Six dynasties to Tang An early form of Chinese drama is the
Canjun Opera (參軍戲, or Adjutant Play) which originated from the
Later Zhao Dynasty (319–351 AD). In its early form, it was a simple comic drama involving only two performers, where a corrupt officer,
Canjun or the
adjutant, was ridiculed by a jester named Grey Hawk (蒼鶻). Various song and dance dramas developed during the
Six Dynasties period. During the
Northern Qi Dynasty, a masked dance called the Big Face (大面, which can mean "mask", alternatively
daimian 代面, and it was also called The King of Lanling, 蘭陵王), was created in honour of
Gao Changgong who went into battle wearing a mask. In The Dancing Singing Woman (踏謡娘), which relates the story of a wife battered by her drunken husband, the song and dance drama was initially performed by a man dressed as a woman. The stories told of in these song-and-dance dramas are simple, but they are thought to be the earliest pieces of musical theatre in China, and the precursors to the more sophisticated later forms of Chinese opera. These forms of early drama were popular in the
Tang dynasty where they further developed. For example, by the end of the Tang Dynasty the
Canjun Opera had evolved into a performance with more complex plot and dramatic twists, and it involved at least four performers. The early form of Chinese theatre became more organized in the
Tang dynasty with
Emperor Xuanzong (712–755), who founded the "
Pear Garden" (梨园/梨園; líyuán), the first academy of music to train musicians, dancers and actors. The performers formed what may be considered the first known opera troupe in China, and they performed mostly for the emperors' personal pleasure. To this day operatic professionals are still referred to as "Disciples of the Pear Garden" (梨园弟子 / 梨園弟子, líyuán dìzi). painting depicting a scene from the
zaju play
Eye Drop Acid (眼藥酸;
Yanyao suan).
Palace Museum.
Song to Qing By the Song Dynasty,
Canjun Opera had become a performance that involved singing and dancing, and led to the development of
Zaju (雜劇). Forms such as the
Zaju and
Nanxi (南戏) further matured in the
Song dynasty (960–1279) and
Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). Acts based on rhyming schemes and innovations such as specialized roles like
Dan (旦, dàn, female),
Sheng (生, shēng, male),
Hua (花, huā, painted-face) and
Chou (丑, chŏu, clown) were introduced into the opera. Although actors in theatrical performances of the Song Dynasty strictly adhered to speaking in
Classical Chinese onstage, during the Yuan Dynasty actors speaking or performing
lyrics in
the vernacular tongue became popular on stage.'' by
Xu Yang, 1759 In the Yuan poetic drama, only one person sang for all of the four acts, but in the poetic dramas that developed from
Nanxi during the
Ming dynasty (1368–1644), all the characters were able to sing and perform. Playwright
Gao Ming late in the Yuan dynasty wrote an opera called
Tale of the Pipa which became highly popular, and became a model for
Ming dynasty drama as it was the favorite opera of the first Ming emperor
Zhu Yuanzhang. The presentation at this point resembled the Chinese opera of today, except that the librettos were then very long. The operatic artists were required to be skilled in many fields; according to
Recollections of Tao An (陶庵夢憶) by
Zhang Dai, performers had to learn how to play various musical instruments, singing and dancing before they were taught acting. . The dominant form of the Ming and early
Qing dynasties was
Kunqu, which originated in the
Wu cultural area. A famous work in Kunqu is
The Peony Pavilion by
Tang Xianzu. Kunqu later evolved into a longer form of play called
chuanqi, which became one of the five melodies that made up
Sichuan opera. Currently Chinese operas continue to exist in 368 different forms, the best known being
Beijing opera, which assumed its present form in the mid-19th century and was extremely popular in the latter part of the
Qing dynasty (1644–1911). In Beijing opera,
traditional Chinese string and percussion instruments provide a strong rhythmic accompaniment to the acting. The acting is based on allusion: gestures, footwork, and other body movements express such actions as riding a horse, rowing a boat, or opening a door. Spoken dialogue is divided into recitative and Beijing colloquial speech, the former employed by serious characters and the latter by young females and clowns. Character roles are strictly defined, and each character have their own elaborate make-up design. The traditional repertoire of Beijing opera includes more than 1,000 works, mostly taken from historical novels about political and military struggles.
1912–1949 At the turn of the 20th century, Chinese students returning from abroad began to experiment with Western plays. Following the
May Fourth Movement of 1919, a number of Western plays were staged in China, and Chinese playwrights began to imitate this form. The most notable of the new-style playwrights was
Cao Yu (b. 1910). His major works—
Thunderstorm,
Sunrise,
Wilderness, and
Peking Man—written between 1934 and 1940, have been widely read in China. The Republican Era saw the rise of
Yue opera and all female Yue Opera troupes in Shanghai and Zhejiang. A woman-centric form, with all female casts and majority female audience members, plots were often love stories. Its rise was related to the changing place of women in society. In the 1930s, theatrical productions performed by traveling Red Army cultural troupes in Communist-controlled areas were consciously used to promote party goals and political philosophy. By the 1940s, theater was well established in the Communist-controlled areas.
1949–1985 In the early years of the People's Republic of China, development of
Peking opera was encouraged; many new operas on historical and modern themes were written, and earlier operas continued to be performed. As a popular art form, opera has usually been the first of the arts to reflect changes in Chinese policy. In the mid-1950s, for example, it was the first to benefit under the
Hundred Flowers Campaign, such as the birth of
Jilin opera. In 1954 there were approximately 2000 government-sponsored opera troupes working throughout China each consisting of 50–100 professional performers. Despite its popularity, Peking opera made up a small percentage of these troupes. After the
Chinese Communist Revolution a new genre emerged known as
Schinggo opera which encompassed the revolutionary energy of the current sociopolitical climate. This operatic style built its foundation from the folk traditions of the rural community while also becoming influenced by European music. Opera may be used as commentaries on political affairs, and in November 1965, the attack on Beijing deputy mayor
Wu Han and his historical play
Hai Rui Dismissed from Office as anti-
Mao, signaled the beginning of the
Cultural Revolution. During the Cultural Revolution, most opera troupes were disbanded, performers and scriptwriters were persecuted, and all operas were banned except the
eight "model operas" that had been sanctioned by
Jiang Qing and her associates. Western-style plays were condemned as "dead drama" and "poisonous weeds", and were not performed. After the fall of the
Gang of Four in 1976, Beijing Opera enjoyed a revival and continued to be a very popular form of entertainment, both on stage and television.
Present In the 21st century, Chinese opera is seldom publicly staged except in formal Chinese opera houses. It may also be presented during the lunar seventh month Chinese
Ghost Festival in Asia as a form of entertainment to the spirits and audience. More than thirty famous pieces of Kunqu opera continue to be performed today, including
The Peony Pavilion,
The Peach Blossom Fan, and adaptions of
Journey to the West,
Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In 2001, Kunqu was recognized as Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) == Costume and make-up ==