Cantonese Opera, also known as Chinese Opera, Chinatown Opera, Guangdong Drama, Yuequ or Xiqu, is a traditional form of stage performance native to the Guangdong province in Southern China and it has been around for over 400 years. Cantonese Opera is a much-loved art form that combines music, theatre, acrobatics and martial arts. Throughout history, Cantonese Opera suffered many ups and downs, but persisted and continued to flourish. Today, Cantonese Opera is popular not only in Southern China, but also among overseas Cantonese communities around the globe. In 2009, Cantonese Opera won world recognition when it was inscribed onto the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This research guide provides the much needed references to the primary and historical resources for the teaching and research of Cantonese Opera in Canada, particularly in Toronto. In Chinatown Opera Theater in North America (2017), Nancy Rao laments that the one of the gaps in her book volume is the discussion of Cantonese opera activities in Toronto due to the lack of resources on this topic. The creation of this resource guide fills in this gap by introducing scholarly and community resources for further study and research on Cantonese opera in Canada in the context of Chinese Canadian history.
Shijie Jing 世界鏡 (The World’s Mirror), formed in 1918, is the earliest Cantonese dramatic society in Toronto. The original purpose of its formation was to cover the underground activities of the Kuomintang 國民黨 (The Chinese Nationalist Party) and help raise overseas funds. The Kuomintang set up many similar societies all over in Canada including Jingshi Zhong 警世鐘 (The World’s Warning Bell) in Edmonton, Xinghun 醒魂 (The Awakening Soul) in Winnipeg and Jue Shizhong 覺世鐘 (The World’s Awakening Bell) in Montreal. Their names all have the literal implication of arousing the world to save China, which at the time was divided by military cliques of the fallen Qing Dynasty and regional powers.
The Kuomintang was a Chinese political party founded in 1912 by Sun Yatsen (1866-1925) and Song Jiaoren (1882-1913), revolutionaries who advocated that China should become a constitutional parliamentary democracy. As Sun was from Guangdong, the Kuomintang enjoyed much support from overseas Cantonese population.
During the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912 CE), women were prohibited from performing on stage. Hence, all performing roles in Cantonese Opera, including female ones, were performed by men. With the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, old rules faded and taboos gradually vanished. More and more women began to show up on stage. By the 1930s, it was common for actors and actresses to be performing together. Female actresses such as the legendary Yam Kim Fai 任劍輝 (1930-1989) even rose to great acclaim by their ability to perform male roles.
Compared to other Chinese opera forms, Cantonese opera stands out as being particularly susceptible to Western influences. Although Cantonese Opera ensembles mainly use traditional musical instruments, they also frequently make use of western musical instruments such as the violin and the saxophone. This peculiarity in Cantonese Opera is due to the history of Guangdong. Originally, Guangzhou was China’s key port for foreign trade and interaction. As a result, the Cantonese have more exposure to West than any other group in China.
Cantonese Opera costumes are usually very eye-catching in design to grab the audience’s attention. Depending on the sex, role, personality, environment, and occasion, different costumes are worn. Each type of costume corresponds with a particular headgear, footwear and facial make up. The most common style of makeup is the “white and red” face. The usual practice is to have white foundation applied on the face and a red shade colored around the eyes. The eyebrows are elongated and darkened and the lips are coloured red. While the aforementioned is the norm, variations exist. Notably, the color of the make-up may be use to reflect the character’s personality: red for bravery, black for loyalty, white for evil, blue for cruelty and hubris while yellow is use to symbolize competency and valiancy.
