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Beijing Opera
 Beijing
Opera, once called "Peking Opera",
is Beijing Opera is deemed the national opera of China. The accompanying music, singing and costumes are full of Chinese cultural facts. During the reign of
Emperor Qianglong in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911),
a local opera troupe from Anhui Province
came to Beijing and brought its "Hui
Tune" (which originated in Anhui Province
and was called "Pihuang" opera)
to the capital. It soon became prealent.
In the course of evolution, it partly drew
and adopted repertoire, tune and manner
of performance from Kun opera (a local opera
from Jiangsu area) and Qin Opera (a local
opera from Shaanxi Province) as well as
folk tunes, gradually developing into what
we now call Beijing Opera Placing emphasis
on dancing as well as on singing, it adopted
the skills of Chinese martial arts and created
its own uniquely stylized, ficitious and
strongly rhythmical movements.Singing and
reciting show elaborate articulation and
phrasing. Systemized in its four categories
of singing, acting, reciting and arobatic
fighting, Beijing Opera has exerted a strong
influence on other local opera.
Roles in Beijing Opera are divided
into the four Ha ngdangs (categories) of
Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou representing male,
female, old young, beatiful, honest and
dishonest. Beijing Opera mainly presents
historical stories Out of its more than
1300 plays,about 400 are often on show.
 The
orchestra in Beijing Opera consists of wind
and string instruments as well as percussion
instruments. Jinghu, a small two-stringed
bowed instrument, play a main part.I n the
more than one hundred years that have passed
many famous singing actors, drum masters
and Jinghu masters contributed a lot to
the development of Beijing Opera.
After the founding of the People's
Republic of China in 1949, Beijing Opera
troupes have performed aborad many times.
They caused a sensation in the world and
were warmly welcomed by the audiences.
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