lin Ho-Yi, Dongfang jixing juchang: Gezai xi ‘Zuo huoxi’, 1: 124.
47 The term “fu nei” is constantly cited by Lin as the knowledge possessed by experienced performers. She also relates such knowledge to the ability to give instructions for the performance of gezai xi. Lin Ho-Yi, Dongfang jixing juchang: Gezai xi ‘Zuo huoxi,’ 1: 125.
48 According to Lin Ho-Yi, the gezai xi troupes in Singapore still maintain the system of taishu that was used in the early form of indoor theater (neitai 内台) back in Taiwan. Lin claims that this system is not used as much in Taiwan today. Lin Ho-Yi, “Cong yanchu jumu kan Xinjiapo,” p. 59.
49 Lin’s observation also noted that the notebooks of gezai xi performers in Taiwan formed the basis of our understanding of the “stomach” (fu nei) or absorbed competence. Lin Ho-Yi, Dongfang jixing juchang, Vol. 1, pp. 164–65.
50 This was my experience when interviewing Mrs. Guo Laidi, who reminded me not to share or take photos of the more complete scripts/notes that her husband Mr. Guo Wenhe had prepared. Mrs. Guo Laidi, Personal interview, 28 July 2013. Other performers also avoided responding when I asked to see their notebooks.
51 I am using only the example given by the Do Opera group. More research ought to be conducted for a more well-rounded understanding of the indoor type of gezai xi. Jenny See, Personal interviews, 22 July and 17 August 2018.
52 We see an increasing number of younger performers with full-time jobs performing for street theater because of their interest in gezai xi. They are also flexible about participating in indoor theater. One example is Stacy Ong, who will be profiled later in this paper.
53 One exception was Danson Ong, who was in his teens when he was a member of the Sin Sai Hong Troupe. I did not interview Danson during that time.
54 Goh Guat Beng, Personal interview, 5 February 2015.
55 In accordance with the improvisational nature of gezai xi, full-length scripts exist but are rarely used backstage or as part of the rehearsal. When I visited the Sin Sai Hong Troupe in 2006, I caught a glimpse of the cover of a full-length script but not the contents. Other performers also mentioned full-length scripts but were not able to present them to me. This situation is consistent with my encounters with performers who preferred to keep their personal notes to themselves, indicating that individual performers may rely on written notes or short scripts for their training but do not share these with others.
56 The origin of this song is unknown. Taiwanese performer Chang Li-chun 張麗春, who is based in Malaysia and occasionally performed in Singapore, mentioned that she did not learn this song. However, Tsai Tsin-Tsin mentioned that this song is commonly learned, and included a version found in Ch’en Hsiu-Chih’s 陳秀枝 hand-copied notebook: 清早起來鬧猜猜，老身仔起來給它掛，招牌掛落真彩彩，坐落等候客官來 (H: Chheng chá khí lâi nāu chhai chhai, láu-sin-á khí lâi kā i kuà, chiau-pâi kuà lóh chin chhái chhái, chē lo̍h tán-hāu khe·h kuan lâi). See Tsai Tsin-Tsin 蔡欣欣, “Shilun dianji gezai xi huoxi yangfen de ‘zhen ben gezai’ Shanbo Yingtai” 試論奠基歌仔戲活戲養分的真本歌仔山伯英臺, Minsu quyi 181 (September 2013): 133. For a similar variation (only the first line is the same), see also Chen Chin-chuan 陳進傳, Yilan bendi gezai: Chen Wang-Tsung shengming jishi 宜蘭本地歌仔：陳旺欉生命紀實 (Taipei: Guoli chuantong yishu zhongxin, 2000), p. 221.
57 Although the Chinese character “dou” means “to compete,” the term is used in gezai xi to indicate rhyming.
58 Danson Ong, Personal interview, 8 April 2013. This was especially the case in Taiwan during the early period of training from the 1930s up till the mid-twentieth century. Tsai notes the publication of “gezai handbooks” (gezai ce 歌仔冊) in the 1930s and 1950s and “real/actual version of gezai” (zhenben gezai 真本歌仔 or zhengben gezai 正本歌仔) comprised of sections of four lines with seven characters in each line (sijulian 四句聯), which later expanded to eight lines (bajulian 八句聯). These “fixed texts” were learned by heart to form the “stomach” of the performer, who could then apply them to future performances (taoyong 套用 or huoyong 活用). Tsai Tsin-Tsin, “Shilun dianji gezai xi huoxi yangfen de ‘zhen ben gezai’ Shanbo Yingtai”, pp. 97–166.
59 The older generation of gezai xi performers recalled having to train their voices before learning how to sing and project their voices.
60 There are more syllables in this line, which is recited to a faster beat, particularly for “covered in a red cloth.”
61 There is no clear indication whether the flower branch at line four refers to that worn by the groom at his chest or held by the bride. In line six, the groom is supposed to take off the veil for his bride. However, the bride might have waited such a long time that she felt uncomfortable and took the veil off herself.
62 Lin Ho-Yi also mentioned the same term. See Lin Ho-Yi, Dongfang jixing juchang, pp. 165n13 and 183.
63 Goh Guat Beng, Personal interview, 5 February 2015.
64 The name of the duma tune is believed to be derived from the Duma Troupe from Nanjing county 南靖县 in Zhangzhou, southern Fujian.
65 This remark is made by Taiwanese performers Ling Pi-Hsia and Chang Lichun. Chang Lichun, Personal interview, 9 March 2013; Ling Pi-Hsia, Personal interview, 5 May 2013.
66 Lauri Honko, “Epics along the Silk Roads: Mental Text, Performance, and Written Codification,” Oral Tradition, 11.1 (1996): 8.
67 In her study of Laoting dagu, Iguchi Junko cites the example of Zhao Enchao 趙恩潮 (1941-). Growing up, Zhao was surrounded by local performance traditions including shadow plays, pingju 評劇, and drum songs (dagu), so after graduating from high school (a rarity in those days), he decided to become a performer. He learned many plays from his illiterate mother, who was a fan of the theater, and learned dagu from his blind teacher. Thus his early exposure to these forms was through oral transmission, although he wrote down the dagu his teacher performed as an aid to his own learning. Later he collected texts for performance and was involved in cultural work, becoming known as a rural composer (nongcun zuojia 農村作家). Iguchi suggests that for Zhao, the lines of the plays or ballads first existed as sounds rather than text; Zhao later “externalized” them in writing. Iguchi Junko 井口淳子, Zhongguo beifang nongcun de kouchuan wenhua: Shuochang de shu, wenben, biaoyan 中國北方農村的口傳文化: 說唱的書, 文本, 表演 (Xiamen: Xiamen daxue chuban she, 2003), pp. 81–84.
68 It is also important to note that the factor of familiarity with the storyline also plays a role. If the moderately and highly literate performers are familiar with the story, it is likely that they already possess many ready-made set pieces and stock phrases and require little reference to written materials.
69 From my observation between 2004 and 2006, some older troupes such as Sin Sai Hong have their own collection of scripts but these scripts are seldom used.
70 Based on the recollection of Goh Guat Beng, it appears that this particular full-length script of Shanbo and Yingtai was shared among members of the troupe, which is unlike the personal scripts mentioned earlier.
71 In Taiwan, Shanbo and Yingtai is regarded as an educational play (jiaoyu jumu 教育劇目) and performers are required to learn it verbatim. The play is treated as a classic, hence the content, including the verses and speech, has to be internalized for future use. See Lin Ho-Yi, Dongfang jixing juchang, pp. 159, 162. For a comparison of the performance of this play in Taiwan and Fujian, particularly the switch from stage outlines to playscripts due to political reform (xigai 戲改), see Hsiao-Mei Hsieh, “Where Have All the Different Butterfly Lovers Gone? The Homogenization of Local Theater as a Result of the Theater Reform in China as Seen in Gezai Xi/Xiangju,” CHINOPERL 30.1 (2011): 103–22.
72 See Wilt Idema, The Butterfly Lovers: The Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, Four Versions with Related Texts (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2010).
73 With reference to Rev. Carstairs Douglas, Dictionary of the Amoy Colloquial Language (London: Trübner & Co., 1873), p. 405.
74 Some performers in Lin Ho-Yi’s study of gezai xi in Taiwan, such as Wu Jin-jia 吳錦佳, also referred to themselves as non-literate (bu shi zi 不識字) and said that they have less ability to create new plays. However, Goh is categorized as a remarkable ‘instructor of plays’ (jiangxi ren 講戲人). See Lin Ho-Yi, Dongfang jixing juchang, 1: 126.
75 Goh TP also made a remark that by the 1980s, the teacher/xiansheng declined in importance because of the proliferation of modern media, such as cassette-tapes and TV, which allowed performers to learn on their own. Goh TP, Personal interview, 21 July 2018.
76 Cf. Lauri Honko, “Epics along the Silk Roads,” p. 5: “It is the power of mental images that translates into word power.”
77 The performance of Mulian Rescues His Mother by the Shuang Ming Feng Troupe differs significantly from the earlier Hokkien tradition transmitted from Quanzhou during the first half of the twentieth century. The performance will be discussed separately in another article.
78 Ling Pi-Hsia, Personal interview (Taipei), 26 September 2013.
79 Ling told me this but I did not have the opportunity to gain access to her notebook.
80 One group that performs such indoor gezai xi is Do Opera. According to the group leader, they create a script about eight to ten pages long for an excerpt that is performed for 20 minutes. This is then shared among members of the group. Jenny See, Personal interview, 22 July 2018.
81 English is used for the dissemination of gezai xi through social media. This is often done through Facebook, where photos and video clips of various troupes are uploaded. There are also Facebook groups established, for example, Singapore Hokkien Operas. These posts are in English, Chinese, or a mix of both and often available to the public.
82 These terms are used by Da Lin in her study of Heluo drumsinging (dagu) to denote the difference between the spontaneous use of lines and those that are supposed to be word-for-word verbatim. See Da Lin, “Heluo dagu chuantong dashu xuan (Selected Traditional Grand Stories from Heluo Drumsinging): An Attempt to Negotiate between the Fixed and Plastic Aspects of Chinese Traditional Narrative Oral Literature,” p. 140. Iguchi Junko also discusses the difference between ‘dead words’ (si ci 死詞), which are relatively fixed, and ‘flowing narrative’ (tangshu 淌水), which is extemporized. Iguchi Junko, Zhongguo beifang nongchun de kouchuan wenhua, pp. 96–99.
83 Personal interview, Chen Tsai-yun, 18 August 2014. Walter Ong first famously expressed this insight: “ … the oral utterance has vanished as soon as it is uttered.” Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. (London, New York: Routledge, 2002), p. 39.
84 “Zhang Li Mo” refers to the deities of the Zhang, Li and Mo residences respectively.
85 When I asked Art Ang, an amateur performer, about the set pieces she memorized, one of the lines included “苦讀十載寒窗” (H: khó· tha̍k si̍p chài hân chong).
86 The Hokkien pronunciation of “坐位” means “在位”, which refers to “sitting on the throne” as the ruling sovereign.
87 Goh Tai Peng mentioned that such stock phrases are “flexible” (huo 活) in that they can be applied whenever the need arises. Goh Tai Peng, Personal interview, 21 July 2018.
88 查某 here refers to woman. The less common extended version is “If people want to speak about this” (人慾講起來 H: lâng beh kóng khí-lâi).
89 Vibeke Børdahl, The Oral Tradition of Yangzhou Storytelling, pp. 240–41. See also Vibeke Børdahl and Jens Christian Sørensen, Research Database on Chinese Storytelling, www.shuoshu.org > Wu Song Collection > System > Stock phrases.
90 There seems to be some resemblance here to the different registers in Yangzhou storytelling. Børdahl has observed how the square mouth (fangkou 方口) is embellished with literary Chinese expressions and poems, has a high frequency of four- and six-syllable phrases, and has less room for improvisation. ‘Round mouth’ (yuankou 圓口), on the contrary, displays daily vernacular spoken style as well as low-style patois (tuyu 土語) and is open to improvisation. See Børdahl, The Oral Tradition of Yangzhou Storytelling, pp. 84–86.
91 花喜 here refers to being pregnant.
92 According to Lin’s list of the Sin Sai Hong repertoire, the story “Three women share one husband” was performed on the third day of the seventh lunar month in 2004. The show was instructed by Ch’en Chin-feng 陳金鳳 of the Ch’en Mei-Yün Troupe 陳美雲劇團. Lin categorizes it as a “generally popular and current play” (tongxing jumu 通行劇目), meaning that it has been widely known and performed, and is regarded as the “essence” of the theatrical form. Lin Ho-Yi, “Cong yanchu jumu kan Xinjiapo,” p. 34; see p. 50 for the term tongxing jumu.
93 Since the performers were not able to provide all the details of the story, I studied the stage outline closely and watched past recordings of the performance to guess at some of the details not given by the performers. Any errors in the presentation of this synopsis are my own.
94 ”Woodcutter” (chaifu 柴夫 H: chhâ hu) on the stage outline should probably refer to the sedan chair carrier.
95 The scene at the magistrate court changes to the scene of a sea later (as denoted by a smaller font “connected to sea” 連海 below) as Lin Shou prepares to jump into it to end his life.
96 “Two scenes connected” refers to scenes 14 and 15.
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Caroline Chia
Caroline Chia received her Ph.D. from University of Melbourne, Australia, in December 2016. From May to October 2016, she was awarded the Taiwan Fellowship and worked as an apprentice-researcher in traditional Chinese puppet carving in Taipei. Currently, she is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research focuses on traditional Chinese theater, centering on the interaction and correlation of contrasting but not necessarily opposing modes—orality and literacy, tradition and modernity, the religious and the secular, and local and transnational. Some of her recent publications appear in Asian Ethnology (2017) and Potehi: Glove Puppet Theatre in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, eds. Kaori Fushiki and Robin Ruizendaal (Taipei: Taiyuan Asian Puppet Theatre Museum, 2016). Her monograph Hokkien Theatre Across the Seas will be published in early 2019.