Characteristics of traditional opera

Traditional opera is mainly characterized by comprehensive, virtual and programmatic art.

Condensing the essence of aesthetic thought of traditional Chinese culture, it constitutes a unique view of theater, which makes Chinese opera shine with its unique artistic glory on the big stage of world opera culture.

Chinese opera is a form of drama centered on the comprehensive performance of singing, reciting, acting and playing, which has rich means of artistic expression, and its close integration with the performing arts in a comprehensive way makes Chinese opera rich in special charm. It melts the beauty of lyrics, music, art and performance into one with rhythmic control to achieve a harmonious unity in a play. It fully mobilizes the infectious power of various artistic means to form a unique rhythmic performing art in China.

The most important feature of Chinese opera is its virtual nature. Instead of merely imitating life, stage art selects, refines, exaggerates and beautifies the original form of life, bringing the audience directly into the hall of art.

Origin and Formation of Opera

The process of the development and growth of opera is long, through the Han and Tang, until the Song and Jin to form a more complete form of opera art. Opera is mainly formed by the synthesis of three different art forms: folk song and dance, rap and burlesque. The temple fairs and tile houses and hooks played a contributing role in the formation of opera.

From primitive society to class society, China has a characteristic different from the West: in the West, with the emergence of class, the primitive clan organization gradually disintegrated; but China has long preserved the remnants of this organization, and formed a relatively fixed rural organization. At the same time, the songs and dances inherited from the primitive society have often been preserved in the countryside throughout the ages.