It was popular among ordinary people who would watch performances in tearooms, restaurants, and makeshift stages. These days, local operas are found in every part of China where they are performed according to local musical styles and in regional languages. Indeed, the staging itself is simple: actions occur on a bare stage except for a backdrop and simple props.

A table and several chairs can indicate a throne, wall, mountain, or many other locations. The actors’ costumes and makeup identify standard character types which are immediately recognizable even to foreigners. However, behind this simplicity lies decades of training, strict visual etiquette, and layers of symbolism. The development of Chinese Opera through historyĪccording to Liji (“the Book of Rites”), a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou Dynasty (1046 – 256 BCE), children at the age of thirteen had already learned to dance and sing. Most forms of Chinese opera owe their performance styles and their plot-lines to the musically fertile Shanxi province.

Plots in Shanxi Opera often deal with fighting oppression, wars against the northern barbarians, and issues of loyalty. Some Shanxi Opera productions include special effects such as fire-breathing or acrobatic twirling, in addition to the standard operatic acting and singing. An early form of Chinese opera, originating from the Later Zhao Dynasty (319 – 351 CE), was a simple comic drama involving only two performers who are thought to be the forerunners of the comic characters of later Chinese opera. Actors of the Chinese Theater in Costume.

Beijing, 1874ĭuring the Han and the Tsin (265 – 420 CE) Dynasties, new dances were introduced.

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