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In order to explore the public’s views and familiarity of traditional Chinese opera, it conducted questionnaire survey and compiled statistics of questionnaire and resulted in analytical outcome in order to recognize the people’s intention and reason to watch traditional Chinese opera as the criteria of this study. On the afternoons of Wednesday, we conducted questionnaire survey at MRT station near the school. We distributed and retrieved 120 questionnaires. After eliminating 7 questionnaires with random answers, there were 113 valid questionnaires, with a valid return rate of 100%. The diagram and analysis of the statistics of questionnaires are shown below:
Organize the questionnaire in advance |
Ready to send the questionnaire after completion |
Ask the principal of the school to fill out the questionnaire |
Ask the aunt of the fast food store to fill out the questionnaire |
Basic information (number of subjects)
1.Gender: Male (65) Female (51)
2.Age: 18~29 (21) 30~39 (43) 40~49 (28) above 50 (24)
3.Education: elementary school (0) junior high school (6) senior high school
(45) university (53) graduate school (12)
4.Occupation: agriculture (0) military, government employees and teachers
(26) manufacturing industry (17) commerce (23) service industry (31) housekeeper
(8) Others (11)
Questionnaire analysis
1.Have you ever watched the performances of traditional Chinese opera (such as Beijing Opera, Kunqu Opera and Taiwanese Ke-Tse Opera)?
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Analysis: According to the statistics, 50% of the people have watched the performances of traditional Chinese opera and most of them are more than 40 years old. Those below 30 years old have never watched the traditional Chinese opera. The reason can be in that in early times, recreational activities were not diverse and watching traditional Chinese opera was the public’s important entertainment. Thus, most of the people who have watched traditional Chinese opera were aged.
2.Do you know or have you heard of Kunqu Opera?
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Analysis: According to the statistics, most of the people do not know or have never heard of Kunqu Opera. Those who know or have heard of Kunqu Opera are mostly the public above 50 years old. Those below 30 years old do not know or have never heard of it. The reason can be in that in early times, the recreational activities were rare. However, with the progress of time, there is a great variety of entertainment nowadays. 3C technology becomes the mainstream of young generation’s recreation. In addition, traditional Chinese opera is rarely promoted in schools. Thus, many people do not know or have never heard of Kunqu Opera and those who know or have heard of Kunqu Opera are mostly aged.
3.If you can watch the performances of traditional Chinese opera (such as Beijing Opera and Kunqu Opera), which place do you prefer (performance hall, TV, community activity center, school, park and square of the temple)? (Multiple answers)
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Analysis: According to the statistics, the ranking of the places preferred by the public to watch the performances of traditional Chinese opera is below: community activity center, school, park, square of the temple, performance hall and TV. The reason can be in that the people expect to watch traditional Chinese opera in the neighborhood and they wish to watch the performances on site.
4.What are the reasons that you do not watch the performances of Kunqu Opera (I am not interested, I don’t understand the plot, performance information is little, I don’t have time, the performance place is far from home and the performance content is dull)? (Multiple answers)
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Analysis: According to the statistics, ranking of the reasons that the people rarely watch traditional Chinese opera is below: “the performance content is dull”, “I don’t understand the plot”, “I am not interested”, “the performance place is far from home”, “performance information is little” and “I don’t have time”. The reason can be in that most of modern people have never watched Kunqu Opera and they are not familiar with Kunqu Opera. They do not understand the plot of Kunqu Opera and the stories and performances are dull. Thus, they are not interested in Kunqu Opera.
5.How do you usually obtain the information of performances of traditional Chinese opera (internet on cell phone, poster of performance, newspaper and magazine, TV and information from teachers, relatives or friends)? (Multiple answers)
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Analysis: According to the statistics, the ranking of the performance information of traditional Chinese opera obtained by the public is below: internet on cell phone, TV, information from teachers, relatives or friends, performance poster and newspaper and magazine. The reason can be in that it is the era of 3C technology and most of the people tend to acquire information by internet of cell phone. Thus, they can easily obtain performance information of traditional Chinese opera.
6.If you can watch traditional Chinese opera, what are the attractions (reputation of the troupe, story, casting, stage settings and properties and free performance)? (Multiple answers)
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Analysis: According to the statistics, the ranking of the attractions for the public to watch traditional Chinese opera is below: story, casting, stage settings and properties, free performance and reputation of the troupe. The reason can be in that for most of the people, great performances and stories rely on remarkable actors and stage settings. These factors are the keys to encourage the public to watch traditional Chinese opera.
7.What are the aspects of traditional Chinese opera which should be improved (marketing, reinforcement of equipment of the stage, promotion of art education, increase of performance places, innovation of performance content and innovation of script)? (Multiple answers)
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Analysis: According to the statistics, ranking for the public to enhance the aspects of traditional Chinese opera is below: innovation of performance content, innovation of script, reinforcement of equipment of the stage, promotion of art education, marketing and increase of performance places. The reason can be in that for modern audiences, traditional performance of slow speaking and singing cannot satisfy the audiences. Modern people are less interested in the traditional concepts of loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness in the scripts; besides, stage settings, music and lighting are not creative and they cannot attract the audiences. These aspects of traditional Chinese opera are suggested by the public to be improved.
8.If there is a performance of traditional Chinese opera, will you go to watch it?
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Analysis: According to the statistics, most of the people are willing to watch traditional Chinese opera. Thus, with appealing and innovative plots, splendid stage lighting and settings, popular music, accelerated rhythm and attractive special effect, there will be more audiences for the performance.
9.In order to support the performance of traditional Chinese opera, are you willing to buy the ticket to watch the performance in the theater?
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Analysis: According to the statistics, most of the people are willing to buy the ticket to support traditional Chinese opera. Hence, cultural inheritance of traditional Chinese opera and more performances for the actors are the factors of the public support. When people buy the tickets, they can thus constantly watch remarkable performances of traditional Chinese opera.
Afterthoughts
With everyone’s efforts, we finally accomplished the questionnaire survey. The following task is to compile the statistics of questionnaires and analyze the content. Through the statistical analysis of questionnaires and the interview when the subjects filled in questionnaires, we obtain the following outcomes:
1. With the progress of technology and electronic media, the entertainment becomes more diverse, such as variety TV shows, films, idol drama, thriller, action and concerts with audio and visual effects which easily attract the audiences. In comparison to TV, movies and concerts, traditional Chinese opera does not share splendid stages and appealing plots and it is less likely to draw the audiences’ attention.
2. Traditional Chinese opera is no long the mainstream public recreation and thus there are less reports in public media, newspapers and magazines. People have less information and some even have never heard of Beijing Opera and Kunqu Opera.
3. Most of young people rarely watch traditional Chinese opera and they are not familiar with it. Thus, they are not interested in traditional Chinese opera.
4. Performances of traditional Chinese opera mostly are based on historic stories and some young people have never heard of them; besides, the rhythm of traditional Chinese opera is usually slower and young people are less interested.
Based on previous research findings, with the change of time, we recognize the reasons that traditional Chinese opera cannot attract the young generation. The plots are mostly based on historic stories of loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness. Besides, it is not easy to understand the language and vocal music in the performance. Stage settings and properties are dull without visual effect; modern theaters, on the contrary, are mostly diverse and creative. The performance content is associated with the public lives and the stories are approachable. There are splendid stages, visual lighting and sound effect, popular music and interesting performances. Young generation is less motived to watch the traditional Chinese opera and there are fewer regular audiences. Thus, we expect that the culture of Kunqu Opera which has been developed for several hundred years can be constantly passed on. Besides the innovation of traditional Chinese opera, it can attract young audiences by the concept of modern theater to experience the charm of Kunqu Opera; we aim to introduce Kunqu Opera to the schools and communities to revitalize traditional Chinese opera and more people can thus watch and appreciate the performances.
Ask your uncle to fill out the questionnaire at the MRT station |
Ask auntie to fill out the questionnaire at the store |
Sorting out questionnaire data
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Conduct questionnaire statistics and analysis |
Reference:Statistical analysis of the research team
Source of Photos:Photographed by the research team