The Historical Significance of Beijing Opera

The historical significance of Peking Opera: The main body of Peking Opera is more of a folk culture or an underclass culture within Chinese culture as a whole, and even its rapid prosperity due to the favor of the Manchu emperors and the princes of the Eight Banners was not enough to change this aesthetic quality.

Of course, precisely because Peking Opera, based on folk interest, gained a status that no folk art had ever had before from the end of the Qing dynasty until the 20th century, it also maximized the influence of folk culture and aesthetics at the level of the art itself, and elevated the status of folk interest in China's cultural tradition.

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The Influence of Peking Opera

Mei Lanfang's overseas performances of Peking Opera from 1919-1935 eliminated the prejudice of the West against Chinese theater and even Chinese people at that time, and facilitated the dissemination of Chinese Peking Opera overseas, enhancing the cultural exchange between East and West. Chinese Peking Opera, a treasure of oriental art, shone brightly on the world theater stage.

After the founding of New China, foreign exchanges of Peking Opera were mainly organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Peking Opera became the cultural ambassador of the country.

China sent Peking Opera troupes to visit and perform in different parts of the world, including Mei Lanfang's visits to the Soviet Union in 1952, 1957 and 1960, and to Japan for the third time in 1956, which won great honors for traditional Chinese culture overseas.

His superb performances not only impressed the world with China's "national treasure" Peking Opera, but also had a profound impact on the theater and film arts in Japan, Europe and the United States, where theater masters Stanislavski and Brecht drew on the essence of Mei's performing arts in their creations.

In 2018, the 14th "Peace Cup" Chinese Peking Opera Ticket Fans Invitational Competition was held, with more than 2,000 ticket fans from the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and six countries, including the United States, Canada, Germany, France, New Zealand, and Australia, applying for the competition after selection and recommendation by district, and 254 ticket friends entered the re-match, and 102 outstanding contestants were produced at last. 102 excellent players were produced.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Peking Opera