ABSTRACT
China’s array of traditional drama forms is rich and varied. To be sure, there are some genres which have long been taken for granted in the West but which did not exist at all in traditional China, such as the spoken play. On the other hand, the range of different styles of opera was very wide, ballad or story-telling forms, nowadays known collectively as quyi, flourished all over the country, while acrobats and puppets were also popular. This chapter focuses on particular types and examples of the traditional performing arts because they are most interesting or representative. It discusses a few specific traditional operas on rebellions of the past. These can realistically be described as ‘singing the praises of the Chinese people’s struggle against class oppression’ or expressing the ‘courageous, intelligent and other superior qualities of the Chinese people’.
