{"id":13159,"date":"2017-03-23T14:52:44","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T18:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=13159"},"modified":"2017-03-23T14:52:44","modified_gmt":"2017-03-23T18:52:44","slug":"peking-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/peking-opera\/","title":{"rendered":"Peking Opera"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chinese capital is famous for lots of things – the Great Wall<\/a>, roast duck<\/a>, and of course, Peking opera<\/strong> (\u4eac\u5267 – j\u012bng j\u00f9). It has a long history and is thought of as a cultural treasure of China. Performers wear elaborate and colorful costumes and face paint and put on an impressive show featuring singing, dialogue, dancing, acrobatics, and martial arts. Let’s take a closer look at this famous Chinese performance art, starting with a bit of history.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n
\"Peking<\/a>

A performance in a village outside of Beijing.<\/p><\/div>\n

Back in 1790, the Emperor Qianlong was celebrating his 80th birthday. A few famous troupes of Anhui opera<\/strong> (\u5fbd\u5267 – hu\u012b j\u00f9) traveled to Beijing to perform. Several years later, other opera troupes from Hubei visited the capital and performed with the groups from Anhui. The blending of these two styles gradually led to the formation of a new style that came to be known as Peking opera. Unlike other traditional forms of Chinese opera, this new style simplified things with only a few voices and singing patterns. It caught on in popularity, especially after the Empress Dowager Cixi became a huge fan. After the\u00a0establishment of the People’s Republic of China with the Communist victory, this art form was derided as being “feudalistic.” It was replaced by revolutionary model operas to serve as propaganda. For a variety of reasons, Peking opera has declined in popularity in recent decades. Reforms have been undertaken to try and attract audiences. While it may never return to its glory days, Peking opera remains an important aspect of Chinese culture.<\/p>\n