NOTES ON CHIUCHOW OPERA (MA)
HELGA WERLE
Ms. Helga Werle, whose article on Chiuchow (in Mandarin Chao-chou) puppets appeared in the 1973 Journal, describes two typical plays of the Chiuchow opera, and gives background information about this particular regional theatre of China. Ed.
In urbanized Hong Kong today one can see a performance of Chiuchow Opera at City Hall or Lee theatre two or three times a year, but the traditional purpose of this opera is the shen-kung hsi—a performance to celebrate the birthday of a deity. Many areas of Hong Kong have their organized Chiuchow communities centred upon the temple of a certain deity.
The Chiuchows have innumerable deities, often completely different from the Cantonese. Some of those worshipped in Hong Kong with temples erected in their names are:
Li-shan lao-mu
T'ai-i chen-ren
Li lao-ch'un 李老君
Ch'i t'in ta-sheng
San-shan kuo-wang
San t'ai-tze lao-yeh
Mu-ch'a Chin-ch'a and No-ch'a called the three princes "san t'ai-tze", the three sons of Li Ching 李靖
Han Chung-kung
To ensure the prosperity of each temple community the birthday of its deity must be properly celebrated. The most outstanding members of the community are chosen to form the prestigious festival committee, which has the duty to collect the necessary amount of money (between 50 and 100,000 HK$) to organize a worthy celebration. And what could rejoice a god's heart more than the luxury of a series of opera performances? After the dates are decided with the consent of the deity involved a large space is booked with a Government office (usually a public playground),
Plates 5-12 at rear of the volume illustrate this article.