Chinesetoday | Art Rooted in Paddy Fields: Yangxi Opera Artists in Sw China's Chongqing - 16 May 2024

Yangxi Opera artist Chen Yongxia (1st R) and fellow troupe members talk about their performance in Qingquan Village of Tonggu Township, Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, southwest China's Chongqing, May 16, 2024. In Qingquan Village of Tonggu Township in Youyang, there is a group of opera artists consisting of local farmers of an average age of nearly 70, who perform the ancient Yangxi Opera on the courtyards and dams as the stage, and among the paddy fields, mountains and forests as their background in the village about 1,000 meters above sea level surrounded by mountains and waters. Around the time of May, the white-haired opera troupe members plant rice seedlings in the paddy fields as their routine work, when the day's work draws to a close, Chen Yongxia, one of the leading artists, is heard singing Yangxi Opera in his resonant voice that echos in the mountains. After washing off the soil on their bodies and putting away farming tools, the artists sit around a sweet cinnamon tree in front of Chen's house that provides a refreshing place to have a nice rest in the busy farming season, also an area for the opera troupe to rehearse. Every time the troupe receives an invitation to perform Yangxi Opera, Chen will gather the artists from the paddy fields, discuss the repertoire, assign roles, change costumes and put on masks, then rehearse the plays telling stories about great heroes and heroines. Youyang Yangxi Opera, also known as Youyang Tujia Masked Yangxi Opera, is a local opera of Youyang with a long history. When local people of Tujia ethnic group encounter major events in their lives, they usually invite a troupe to perform Yangxi Opera. The performance will last for one to three days. The performers will choose the corresponding repertoires according to different occasions as domestic events like wedding, funeral, birthday, recovering from illness, coming to age, public affairs like praying for rain, even to celebrate when a local student topping certain important exams. Most of the roles