RED BOAT TROUPES AND CANTONESE ... - University of Georgia

o’clock a.m. After the main feature, the tin kwong hei (dawn play) was staged. It was an
acrobatic wu play (kungfu performance mainly by apprentices) that lasted until daybreak.
A hundred years ago when transportation and infrastructure on land was limited,
performing troupes in the estuary relied heavily on flat bottom boats for traveling on the shallow
and narrow river. According to Wong Toa, depending on how fast a troupe needed to be at a
performing site, most times the boats use rows for traveling in the inner river. At times when the
wind blew in the right direction, canvas was used, and if the troupe needed to rush to another
location, a motorboat was hired to tug the two red boats. 83 Where the river was narrow, in
addition to rowing, men on the shore tugged the boats. Two sailors guarded the travel day and
night. 84 These guards were also assigned interesting jobs—notifying instrumentalist to play
birthday music, paying toll, and burning worshiping paper as the boats approached temples of the
Goddess of the Sea. Punctuality for the subsequent performances was the guards’ responsibility.
The high demand of opera performance at a time of relative political stability in the
1920s and 1930s turned the simple Red Boat operation into enterprises. Enterprises built
permanent theaters in the cities of Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Troupes frequently travelled
between cities. Since Red Boat Troupe became saan gong daai baan (large troupes plays in
Quangzhou and Hong Kong), and with steamers available for travelling between Guangzhou and
Hong Kong, more performers took the passenger ferry in the morning to Hong Kong from
Guangzhou and were able to perform in the evening show. The second and third floor of most
theatres in Hong Kong had beds to accommodate travelling performers. 85 Po Hing and Gou Sing
line was run by the Sit Gok Sin group, while the Tai Ping and Dong Lok line was run by the Ma
Si Tsung group. The two rival groups performed continuously for almost ten years, before the
83 Interview with Wong Toa
84 The model at the Foshan Museum has a canon at the bow to protect the troupes from pirates
85 Interview with Wong Toa in Vancouver, Canada.
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