The evolution of opera.

Pre-Qin (budding period) -->Mid to late Tang Dynasty (formation period) -->Song and Jin (development period) -->Yuan Dynasty (maturity) ->Ming and Qing Dynasties (period of prosperity)->Modern times (period of innovation)->Modern times (period of struggle for glory)

The first person to use the term opera in history was Liu Ocarina of the Song Dynasty (1240-1319), who wrote in the The first to use the term in history was Liu Ocarina (1240-1319) of the Song Dynasty, who proposed "Yongjia Opera" in his "Biography of the Lyricist Wu Yuzhang". He said "Yongjia Opera", which is what later people call "Southern Opera", "Opera and Literature" and "Yongjia Miscellaneous Opera". From the modern Wang Guowei began, only the "opera" used as a general term for traditional Chinese theater culture.

Pre-Qin (budding)

In the primitive society, the clan inhabited villages produced primitive songs and dances, and with the gradual growth of the clan, the songs and dances also gradually developed and improved. Such as in many ancient villages, still maintains a long tradition of song and dance, such as "Nuo opera"; at the same time, some new songs and dances such as "social fire", "Yangge" and other adaptations to the people's spiritual needs and birth. The birth of the spiritual needs of the people. It is these songs and dances, creating a number of skilled folk artists, and a little step in the direction of the opera. The "Ode" in the Book of Songs and the "Nine Songs" in the Book of Chu are the songs and dances sung at the time of sacrificing to the gods. From the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods to the Han Dynasty, songs and dances to entertain the gods gradually evolved into songs and dances to entertain people. From the Han and Wei Dynasties to the Middle Tang Dynasty, there appeared "Jiao Dai" (i.e., a hundred operas), which mainly focused on competition, "Senjun Opera", which was performed in the form of questions and answers, and "Tap Shake Niang", which played the role of a small story of life, etc. These are the germinal stages. These are all budding dramas.

Middle and Late Tang Dynasty (Formative Period)

After the Middle Tang Dynasty, Chinese theater developed by leaps and bounds, and the art of drama gradually took shape.

The prosperity of literature and art in the Tang Dynasty was the result of high economic development, which promoted the self-supporting art of opera and gave it rich nourishment, and the maturity of the sound and narrative poetry of poetry gave decisive influence to opera. The prosperity of music and dance provided opera with the strongest foundation for performance and singing. The professional study and formalized training of the Pear Garden in the workshops improved the artistic level of the artists, accelerated the course of dramatization of songs and dances, and produced a number of operatic repertoires that used songs and dances to act out stories.

Song and Jin (development)

The Song Dynasty's "miscellaneous dramas", the Jin Dynasty's "Yuanben" and the "Zhugong tune" in the form of singing, from the music, structure and content, all laid the groundwork for the Yuan Dynasty's miscellaneous dramas. The Yuan dynasty miscellaneous dramas have laid the foundation for the Yuan dynasty.

Yuan Dynasty (Mature Period)

In the Yuan Dynasty, "miscellaneous dramas" were greatly developed on the basis of the original, and became a new type of drama. It possessed the basic characteristics of drama, marking the stage of maturity of Chinese theater. from the middle of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century, there gradually arose professional artistic and commercial performing groups and Yuan miscellaneous operas and jin yuanyuanben reflecting the life and views of the citizens, such as Dou'e Grievance created by Guan Hanqing, Han Palace Autumn of Ma Zhiyuan, and The Great Revenge of the Orphans of the Zhao Clan, etc. This period was a time of prosperity for the theater stage, and it was the first time that the Yuan dynasty was able to develop the Yuan dynasty. This period was a prosperous time for the opera stage.

Ming and Qing Dynasties (Prosperity Period)

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the kunqu opera emerged in the south of the Yangtze River, and operas such as Fifteen Guan and Occupy the Flower Leader sprang up. The opera popular with peasants in this period was the Yiyangqiang, which arose in Anhui and Jiangxi, and the Kunqiang was popular with the feudal upper class.

The works of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties were mostly about heroes in the hearts of the people, such as Mu Guiying, Tao Sanchun and Zhao Kuangyin. At this time, local theater, mainly in the north of the clappers and the south of the Pihuang. Peking Opera was created on the basis of the high prosperity of local opera in the Qing Dynasty. In the Tongzhi and Guangxu years, there appeared the first generation of Peking Opera performers listed among the "Tongguang Thirteen Masters" and the patriarchs of different schools, which marked the maturity and prosperity of the art of Peking Opera. Soon Peking Opera developed nationwide, especially in Shanghai and Tianjin, where it became a widely influential genre, advancing the art of Chinese opera to a new height.

Modern Period

Before and after the Xinhai Revolution, a group of accomplished opera artists engaged in the improvement of the art of opera, including Wang Xiaonong, Pan Yueqiao, and Xia Yuexan, etc., who accumulated valuable experience for the improvement of opera in the future. From the May Fourth Movement in 1919 to the founding of the People's Republic of China, a number of artists reformed the opera during this period. Mei Lanfang on the eve of May Fourth performed "Deng Rough Aunt", "A Wisp of Hemp" and other fashionable new operas to publicize the idea of democracy, and Zhou Xinfang, Cheng Yanqiu and others also created a lot of works. Yuan Xuefen, on the other hand, held high the banner of reform of Yueju Opera, starring in Lu Xun's masterpiece "Sisterhood of the Xianglin", and was the first to form a comprehensive artistic mechanism integrating choreography, directing, dancing, sound and beauty in Chinese opera. "The first to begin the mechanism of combining capitalization and realism in Chinese opera art.

Modern (Contest for Glory)

After the founding of New China, a number of excellent plays emerged, such as the Peking Opera "The Generals and the Harmony" and "The Legend of the White Snake", the Pian Opera "Qin Xianglian", the Yue Opera "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", and the Kun Opera "The Fifteen Guan", etc. The renowned historian Wu Han also authored the historical Peking Opera "Hai Rui Strikes Down the Officials". Later, a series of excellent works were released, such as the Peking Opera "The White-haired Girl", "The Tale of the Red Lantern", "The Strange Attack on the White Tiger Regiment", the Yueju Opera "The Story of the Western Chamber", the Chinese opera "Liu Qiao'er", the Shanghai Opera "The Spark of the Ludang", and the Yu Opera "Chaoyang Gully", etc. The Peking Opera "The Gang of Four" was crushed by the Chinese government. After the "Gang of Four" was crushed, the opera team was quested for, and a large number of traditional operas that were loved by the public but were suspended or criticized, such as the Peking Opera "Xie Yaohuan", the Putu Opera "Chuncao Trespassing", and the Lu Opera "Sisters Marrying Easily", etc., were also re-staged. The development of opera art today, through different eras, constantly adapting to the new era, the needs of the new audience, to maintain and carry forward the traditional artistic characteristics of the nation, the opera community puts forward the "modernization" and "opera" problem, has become a new historical period of active exploration and active practice of the problem. The problem of "modernization" and "operaization" has become a matter of active discussion and practice in the new historical period.

Opera has a long history of inheritance and development in China. For a long time, opera has been the art style with the broadest mass base and audience in Chinese literature and art. In Chinese history, opera has long played a role in teaching and entertaining, and is an important way for the general public to acquire knowledge, learn history, and receive moral and ethical indoctrination. Opera comes from the folk, is active in the folk, influences the people's emotions, morals, thoughts and customs, and maintains the identity and harmony of the Chinese nation. The regional and diversified nature of Chinese opera also reflects the civilized root of Chinese culture, which is pluralistic and integrated. The rich and colorful local opera shows the colorfulness of Chinese culture and Chinese art, meets the diverse and rich cultural needs of the people, and presents the spiritual civilization landscape of the opera garden blossoming with a hundred flowers and full of spring colors, which is also a unique cultural landscape in human culture.