Tian Aiyun: Conserver and Exponent of Kaifeng Erjiaxian Opera

By+staff+reporter+JIAO+FENG

ERJIAXIAN Opera originates in folk melodies in the area covering western Shandong Province， eastern and northern Henan Province， northern Jiangsu Province and northern Anhui Province， where it is most popular. Its main musical accompaniment is the sihu， a musical instrument with four strings in two pairs， played with a horse tail hair bow in between. The instrument is hence also known as the erjiaxian， er meaning two， xian meaning string and jia meaning in between.

Kaifeng Erjiaxian Opera was listed in 2007 as national intangible cultural heritage. Tian Aiyun， a passionate performer， teacher and director of Erjiaxian Opera， was selected in 2008 as a national inheritor of this performance art. The honor， however， came at a difficult time. Tians husband was bedridden after suffering a stroke and needed constant care. The Erjiaxian School that Tian founded was on the brink of closure due to debts of more than RMB 100，000， even though she had sold her family home in efforts to keep it running. And the venue she rented for her opera troupes performances was soon to be demolished.

The Erjiaxian School

Tians family home is a standard courtyard dwelling. It comprises a yard big enough to park two cars， two single story dwellings on either side of the yard and a two-story house opposite the front gate. A staircase leads to the second floor， where stand three makeshift brick rooms. A white plate inscribed in black Chinese characters on the door to the middle room reads “Tian Aiyun Erjiaxian Opera Troupe， Kaifeng City.” Tian told me that she and her family had moved to the courtyard after her opera troupe disbanded at the end of 2008. The first floor has two storage rooms， and the three new rooms on the second floor serve as living room， bedroom and rehearsal room. “However， Ive heard that this courtyard is soon to be demolished， and Im not sure if I can find another place，” Tian said， obviously worried.

Tian had much to tell me about her establishment of the Erjiaxian school.

At the end of 2001， Tian， who had by then retired， was invited to perform in a theatrical program organized by Henan TV Station. Her performance of Erjiaxian Opera was warmly received by a group of staunch opera aficionados. “In 1984， with the merging of opera troupes， the Kaifeng Erjiaxian Opera Troupe was dissolved， so depriving Erjiaxian Opera lovers of its performances for years. After watching my show on TV， many of them wrote to me. One even traveled from Zhengzhou City especially to see me and say how he longed to see Erjiaxian Opera again，” Tian recalled. Deeply touched， she discussed with her family members the idea of setting up an Erjiaxian school， driven by the desire to save this traditional opera from extinction.

Tian took immediate action， and in the spring of 2002， raised RMB 5，000 to establish the school. She traveled to villages in northern and eastern Henan Province， where Erjiaxian Opera is particularly popular， to enroll students. But these are impoverished regions where to local families the RMB 6，000 per year tuition fee is a huge expenditure. With help from relatives and friends， Tian nevertheless enrolled 40 students， and in June 2002， classes began.

Tian rented a derelict factory warehouse as her school premises and employed colleagues from the former Erjiaxian Opera troupe as teachers. She also organized a general studies course for students. “Erjiaxian performers of my generation learned about opera and little else. But today children are required to learn other subjects. Our course includes English classes. I hope that one day my students will be able to perform Erjiaxian for international as well as Chinese audiences，” Tian said. Recalling her initial zeal， Tian couldnt help but smile. It never occurred to her that conserving Erjiaxian Opera would be such an all-consuming task.

Tian had deep affection for her first batch of students， but was strict and expended much energy on instructing them. The emphasis of traditional Erjiaxian Opera is on singing and acting， rather than on acrobatics. Since she had also studied Peking Opera and Yu ju Opera， Tian tried to combine some of their acrobatic aspects with the Erjiaxian style. With this in mind， she updated some old plays to give students a broader spectrum of learning. In October 2003， during the Kaifeng Chrysanthemum Festival， Tian and her students made their debut in Kaifengs Hanyuan Stele Forest. Their performance was a huge success. Erjiaxian fans came from afar to watch their show， which gave Tian great encouragement.

After the first batch of students graduated in 2004， Tian applied to re-establish the Erjiaxian Opera Troupe of Kaifeng City. Under her leadership， the troupe won nine gold prizes and two silver prizes at the first Henan Province Traditional Folk Theatrical Joint Performance.

Sell the House to Keep the Troupe

After establishing the Erjiaxian Opera troupe， Tian faced even bigger financial difficulties.

Erjiaxian Opera performances generally took place in villages whose farming inhabitants could not afford high ticket prices. “We could sell tickets for more in cities， but few urbanites were interested in watching our shows. So we had to perform in rural areas. Rickety conditions were a minor problem， the main one being that of small returns. Our record low takings for one performance amounted to RMB 400 – not even enough to cover transportation and food，” Tian said.

The school had generated income from tuition. Although modest， it just about covered the costs of housing， food and teachers salaries. But after the students graduated and became performers they expected salaries. The absence of a source of funds for this threw the troupe into disarray. Faced with its imminent collapse， Tian took the desperate course of selling her family 100-square-meter courtyard house， which was also home to her husband， son and daughter-in-law， and moving in with the troupe.

However， things got even harder. In the ensuing years， Tian， together with a few score troupe members， moved three times， to the sports ground of an elementary school， and then to a dilapidated house badly in need of renovation. Hardest to bear was that the RMB 70，000 from the sale of Tians house was still not enough to support all the troupe members， even after adding to it Tian and her hus-bands pensions. She was hence forced to borrow from relatives and friends. In 2008， Tian heard that there was a demand for opera performers in Chinas south. She wanted to lead her troupe there， but as her husband was paralyzed after his stroke， she had no choice but to let her deputy take the company south. Upon arriving， its members found that they could earn more there， so never returned. Tians troupe thus fell apart.

Tian had lost everything she had put into the troupe – her life savings and her family home. She then ran up more debt in efforts to cure her husband. The young people she had nurtured either left or changed professions. All seemed lost.

Unbreakable Bond

When I asked Tian why she had willingly sacrificed so much for Erjiaxian she took a moment to consider before replying， “Ive devoted my whole life to performing Erjiaxian – it has made me who I am today. I cant let it disappear. I want to do something to perpetuate Erjiaxian Opera.”

Tian was born in Heze City of Shandong Province， a boundary area between Shandong and Henan provinces. Tians father died when she was one year old. She and her mother helped each other through difficult times， making a living from begging and picking up firewood. Opera was the only source of warmth and color during her bitter， hard childhood.

“Ive loved watching opera since childhood. Every time a troupe came to perform， I would wait at the entrance and followed other adults in， pretending to be their child，” Tian recalled. At that time， theatrical performances would last a whole day through to midnight. During one performance Tian sat hugging the pillar at the side of the stage as she watched the opera until she fell asleep and tumbled off the stage. Unperturbed， she resumed her position and carried on watching. “I would sing opera arias on my way home， and practice singing and dancing while gathering firewood in the woods， using a willow wand as a prop. People in my village all praised my singing and said I was made to be an opera performer，” Tian said.

At the age of eight， Tian learned an opera from a troupe that performed in her village. She later took part in their performances in nearby regions， but was caught out by her older cousin living in a nearby town. He believed that at her age Tian should focus on study， and so sent her to an elementary school. Not long after， Tian heard that an Erjiaxian troupe was coming to perform. Unable to resist temptation， she cut classes for a few days and went to watch the opera. Her teacher told Tians older cousin of her absence. When he confronted her Tian cried and admitted she had played truant to indulge her passion. He then finally relented and allowed her to study opera. As luck would have it， the county Erjiaxian Opera troupe was at that time recruiting members. After auditioning， the head of the troupe accepted Tian into the company.

Having started to learn Erjiaxian Opera when she was eight， Tian made her debut at age 12 and entered the Erjiaxian Opera Troupe of Kaifeng City when she was 16. Tian thus formed an unbreakable， lifelong bond with Erjiaxian Opera. Years of study and practice enabled her to inherit this traditional performance art， and also absorb the characteristics of Peking Opera and Yuju Opera. She so formed her unique style of Erjiaxian Opera performance. The honors and disgraces， ups and downs， happiness and sadness of Tians 60 years are inextricably entwined with Erjiaxian Opera.

No Pain， No Gain

In 1956， Tians county-level troupe participated in a joint opera performance in Kaifeng City. Tian played the title role in The Street Vendor Rum-mages the Box – that of a buffoon – denoted by the white spot painted on her nose and her clownish performance. “I was a big girl then and didnt want to play that role，” Tian said. The troupe head told her that a good actress should be able to excel in any role. “What he said inspired me， so I have performed a wide range of roles since，” Tian said.

The role of street vendor entailed switching the carrying pole from shoulder to shoulder without touching it by hand – a complex technique that required painstaking practice. Tian spent so much time rehearsing that the dining hall chef brought her a cup of water and advised her to take a break. But her hard work paid off， and Tian gave an impressive performance that brought resounding applause.

The county opera troupe then transferred to Kaifeng and was upgraded to the Erjiaxian Opera Troupe of Kaifeng City – the highest level of its kind nationwide. Plays in which Tian performed， such as Butterfly Lovers， The Street Vendor Rummages the Box， and Reunion with the Wife， all won national and regional awards. Tian became the troupes sole national class-two actress. The Street Vendor Rummages the Box as performed by Tian was selected for a scene in the popular 1960s film Li Shuangshuang. It won Erjiaxian Opera great popularity throughout China.

Revive Erjiaxian at All Costs

Having experienced glory during the last century， Erjiaxian， like many other operas， faces the challenge of todays diversified entertainment. The theatrical market hence continues to shrink. But even after Tians troupe disbanded， she refused to give up. In 2010， the central government allocated funds specifically to support the conservation， perpetuation and development of intangible cultural heritage. Tian was among those who received such central government funding. It spurred her hopes of reviving Erjiaxian Opera.

Tian subsequently applied to the Bureau of Civil Affairs of Kaifeng City to register the Tian Aiyun Erjiaxian Opera Troupe of Kaifeng City as a private， non-profit organization. She has since organized performances by teachers and former students in urban residential communities and rural areas.

“Erjiaxian is a regional opera long popular among inhabitants of Kaifeng City. During the last season we had to put on three performances each day，” Tian said. Government funding， enterprise sponsorship and performance returns keep the troupe afloat. Although conditions are tough， troupe members genuinely love Erjiaxian and are willing to make sacrifices to keep this traditional opera alive. Tian has no regrets about persisting in her quest. In her view， “Since the government bestowed upon me the honor of inheritor of intangible cultural heritage， I should continue to contribute to the perpetuation of Kaifeng Erjiaxian Opera.”