Wenchang

Guangxi Wenchang is known as Wenchang for short (literally “literary court”), which is also called Wenwanzi, Xiaoqu, etc. It is named corresponding to Wuchang (literally “martial court”) of the Guilin opera arias and one of the most representative and influential operatic forms of Guangxi. It was established during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1736-1795) and was mainly spread among common people through oral instruction by traveling players. Quite a few such artists are blind. Body performance has been restricted due to the physical conditions of the performers. They can only "act by sitting on the ground", which gradually evolved into numerous singing forms like "singing in standing position", "acting while walking", and "Wenchang opera". What is presented here is a blind artist performing Wenchang. Guangxi Wenchang was included into the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2008.