古老而独特的东河戏Donghe Opera: An Ancient and Unique Art

吴家平

东河戏，作为江西省的古老剧种，发源于赣县田村白鹭一带。据《中国戏曲曲艺词典》记载：东河戏发源并流传于江西东河（即贡水），故名。起源于明嘉靖年间赣县清唱的“坐堂班”。其产生和田村境内的契真寺有着密切的联系。

As an ancient genre of opera in Jiangxi Province， Donghe Opera originated inthe area around Tian and Bailu villages in Gan County. According to A Dictionaryof Chinese Operas and Quyi， Donghe Opera rose and spread along the Donghe River（also known as the Gong River） in Jiangxi Province; hence its name. Its prototype canbe found in the Zuotang Troupe， which sang opera arias without makeup and actingin Gan County during the reign of Emperor Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty. The formingof Donghe Opera had a close connection with the Qizhen Temple in Tian Village.

契真寺初建于汉代，到了元明时期香火极盛，寺内僧人多达二三百人，其声望之大可播及闽、粤、湘、浙、皖、鄂和川等地。故每逢庙会，来自省内外各地的朝拜人士，成群结伙，络绎不绝。他们中有一些人在进香朝拜之暇，常常在住处吟唱高昆曲子，年复一年，田村人对高腔曲子渐感兴趣，纷纷学唱，有些私塾师生也争相传习，时间一长，聚唱成风。明嘉靖年间逐渐形成高昆腔的“坐堂班”。传说，明末，在契真寺前搭有戏台，谓之“民乐台”，专为东河戏演出之用。故有“没有契真寺，就没有东河戏”之说。

The Qizhen Temple was first built in the HanDynasty and gained its high popularity during theYuan and Ming dynasties. The temple had two to threehundred monks during this period， and its reputationreached as far as Fujian， Guangdong， Hunan， Zhejiang，Anhui， Hubei， and Sichuan provinces. Therefore， atevery temple fair， worshipers from all over the JiangxiProvince and beyond would visit the temple in droves.In their spare time during the pilgrimage， some of theworshipers would sing operas in both styles of Gaoqiang（a high-pitched opera singing style） and Kunqu Operaat their lodgings. Year after year， the local villagersbecame more and more interested in Gaoqiang， thusbeginning to pick up this singing style. Some privateschool teachers and students also flocked to learn，and over time， singing gatherings became extremelypopular. During the reign of Jiajing， the ZuotangTroupe， which sang in the mixed styles of Gaoqiang andKunqu Opera， came into form. Legend has it that inthe late Ming Dynasty， a “folkmusic stage” was set upin front of the QizhenTemple exclusivelyfor the performanceof Donghe Opera.Hence the sayinggoes， “Without theQizhen Temple，there would be noDonghe Opera.”

“坐堂班”始于廟会期间，香客带来的歌班乐队，每班五六人或者七八人不等，乐队有管弦、打击乐，词曲有高、昆、南北词，后期有弹腔。其中分雅、俗两种，所谓“雅”者，即文人学士欢聚一堂，吹拉弹唱，以消磨岁月为主；所谓“俗”者，即艺人用以谋生，除司宴会时演唱助兴外，兼司奏乐迎送宾客。

The Zuotang Troupe first performed during thosetemple fairs， and was composed of the singing andmusical bands brought by the pilgrims. Each troupehad five or six people， or sometimes seven to eight， whoplayed wind， string， and percussion instruments， andsang Gaoqiang， Kunqu Opera， and southern and northerntunes. The style of Tanqiang （singing in a bouncingvoice） was also adopted in their singings in later years.The performance of the Zuotang Troupe could bedivided into two categories： “highbrow” and “lowbrow”.The so-called “highbrow” performances were forthe literati to get together， playing instruments， andsinging operas to idle away time， while the “lowbrow”ones were for the artists to earn a living， performingat banquets for entertainment or to greet and see offguests.

在“坐堂班”盛行时，田村流传着一种装故事的习俗。每逢庙会，必以男女儿童扮作神道仙佛故事中的人物或者流行戏曲中的画面，置于数尺见方的小轿台上，肩抬游行。

During the heyday of the Zuotang Troupe， acustom of “acting out stories” was on the spread inTian Village. Whenever a temple fair was held， littleboys and girls would dress up as characters frommythical stories or popular operas， being placed onsedan chairs and then carried by adults on parade.

明万历年间，刘仁全及其私塾师生，尝试着将田村只唱不坐的“坐堂班”与有形无声的扮故事合二为一，加上富有地方色彩的民间锣鼓曲牌，搬上舞台演出，经过不断改进吸收，积累了不少剧目，包括有名的高腔连台大戏《目莲传》《西游记》《三国演义》《岳飞》及许多正本、杂套。到清顺治三年，刘仁全去世后的第八年，东河戏的雏形“玉合班”正式成立。因赣州为章、贡二水汇合处，章水在西称为“西河”，贡水在东称为“东河”，因东河戏发源于贡水，故定名为“赣州东河戏”。

In the Wanlis reign of the Ming Dynasty， LiuRenquan， together with his private school teachers andstudents， made efforts to combine the Zuotang Troupe，which only involved singing， with the silent “acting outstories”. They also added some touches of locality， suchas the names of folk wind and percussion music tunes，before putting the play of mixed elements on stage.After continuous improvement， many classic playswere produced， including some most famous ones suchas The Legend of Mu Lian， Journey to the West， Romanceof the Three Kingdoms， and General Yue Fei， as well asmany other original operas and modified ones. In thethird year of the Shunzhis reign of the Qing Dynasty（1646）， the eighth year after Liu Renquans death， theprototype of Donghe Opera — the Yuhe Troupe — wasofficially established. Since Ganzhou is situated at theconfluence of the Zhang River and Gong River， theZhang River in the west is called Xihe （the West River），and the Gong River in the east is known as Donghe （theEast River）. For having originated alongside the GongRiver， this genre of opera was thus named GanzhouDonghe Opera.“

玉合班”同期又出现了“雪聚班”。清顺治十一年，苏州昆曲班社演员来到东河组建了“昆曲雪聚班”。后戏班有本地人参与，改名为“凝秀班”。“玉合班”以高腔为主，剧目繁多，而且行当齐全，人才荟萃。历代有演生行、旦行、净行和丑行，都演技超群，各有绝招，名噪一时。“凝秀班”则以唱昆曲为主，兼唱高腔。它首开风气，仿清宫演出模式，运用机关布置，灯彩特技上演《白蛇传》。蟒蛇出洞，翻滚泳弋，让不够身份观看演出的当地人大饱眼福。从此以后，“‘凝秀班的蛇、‘玉合班的耙”，在群眾中广为流传，这两个班社也逐渐成为东河戏的源流。

At the same time， the Xueju Troupe also sprangup. In the eleventh year of the Shunzhis reign （1654），actors from the Kunqu Opera Troupe in Suzhou cameto Donghe and formed the Xueju Troupe of KunquOpera. Later， local people joined the troupe， andNingxiu Troupe was taken as its new name. The YuheTroupe sang mainly in the style of Gaoqiang， and had avariety of plays as well as a complete range of roles andtalents. Over the years， actors playing the Sheng （maleroles）， Dan （female roles）， Jing （painted-face roles）， andChou （comic roles） all outclassed their contemporariesbecause of their unique techniques， thus gainingconsiderable fame at that time. In comparison， the Ningxiu Troupe primarily sang in the style of KunquOpera， but it also adopted the tune of Gaoqiang. It wasthe first to adopt the style of court plays， using stagedevices， lighting， and stunts to perform The Legend ofthe White Snake. Its performance， which featured thelifelike movement of rolling and twisting pythons， wasa feast for the eyes of the local audience who never hadthe chance to watch court plays. From then on， thereputation of “Ningxiu Troupes snakes， Yuhe Troupesrakes” was spread from mouth to mouth， and these twotroupes gradually became the origin of Donghe Opera.

隨着时代的发展，东河戏又不断地广征博采，吐故纳新，逐步形成一个大型剧种。清康熙年间，有一宜黄人，在赣县石院当司官，带来了宜黄调，称为“二凡”，后称“二黄”。此为东河戏吸取二黄调之始。咸丰年间，赣县艺人丁仔师傅在广西桂剧班演丑行。回家后，他把桂剧的10 多本西皮戏传授给东河戏艺人，如《仁圣会》《双界牌》等。尔后，东河戏又大量吸收了安庆调、弋板、南北词、秧腔……自此，东河戏已经非常成熟，并受到广大观众的喜爱。自乾隆年，历经多个朝代，时隔100 多年，东河戏达到全盛。此时，班社达30 多个，剧目有《目莲》《三国》《封神》《岳飞》等八种连台本大戏，另有高腔剧目225 出，昆腔剧目104 出，其他剧目518 出，演出范围逐步由赣南内地扩展到周边的万安、遂川、泰和以及外省福建、广东等地。

With the passage of time， Donghe Opera constantlyabsorbed and integrated various styles， graduallyevolving into a mainstream genre. During the Kangxisreign of the Qing Dynasty， a person from Yihuang，who was a magistrate in Shiyuan， Gan County， introducedthe Yihuang tune. The tune was called “Erfan”，and later became known as “Erhuang”. This was the beginningfor Donghe Opera to adopt the Erhuang tune.During the Xianfengs reign， an artist from Gan Countynamed Ding Zai， who had played the Chou in the GuiOpera Troupe in Guangxi， introduced more than tenXipi operas to Donghe Opera artists， such as Ren ShengHui and Shuang Jie Pai. Later， Donghe Opera absorbedmany other singing styles， including the Anqing tune，Yiban （rhythm clappers）， southern and northern tunes，and the style of Yangqiang… From thence， DongheOpera was well developed and was loved by a wide audience.Since the Qianlongs reign， through several periodsspanning over 100 years， Donghe Opera had reachedits zenith. At that time， there were over thirty troupesperforming eight serial operas， including Mu Lian， ThreeKingdoms， League of Gods， and Yue Fei， as well as 225Gaoqiang Operas， 104 Kunqu Operas， and 518 otheroperas. Their performances gradually expanded fromthe south of Ganzhou to surrounding areas such asWanan， Suichuan， Taihe， and other provinces such asFujian and Guangdong.

在东河戏几百年的发展史上，白鹭村的钟崇俨、钟谷父子俩占有比较重要的地位。

During the several hundred years of development ofDonghe Opera， Zhong Chongyang and his son ZhongGu in Bailu Village played a fairly important role.

钟崇俨（1778—1858），于嘉庆十一年，任浙江嘉兴知府。当时，官绅多以昆曲为家乐，以尝其雅音，钟崇俨也亲自组建昆腔班，在家扮演，并娶当时昆腔班中的苏州女子平氏（钟谷生母）为妾。其兄钟崇倌能作词曲，丫环仆役均为昆班之人。道光二年，钟崇俨辞官率领昆班回到白鹭，家庭中经常以昆曲自乐，并把东河戏的高腔班社融于一体。

Zhong Chongyan （1778–1858）， in the 11th yearof Jiaqings reign， was appointed magistrate of JiaxingPrefecture， Zhejiang Province. At that time， manyofficials and gentry chose Kunqu Opera as their familymusic because of its elegance， and Zhong Chongyanalso established a Kunqu Opera troupe to play athome and married Ping， a woman from Suzhou in thetroupe （Zhong Gus birth mother）， as his concubine.His brother， Zhong Chongguan， was also good atcomposing lyrics and music， and even his maids andservants were from the troupe. In the second yearof Daoguangs reign， Zhong Chongyan resigned hisofficial post and led the Kunqu Opera troupe back toBailu Village. His family often entertained themselveswith Kunqu Opera and integrated the Gaoqiang troupeof Donghe Opera into it.

钟谷（1843—1919），系钟崇俨四子，光绪九年，任湖北黄梅知县。钟谷在昆曲家中成长，耳濡目染，酷爱音律，并得其母家传，又经名师指导，与昆曲结下了不解的情缘。清光绪二十四年，钟谷回到白鹭后，醉心于东河戏的创新与推广。他常招“凝秀班”至家中亲自指导，力致其唱腔、剧艺及演奏精益求精。之后“凝秀班”上演的大小近百出戏，无一不是由钟谷亲自整理编排和导演的。

In the ninth year of Guangxus reign， Zhong Gu（1843–1919）， the fourth son of Zhong Chongyan， wasappointed magistrate of Huangmei County， HubeiProvince. Growing up in a family of Kunqu Opera，Zhong Gu was therefore greatly influenced and had apassion for music and rhythm. He inherited his talentfrom his mother and was inspired by famous teachers，thus forming an indissoluble bond with KunguOpera. In the 24th year of Guangxus reign， Zhong Gureturned to Bailu Village and devoted himself to theinnovation and promotion of Donghe Opera. He ofteninvited the Ningxiu Troupe to his home， directedtheir performance， and refined their singing， acting，and instrumental performing. The one hundred oddoperas performed by the Ningxiu Troupe were allchoreographed and directed by Zhong Gu in person.

鐘崇俨父子迭受封典，对清庭礼乐仪式尤为熟悉。这给东河戏带来了一股清新的气息，故东河“凝秀班”不仅为乡民所喜爱，也受当地官绅之敬仰。

Bestowed by the Emperor with many honorarytitles， Zhong Chongyan and his son Zhong Gu wereboth familiar with the court music and ceremonialrituals during the Qing Dynasty. Their knowledge ofcourt music also helped refine Donghe Opera， makingit novel and refreshing. Therefore， the Ningxiu Troupewas not only appreciated by local villagers but alsorespected by local officials and gentry.

东河昆腔由江浙传入，经钟崇俨父子悉心传授，又在音律上经钟谷之修饰，融高腔于一体，使东河戏当之无愧成为江西古老剧种。

The singing style of Donghe Kunqiang was introducedfrom Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Meticulouslytaught by Zhong Chongyan and his son， andlater with its rhyme being refined by Zhong Gu， DongheKunqiang was integrated with Gaoqiang， makingitself a worthy representative as an ancient opera genrein Jiangxi Province.

2014 年，东河戏被列入国家级非物质文化遗产代表性保护名录。为弘扬中华优秀传统文化，东河戏非遗传承人马玉兰大力开展东河戏的保护传承工作，通过挖掘整理文字、音频、视频等形式进行抢救性保护，又大力开展东河戏非遗项目传承人的培训。同时，她把东河戏的音乐融入广播体操，实现东河戏高腔、昆腔、弹腔与广播体操青春、欢快、灵动之间的交融，使古老的东河戏变成现代的韵律操，不断推动东河戏融入寻常百姓家，融入现代人们的日常生活。

In 2014， Donghe Opera was included in the National Intangible CulturalHeritage List. In order to promote this excellent traditional culture， MaYulan， an inheritor of Donghe Opera， devoted herself to the protection andinheritance of Donghe Opera. She conducted salvage protection throughthe collection and organization of texts， audio， and video materials， and alsoprovided training for the apprentices of Donghe Opera. At the same time，she integrated the music of Donghe Opera into radio calisthenics， blendingthe Gaoqiang， Kunqu Opera， and Tanqiang styles of Donghe Opera with theyouthful， cheerful， and nimble movements of radio calisthenics. This hastransformed the ancient Donghe Opera into a modern rhythmic exercise，constantly promoting its integration into ordinary peoples homes and daily lives.