Tibetan opera | Global Knowledge Systems

Overview

Tibetan opera, the most popular traditional opera of minority ethnic groups in China, is a comprehensive art combining folk song, dance, storytelling, chant, acrobatics and religious performance. Most popular in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in western China, the performance begins with a prayer ceremony, including the cleansing of the stage by hunters and blessings by the elder, and concludes with another blessing. The heart of the opera is a drama narrated by a single speaker and enacted by performers supported by groups of singers, dancers and acrobats. Actors wear traditional masks of a variety of shapes and colours that contrast with their simple makeup. Performances may take place in public squares or temples (or, today, on stage), with the centre of the space marked by a tree placed on the ground, wrapped in colourful paper and surrounded by purified water and theatrical props....

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: China
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: China
Countries: China

How the System Works

Music, Performance and Oral Literature Language, Story and Memory Material Culture, Design and Technology Ceremony, Spirituality and Cosmology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

Open original source record

Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuid8a07f63d-cb2b-46ff-9608-33f032fbb990

ich_public_ref208

inscription_year2009

title_enTibetan opera

title_frL’opéra tibétain

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesCN

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/00208

concepts_primary_namesOpera, Theatre, Vocal music

concepts_secondary_namesAcrobatics, Buddhism, Choreography, Costumes, Dance, Festivals, Folk art, Idiophones, Masks, Moral values, Percussion instruments, Religious practice, Story telling

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/01147-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enNot supplied

main_image_copyrightThe Research Institute of Ethnical Art in Tibet Autonomous Region of P.R of China, 2008

main_image_authorZhang, Ying

videoshttps://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/zSJ_HFap6TM

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Opera Theatre Vocal music Acrobatics Buddhism Choreography Costumes Dance Festivals Folk art Idiophones UNESCO representative list World Heritage connection: Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Review and Corrections

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