On the evening of April 19, the zhengyici theater located in Xicheng District of Beijing reopened with a brand-new attitude. The ancient Kunqu Opera and the antique theater were integrated into one, which vividly displayed the aesthetic charm of Kunqu Opera Art in the form of the most historical sense, and pushed the spring performance season of Beijing color Xicheng in 2022 to a climax.

Located at No. 220, Xiheyan street, Qianmen, zhengyici theater building is the former silver guild hall and the oldest and well preserved pure wood structure theater building in China. It has a history of more than 300 years and is known as the “living fossil of Chinese theater building”. Over the past hundred years, famous artists such as Mei Lanfang and Tan Xinpei have appeared on the stage in this pink ink, leaving a heavy color in the history of Chinese opera performance.

It is an innovative move in the cultural construction of the capital to enter the former site of the guild hall. Since ancient times, Beijing has been the gathering place of opera art. The whole city, large and small, has characteristic halls carrying rich and diverse regional cultures. In order to protect and make good use of the remaining buildings of the guild hall and let people know the guild hall and its culture again, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of culture and tourism handed over the Zhengyi Temple theater to the northern Kunqu Opera Theater for repair, operation and use.

Last year, Zhengyi temple was officially rebuilt. According to the principle of “repairing the old as the old”, while retaining the architectural characteristics and historical texture, the small courtyard was supplemented with color paintings and repainted. There are not only simple green bricks and grey tiles, a newly painted red corridor, auspicious patterns of “persimmon and persimmon Ruyi”, “flowers bloom and wealth” and “pine and crane prolong the year”, but also modern people who have the opportunity to enter the house and have the opportunity to hear the pure sound and elegant music of a hundred years ago.

In the opening season of Zhengyi Temple theater, four big plays with historical origins were selected to be performed on the stage, namely the resident play “heavenly official blessing”, the theater version “Peony Pavilion”, watching its replica “horse on the wall” and “Lian xiangban”. Among them, the resident play “heavenly official blessing” is tailored for the theater.

How many guild halls in Beijing will be reopened because of “drama”? At present, eight guild halls in Beijing have launched a series of performances of “guild hall with drama”. In order to make the guild hall “live”, Beijing has constantly polished and launched “small and fine” and “small and beautiful” performances that are not only in line with the atmosphere of the guild hall but also highlight the charm of traditional culture. Previously, taking Huguang guild hall and pigment guild hall as the pilot, a series of performances of “meeting Huguang” and “meeting pigment” of “there is a play in the guild hall” have been launched, and Linfen guild hall, Fuzhou new hall, Taiwan guild hall and other guild halls have also started to perform one after another.

At the same time, more ancient buildings that have been silent for a while will return to the public’s view with different faces. Just take Xicheng District as an example. As the starting place of Beijing’s Yingcheng City, there are 31 immovable cultural relics of guild halls at all levels that have been included in the general survey and registration. Xicheng District will launch two batches of activation and utilization projects of cultural relics buildings in 2020 and 2021 respectively, and study and determine the direction and path of the activation and utilization of vacated cultural relics buildings through public bidding.

At present, Shexian guild hall, Jinjiang guild hall, Shaoxing guild hall, Yixing guild hall and other cultural relics building activation and utilization projects have attracted the participation of a number of social institutions through market-oriented operation, and customized activation and utilization schemes for cultural relics that not only restore and protect the original style of the building, but also make sustainable blood creation and have full social attraction.

In the future, Beijing will also create and launch more new dramas with both the value of the times and traditional aesthetics and flexible ways of expression according to local conditions. Constantly explore the normalized performance mechanism of “guild hall with drama”, hold the performance season of ancient theater drama exhibition, carry out public welfare lectures and cultural salons of drama, develop micro travel routes of “guild hall with drama”, continue to build cultural and art circles around citizens, and enhance the attraction, communication and influence of the brand of “guild hall with drama”.