The Origin of Cantonese Opera

Cantonese opera originated from the rise of seven-character folk songs in China, which can be traced back to the Book of Songs in the pre-Qin period. However, Qiyan folk songs are also the same origin of all Banbian operas in China, such as Beijing Opera, Shanghai Yue Opera, Huangmei Tune and other ode operas.

China's seven-character folk songs reached an unprecedented height in the Middle Ages, that is, the Wei, Jin and Tang Dynasties, and even formed a generation of literary styles-Tang poetry. These orderly folk songs not only formed the story-telling content, but also added the rhythm characteristics of Muyu Festival to the popular performances of Buddhist temples in the Tang Dynasty.

However, due to being at the bottom of society for a long time, and the influence of foreign music, banquet music (or Yan music) has been appreciated by the ruling class in the Tang Dynasty, so it has not been greatly developed. Ci music developed from banquet music, after Tang and Song Dynasties, formed a kind of drama with different rules as Gongdiao.

Extended data:

The role in drama is called occupation in Cantonese opera and Chinese opera. The lines of Cantonese opera are originally the top ten lines: Duan, Destiny, Dan, Pure, Ugly, Foreign, Fu, Paste and Miscellaneous. Later, it was simplified to the six-column system, namely, Wen Wusheng, Xiao Sheng, Andrew Hua Dan, Erhua Gangdan, Ugly Voice and Wusheng.

These are all classified according to the characteristics of roles, such as age, gender, personality and appearance. "End" stands for an old role. "Life" stands for male role. "Dan" stands for female role. "Net" is a strong and violent male character. Ugly is a funny character.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Cantonese Opera