China

Chinese Opera

The main features of Chinese Opera are a spectacle of song and dance which, together with the colorful costumes, make-up, acrobats, jesters, storytellers, acting, poetry and martial arts combine to present the Opera in a very attractive way.

The earliest known theatre appeared in the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960 to 1279) with a square stage enclosed by railings. During the period of first emperor Kublai Khan in the Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1279 to 1368) the opera had evolutional changes and the period was classified as the Golden age of the Classical Opera.

In the 19th Century the Opera was dominated by a form called Peking Opera featuring colorful costumes, elaborate make up, facial expressions and was spoken and sung in Mandarin dialect. Other operatic forms also evolved using the dialects of different areas, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chiuzhou and Suzhou. The plays come from legendary tales and some are interpretations of actual historical events such as "The Three Kingdoms" and the "Outlaws of the Marsh".

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The Zheng

The Zheng, commonly known as Guzheng, (pronounced "Goo-Zheng"), is a plucked string instrument that is part of the zither family. It is one of the most ancient Chinese musical instruments according to the documents written in the Qin dynasty (before 206 BC). Zheng is the forerunner of Japanese koto, Korean kayagum, Mongolian yatag, and Vietnamese dan tranh. Due to its long history, the zheng has been called guzheng or Gu-Zheng where "Gu" stands for "ancient" in Chinese. The guzheng has been a popular instrument since ancient times and is considered as one of the main chamber as well as solo instruments of Chinese traditional music. Since the mid-19th century, guzheng solo repertoire has been growing and evolving towards an increasing technical complexity.

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