Please enjoy another of my colour and ink brush paintings in a scroll entitled《Watching Chinese “社 or She” Opera Performance from Small Fishing Boats》.
My painting features a “She” opera performed on a riverside stage (at a God of the Earth temple). An actor and an actress are seen singing in a duet against a painted prop background of a painted plum blossom tree in full bloom. Members of a music ensemble play in the open-front house on the right, while prompters sit in the open room on the left. All the audience had their small boats anchored in front of the stage, and the whole family enjoyed the cool breeze while watching the show. I used the running script on the right upper corner of the painting to write: 《Jiangnan is cool and dry in Autumn; Many “She Operas” are performed at the Water Villages》.
“She” originally referred to the “God of the Earth” or “a temple dedicated to the worship of The Earth.” Later, it became a word representing grassroot organizations or the name of a society, which is close to the concept of “village.” The Chinese character 社 comprises two primary characters: “示 or show” and “土 or earth.” The Eastern Han language expert Xu Shen explained that the two horizontal lines above 示 represent the sky, and the three strokes below represent the sun, moon, and stars. That is “Divine Directive or Instruction.” Xu Shen referred to the word written in the “小篆 Xiaozhuan” script used at the time.
There are several ways to write “示Shi” in oracle bone inscriptions, among which is written like the word “台 table, platform or stage.” From the analysis of these glyphs, it has the meaning of divine instructions, and its shape resembling the table is like a prayer or sacrificial altar table. This appears to relate to the common ancient practice of believing the need for seeking divine instruction through the sacrificial ritual for everything one desires to do. Thus, it can be affirmed that the meaning of the word “Shi 示” is to obtain divine instructions from heaven. The other half of the word “社” is “土 earth.” Combining these two primary characters produces the compound word “社,” which is a place for offering sacrifices to The Earth and God of the Earth.
“社 She” opera refers to the type of opera performances explicitly held to express gratitude to the God of the Earth for bestowing good fortune, good weather, and bountiful harvest for the community. However, it is not only an event to express appreciation to the God of the Earth. It is also a popular and much anticipated cultural entertainment event for the common people and a critical revenue-generating commercial activity. The temple for worshiping the God of the Earth and its vicinity is often used as the venue. In China, the regions that stage this kind of folk opera performances are represented by Shaoxing, Huanggang, and Anshun. For many years in Singapore, there used to be a tradition of staging dialect operas annually on temporary stages near temples for various Chinese festivals.
Tan It Koon
Before retirement, Dr Tan It Koon was, among many appointments, Head of Clinical Biochemistry at SGH’s Dept of Pathology. He was the Deputy Chairman of the National Theatre Trust and Chairman for Grants and Scholarships of the Spore Cultural Foundation. He received the National Day Awards, PBM, and PPA, for his contribution to cultural and community development and excellence in Public Administration.
