One of the most important goals of my recording trip back to China was to record one of China’s traditional operas, Yueju Opera. Yueju Opera was born in my hometown Shengzhou, flourished in Shanghai, and is now mainly popular in Suzhou, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

There is some controversy over the origin of the name of Yueju Opera, and the evolution of the name of Yueju Opera and its designation in different periods have not been accurately verified due to the different accounts of people in different parts of the country at that time. I visited the Yueju Opera Museum in Shengzhou. According to the introduction of the museum, in the middle of the 19th century, optimistic Shengzhou peasants used to entertain themselves by singing in the fields when they were working or resting. Some peasants would improvise their own songs, such as singing “The boss of southern goods is rich, gold and silver treasures roll in” in front of a shop; in villages, they would sing small stories of rural life; and in the early days, they sang the Sigonghuo (Four Workers’ Harmony) tune, which has a high and bright pastoral tone and a gentle and mellow rhythm. The “Four Workers’ Harmony” has a high and bright pastoral tone and a mellow melodious and undulating melody and is made up of two parts: the main singing and the receiving tune (the helping voice). The main part of the melodious phrases has three forms: “starting melodious phrases, up and down phrases, and guandao turning phrases”. The melodic expressions of the picking-up and singing parts are connected behind the starting melodic phrases as the transitional melodic phrases that carry on the previous and start the next; and behind the guandan melodic phrases as the intermission transition, which can be used as the melodic phrases of the falling melodic phrases.

In 1906, the early form of Yueju theatre also evolved into the rural cao tai (草台). I remember when I was very young, this form also existed; usually during some festivals and temple fairs, there would be a troupe of theatre vaudeville and other performances. Every time there was such a performance, my grandmother would take me to watch. They set up the stage shantily, and I vaguely remember that the radio equipment is not very good, but the audience is still delighted to see. Unfortunately, I didn’t record these performances with my video camera.