Intangible cultural heritage: Haha Tune

A member of the Haha Tune troupe puts on make-up in Kouzhuang village, Mumendian town, Qing county, Hebei province, July 10, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

As a national intangible cultural heritage, Haha Tune (a local opera) in Qing county, Hebei province has a history spanning 300 years. Although Haha Tune was once widespread across Qing county, Hejian and Xian county, the number of its performers have been decreasing over the course of time.

In 1983, Liu Zongfa, the 7th generation performer of Haha Tune in Kouzhuang village established the Haha Tune troupe and then visited performers across Cangzhou city to collect Haha Tune drama scripts.

Meanwhile, he operates an electrical company with fellow troupe members. They work in the company during the day and perform Haha Tune opera at night. Each year they will spend almost 4 months performing outside their village.

The electrical company gives a subsidy to the troupe of over 200,000 yuan each year since 2003. Now, there are 50 members in the troupe with a total of 24 scripts having been collected, among which many are exclusive to the troupe.