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

The performance practice of ritual playlets is a long-standing tradition. Its performance
is also a ritual. In his book Improvisation in a Ritual Context, Sau Chan wrote,
When I visited the backstage about two hours before the opening evening’s performance,
the workers and actors whom I knew well maintained silence and avoided talking to
me…the performance hall was a “new” one (which actually means that it was built on a
piece of land which had not been initiated for this purpose), and nobody should speak
before the White Tiger ritual. …most of the other actors hid themselves in their dressing
compartments, which were closed with curtains…According to an experienced
accompanying musician Wong Jyt-seng, before the execution of the zae bak fu ritual,
troupe members in the “new performance hall could easily be hurt by the White Tiger.”
The White Tiger was capable of making use of a member’s mouth to hurt another
member, in that the words uttered by one member could become a curse and anybody
who answered such an utterance might meet with bad fortune. According to Wong,
accidents had taken place in the past which were believed to have been caused by the
White Tiger, including fire backstage and the collapse of the performance hall. 94
Prior to the main feature, the first ritual play is Birthday Greeting from the Eight
Immortals, followed by The Grand Six Countries Invest a Chancellor. 95 The story of The Grand
Six Countries Invest a Chancellor is about a talented young scholar who is supported by all six
nations to fight against the fearful Chin Nation during Warrior Period. This is a short play
requiring all performers, principal and all other cast members, to be on stage for a short moment
of big gathering in colorful costumes. 96 A Birthday Greeting from the Eight Immortals (Baat sin
hor sau) and The Heavenly Maiden Offers her Son (Tin Gei sung zi) are appropriate playlets for
celebrating New Year and the birthday of a deity.
Librettist/composer So Yung made the following remarks regarding the sequence of a
day’s program in the Qing Dynasty and early part of the Republic:
Because of the previous uprising against the Qing and edicts of not allowing Cantonese
opera performance, Cantonese opera performances are usually registered as “Peking
opera” on contract, and the situation lasted until early part of the Republic. At this
period, each evening performs 11 shows. After White Tiger, Birthday Greeting from the
94 Ibid., 55.
95 So, Yung, “The Changes in Cantonese opera Libretto/Composition” in Hong Kong Yuet Kek hou shek si [The
History of Yuet Kek in Hong Kong], ed. Lai Kin (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Co. Ltd., 1995), 81.
96 Ibid.
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