Chinese opera has a long history, and all parts of the country have their own local operas.

1. Origins

The origins of Zhonglu Bangkas should be in the reign of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty. In the early years of the Daoguang Dynasty, the Puzhou Opera, which was then called Shanxi Opera, was revived again. During the period of the so-called "Daoguang Emperor Denglongting, Shanxi Opera and the boom", Pu Bang went north to perform in the area of Jinzhong and Taiyuan, which not only stirred up Taiyuan, but also shocked Beijing, which catered to the entertainment requirements of a group of rich merchants and businessmen who had risen to the middle of the region, and so they were contracted in the form of inviting the Pu Bang troupe to perform in the middle of the road. This was the beginning of the rich merchants in the middle of the road to organize opera classes, but the genre was still Pu Opera. The representative classes were the Wanhe class of Pingyao County, the Xiaopingyao class, and the Jiqing class of Jiexiu County.

To the early Xianfeng years, Pu Bang began to fall down, resulting in the middle of the road in the area of a relatively vacant period of theatrical activities, which love the play of the middle of the road crowd, especially the rich merchants were doubly disappointed, so a few people began to invite idle literati, ticket enthusiasts, as well as rice-planting songs, shadows and other artists, the organization of seminars to create their own drama. To the middle and late Xianfeng, after many classes of efforts to discuss, finally in the inheritance of Pu bang rhyme and gongs and drums on the basis of the points, combined with the middle of the road, such as the characteristics of the singing of rice-planting songs, the initial formation of the middle of the road in the embryonic Bangkok class society, and began to pilot performances. Which is representative of the Yuji Heidian class and Qixian Sanqing class, participating artists, in addition to the stranded Pu bang artists, rice-planting songs and shadow artists, there are drummers, shopkeepers, miners, ticket holders.

By the early years of Tongzhi, the social order in Shanxi improved. The emergence of the new Zhonglu Bangzi was also favored by more wealthy merchants and property owners. So the successive establishment of the upper and lower poly Liyuan class, four happy class, four Xingban, four Qingban class, etc., in the performance practice, learning from each other, and constantly improve, so that the singing and cultural and military scenes are becoming more and more perfect; but also to learn from the experience of foreign drama management class, so that the troupe has gradually moved towards the formalization of the experience. The troupe personnel, in addition to the cultural and military field to retain the Middle Kingdom artists, most of the other actors with high salaries hired from Puzhou, so the folk have: "Qi too lutetium, Puzhou pills," the proverb. The troupe is not commercial in nature, and the profits and losses are all borne by the troupe owner. Just every place, will be wooden, labeled with a certain county, a certain property owner by the name of the troupe of tiger signs in the foreground, to show boast, but also in the backstage powder wall inscription pen name. These stage title pen content is extensive, become today's study of the history of the development of Jin opera goldstone evidence.

With the increasing stereotyping of the Zhonglu Opera, it aroused the interest of small and medium-sized tycoons and medium-sized merchants to take up the class. They also invited artists or recruited children from Puzhou to set up classes. To the end of the Tongzhi, the middle of the road clapper class society has been in the middle of Shanxi, to the north of the road in a few states and counties in the beginning of the scale. The superb performances of the artists left a deep impression on the audience, and to this day there is still a saying in Jinzhong, "The Four Happiness Classes are good plays, Bald and Red, Spit and Clown, and Gai Shaanxi. Ginseng dolls, big mouth ugly, followed by a flag ......" and other proverbs circulated.

2. Brilliant period

After ten years of Guangxu, the middle of the road in the bangkok once again rose, appeared in the middle of the road artists play in the middle of the road theater of a new phenomenon, so that in the old days of the kind of Pudang artists play in the middle of the road theater of the situation began to change. From the fifteenth year of Guangxu to the end of the Qing Dynasty, Zhonglu Bangkas entered a period of splendor. There were temple plays, marketplaces, stage-stepping plays, light-opening plays, business plays, market-opening plays, god-appealing plays, wish-returning plays, sacrificial plays, wedding and birthday plays, and official plays, etc. The general villages also sang one play every year. General villages, also sings a play every year; large towns, as many as 5-10 per year, in the middle of the road has become the main play in the middle of the road people enjoy, and it is also with the middle of the road merchants traveled to Zhangjiakou, Baotou, naturalization, etc., with the local drama competition to dedicate skills. In the development process, due to regional relations, absorbing folk art and other components of the different, in the performance program, singing style, before the scene on the spectrum of the formation of the three major schools, that is, the upper road class in Taiyuan Prefecture County; Fenzhou Prefecture County, the lower road class; Pingding, Liaozhou Prefecture County, the East of the four classes and the difference between the three. Until after the liberation of the above three smaller differences, merged into one.

The middle of the road after the bangkok to the extreme, Jiangnan silk and bamboo class, Kyoto flower class basically withdrew from the middle of the road stage, only Pu bang occasionally still come, has been greatly reduced momentum.

After the Xinhai Revolution, the counties in the middle of the road were once in turmoil, and most of the rich and powerful people took a wait-and-see attitude. Therefore, the middle of the clapper's class more than changed to the former Qing government offices, dart boards, such as the remains of the old man to fill. At the same time the middle of the road artists team has grown, Pu Bang artists in addition to the settlers, the rest no longer come to the middle of the road class. During the 5-19 years of the Republic of China (1916-1930), the situation in Shanxi was relatively stable, and the Zhonglu Opera entered a second period of glory.

At this time, the Zhonglu Opera, the class society, expanding the genre. Not only rooted in Yanbei, occupy the mouth, and in the western part of Hebei Province, northeastern Shaanxi Province, as well as the province of the former Pingyang Province, Lu'an Province, the northern counties under the jurisdiction of the development of the establishment of the class, the formation of a large-scale across the north of China's Shanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Suiyuan, Chahaer 5 provinces and regions of the play, and thus known as the Shanxi Opera. There were many famous actors and actresses, and the competition was fierce. Zhonglu Bangkas formed a great situation of abundant talents, strong strength and mutual competition. The repertoire is numerous, and the literature and the military are complete. Because of the many talents, the repertoire was mostly celebrity plays. Commonly known as the "June Snow", "Phoenix Pavilion", "Golden Beach", "on the roof", "White Snake", "Iron Bow", "Hundred Children's Figure", "Famen Temple", "Double Officer Harmony", "Ten Thousand Buddhas Clothes", "in the Liangtu", "Plum drop commendation", "Double Rousseau", "Thirteen Sisters", "Ta Zi Gou", "Jade Chess", "Flaming Flag", "A Handful of Snow", "Money Leopard" and so on, **** more than 200 books, back, Out. It can be said that both military and civil, line line not block. Acting skills, a hundred flowers bloom. At this time, each class society to show the new tricks, the artists in the singing, doing, reading, playing stunts and other performances.