University arts development
New information centre to promote Chinese opera
By Cheung Lok Sze
Cheung Lok Sze Chinese opera materials, including books, cassettes and CDs, are available in the centre. The Chinese Opera Information Centre welcomes interested people to search for information.
The Chinese Opera Information Centre is located in the Music Department of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Its service commenced on 1 March 2000.
The department's Chan Sau Yan is director.
Dr. Chan founded the Cantonese Opera Research Program in the Music Department in 1990 and collected and arranged materials for research.
Dr. Chan said the Chinese University has accumulated materials on Chinese opera for over 20 years.
"We have been offering Chinese opera courses since 1975. We started to collect materials then," said Dr. Chan.
According to him, many people are curious about materials about Chinese opera. Thus, the Music Department created the centre to collect and display these materials.
"We wanted these collected materials to be available to all. However, we did not have enough resources to make it so," said Dr. Chan.
"Luckily, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council commissioned the Cantonese Opera Research Program of the Music Department to establish the centre," said Dr. Chan.
With sufficient funds, the centre could hire specialists to operate and continue collecting materials.
People can either visit the center themselves or search the centre's collections via the Internet.
"They can come to our centre and read our collections, which are not allowed to be taken out," Dr. Chan explained.
"Some of the information can be photocopied, depending on the copyright restrictions of the materials concerned.
"Moreover, they can look at the index or contents of our collections on our website," said Dr. Chan.
There are various kinds of Chinese opera materials in the centre. The collections are classified into eight different sections.
In the libretti section, there is a large volume of Cantonese opera libretti as well as some from Hoklon and Peking opera.
In the section on newspaper clippings, programme notes, leaflets and posters, materials are classified according to actors, companies and organizers of the performances. There are also collections of books and periodicals about Chinese operas.
The audio-visual collections include records, cassette tapes, CDs, LDs and open-reel tapes. Most of these audio materials contain songs from Cantonese operas, though some Ciu Zau and Peking operatic songs are also included.
There is also a section that includes a large collection of Cantonese operatic song scripts.
Besides, there is a section including slide and photograph collections that contain documentary films of ritual performances staged by Cantonese, Ciu Zau and Hoklou opera troupes in Hong Kong.
In the videotapes section, there are Cantonese operatic movies of the 1950s and field documentaries of ritual performances and activities.
The centre also has some special collections like stage initiation rituals, ritual performances of Chinese opera, archives of materials related to particular actors, playwrights and composers, including the Yam and Pak collection, the Sit Gwoksin collection, the Mek Siuha and Alice Yung collection, the Pun Jetfan collection and the Wong Jyiseng collection.
The centre also has audiovisual facilities for listening to and watching tapes.
Dr. Chan said many people have contributed to the collections.
"Since the 1970s, many professional actors have contributed their collections to us after their retirement,"Dr. Chan said.
"After the death of some famous actors, their family members donated their collections to us.
"However, we do not collect costumes, stage properties or scenery of Chinese opera because there are no resources and no space to preserve them," said he.
From official statistics provided by the centre, there have been about eight users on average in the centre every day within the last six months.
"Since the establishment of our centre, many people have come and used the facilities. I think this is because our centre is better than other Chinese opera centres because we are more specialized in collections," said he.
Yuen Siu Fai is a local actor in Chinese opera. He began his career at the age of 7 and has participated in this field for more than 50 years. He received the Best Vocalist Award from the Hong Kong Artist Guild in 1991 and was the founder of the House of Cantonese Opera.
He said the Chinese Opera Information Centre surely helps to promote the Chinese opera, but promotion of the centre itself should be done first.
"If people don't know of the existence of the centre, no matter how much effort has been put into it, any promotion will be done in vain," said he.
Dr. Chan said that it was difficult to promote Chinese opera at universities because young people nowadays are deeply influenced by Western culture, especially in regards to music.
"They are used to listening to Western and pop music. This music interests them more than Chinese opera does. Even though there are some who are interested, they are only the minority."
Mr. Yuen agreed that it was common to encounter difficulties when promoting Chinese opera in universities.
"However, we are optimistic because university students have the basic knowledge and cultural foundation. They are supposed to accept Chinese opera more easily,"Mr. Yuen said.
According to Dr. Chan, Chinese opera is not only for the elderly, but it is also suitable for youngsters and university students nowadays.
However, most young people in Hong Kong do not know how to appreciate Chinese opera, and this is a great barrier for the development of Chinese opera among youngsters.
"What we need to do now is to teach youngsters how to appreciate Chinese opera.
" Once they know how to appreciate it, they will realize the fact that its value is much higher than the value of pop music,"said he.
Dr. Chan is sure that youngsters would cultivate their interest towards Chinese opera when they grew older.
Mr. Yuen also agreed with this.
"Youngsters are very active. It is hard to force them to sit quietly and appreciate Chinese opera. People always say that the audiences who go to theatres are usually of the middle age or above," said Mr. Yuen.
"But don't forget, there is someone who turns middle age every day.
Yung Yuk Hung, a Year 1 student in the Department of Geography and Resource Management, has been to the centre once.
"I think this centre is useful in promoting Chinese opera because the information inside is very rich and diverse.
" It introduces the art of the Chinese opera to the university students," said she.
Dr. Chan hopes that the Hong Kong Arts Development Council would continue funding the centre.
"Every year, the money invested on Western arts by the government is enormous. More emphasis should be put on the Chinese opera, as it is a unique form of Chinese art.
"The support from the government is necessary in order to continue operating the centre, as the resources available in the university are limited.
"We hope the centre can further develop in the future," said he.
The operating hours of the centre are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday by appointment. On Monday and Saturday, the opening hours are from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. and no appointment is needed for this timeslot. It is closed on Sundays and public holidays. All interested people are welcome.
