Sichuan opera

Sichuan opera (Chinese: 川劇; Sichuanese Pinyin: Cuan¹ju⁴; pinyin: Chuānjù) is a type of Chinese opera originating in Sichuan province, China, around 1700. Today's Sichuan opera is a relatively recent synthesis of five historic melodic styles. Chengdu is the main home of Sichuan opera, while other influential locales include Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hubei, and Taiwan. Sichuan opera was listed among the first batch of the Chinese Ministry of Culture's "Intangible Cultural Heritage List", announced on 20 May 2006.

Notable characteristics of Sichuan opera include quick changes of masks or personae (known as bian lian or face changing) and the importance of the character of the fool.

Initially, there were five distinct opera styles. The history of each style varies greatly.

The origins of Sichuan opera can be traced back to the pre-Qin period.^{[citation needed]} The Jiaodian opera of the later Han dynasty laid the foundation for early Sichuan opera. A famous poem from the Warring States period, "Song Yu Asks the King of Chu", states: "they are Xialiba people, and there are thousands of people in the country who belong to harmony". The term "Xialiba people" here refers to Sichuan folk songs and dances, as well as singers and dancers. According to the records of the Taiping Guangji and Tares History Compilation, there was a play of bullfighting since Li Bing was the governor of Shu County in the 3rd century BC. During the Three Kingdoms period, the first satirical comedy appeared in Sichuan. This can be regarded as the originator of Sichuan opera comedy.

Between the Tang dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the popular drama of Sichuan reached its peak. This was sometimes referred to as an example of "Shu skills leading the world".^{[citation needed]} Frequently performed plays in this period included Liu Bijimai, Maixiu Liangqi, and Guankou God. During this period, the earliest troupe in the history of Chinese opera, consisting of Qian Manchuan, Bai Jia, Ye Si, Zhang Mei, and Zhang Ao in Youyang Zazu, was formed.

In the Song and Yuan dynasties, Southern opera and Sichuan Zaju were popular in Sichuan. The most famous song from this period was "Jiu Se Cai Qi".

Jin Guanger's class of "Sichuan Opera" in the Ming dynasty once went to Jiangsu and caused a stir in Nanjing, which formed a competitive situation with the Southern opera.

At the end of the Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing dynasty, the population of Sichuan dropped sharply. Immigrants from various parts of China moved into Sichuan, which is known as Huguang filling Sichuan. Immigrants brought many different styles of opera from their hometowns. This resulted in styles of opera from both northern and southern dialects spreading throughout Sichuan successively. In its long-term development and evolution, based on the Sichuan Lantern opera, Sichuan opera integrated with other dialects, such as Gaoqiang opera, Kunqu opera, huqin, and Tanqiang opera. Sichuan opera also merged with the Sichuan dialect, folk customs, folk music, and dance. This gradually established a formal style of Sichuan opera, a voice art with Sichuan characteristics.