When did Chinese theater begin?

Chinese theater began during the Qin and Han Dynasties.

The formation of opera can be traced back to the Qin and Han Dynasties. However, the process of formation was quite long, and it was not until the Song and Yuan Dynasties that it took shape.

The mature opera starts from Yuan miscellaneous dramas, and enters the modern era through the continuous development and maturity of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which have flourished for more than 800 years, and there are more than 360 types of dramas nowadays. In the long process of development of classical Chinese opera, there have been four basic forms of opera: Song and Yuan southern opera, Yuan dynasty miscellaneous opera, Ming and Qing dynasty legends, Qing dynasty local opera, and recent and modern opera.

Chinese drama mainly includes opera and drama, opera is China's traditional drama, after a long period of development and evolution, and gradually formed to "Beijing opera, Yueju opera, Huangmei opera, opera, Yu opera" China's five major types of opera as the core of the Chinese opera garden.

Expanded Information:

Opera has a long history and has always occupied an important place in the cultural creation of the Chinese nation. Although it was not until the Song Dynasty that opera was born and matured, it quickly became the preeminent representative of Chinese culture and a favorite form of artistic entertainment for all segments of society. Opera has drawn extensively on and absorbed the essence of other mature artistic disciplines.

China's music and dance were highly developed in the pre-Qin period, and the plastic arts entered a mature stage in the two Han periods. Various kinds of acrobatics, magic performances, and songs and dances appeared all over the country, and after the Sui and Tang dynasties, the urban entertainment market was gradually formed, and the narrative art of rap, characterized by story-telling, was active, attracting countless audiences. From the day of its birth, opera has integrated all these mature arts into one, melting into a highly comprehensive art that integrates "singing, reading, acting and playing" into one.

Mentioning opera, our memories will ring with those familiar choruses, such as "Pao Longtu sits on the Kaifeng Mansion" in Peking Opera's "Qin Xianglian," "Sister Lin" in Yueju Opera's "Dream of Red Mansions," "Husband and wife put together their children's lives" in Huangmei Opera's "Matching of the Tianxian" and "The couple put together their children's lives" in Huangmei Opera's "The Husband and wife put together their children's lives. The "Husband and Wife Returning Home" of the Yellow Plum Opera "The Pairing of Tian Xian".

We can see the actors' lithe rounds, the fluttering sleeves, the hero's qiba (one of the opera's performance routines, i.e., a set of dance movements such as the helmet and armor before a general goes into battle), and the maiden's orchid fingers, as well as the martial arts actors' exquisite kung fu.

These highly skillful performance means are skillfully used by the opera to express the twisted and bizarre storylines and touching characters' destinies, so that the appreciators can be attracted and touched by the charms of the opera and at the same time get the all-around enjoyment of the various arts.

Historically, opera has relied on such advantages to attract many outstanding talents to devote themselves to the creative cause of opera, and a large number of classic works representing the highest achievements of Chinese artistic creation have emerged.

People's Daily Online - Opera: Inheriting the Literary Lineage and Gathering the Essence