Kaiyang opera on national intangible cultural heritage list

Kaiyang Yangxi Opera is included in the fifth batch of the National Intangible Cultural Heritages list. [Photo/Kaiyang culture and tourism bureau]

Yangxi Opera from Kaiyang county – located in China's Southwest Guizhou province – was recently added to the fifth batch of the National Intangible Cultural Heritages list, according to information released by the Kaiyang culture and tourism bureau.

This makes it the first intangible cultural heritage item from Kaiyang county that has entered the national list.

In recent years, Kaiyang county has conducted in-depth investigations and studies into local Yangxi Opera.

He Xianlong, a member of the Party group of the Kaiyang culture and tourism bureau, successively published such papers as An Overview of Kaiyang Yangxi Opera and Guizhou Yangxi Opera, The Origin of Yangxi Opera in China, and The Origin of Chinese Wunuo Culture.

These involved in-depth research into the origin, development, characteristics and current status of Guizhou Yangxi Opera, as represented by the version from Kaiyang county.

Through a large number of historical records and field investigations, it was concluded that Yangxi Opera originated in Guizhou, laying a theoretical foundation for Yangxi Opera to enter the national intangible cultural heritage list.

Currently, Kaiyang county still has seven Kaiyang Yangxi opera troupes, making it one of the counties in Guizhou where the Yangxi Opera troupes are preserved the most.

Kaiyang Yangxi Opera has the typical characteristics of being closely integrated with folklore symbols and occasions such as lantern activities, votive events and birthdays. It has become the most influential folklore in Kaiyang's rural areas, playing an important role in promoting a spiritual civilization in the country's rural areas in the new era.