Peking Opera is young compared with China’s oldest theatrical forms, but its rise was spectacularly fast. Its story is one of migration, fusion and imperial patronage.

1790: the “Four Great Anhui Troupes”

The conventional birth year is 1790, when the Sanqing troupe — one of the “Four Great Anhui Troupes” (四大徽班) — travelled to Beijing to perform for the Qianlong Emperor’s eightieth birthday celebrations. They brought Hui tunes (二黄, erhuang), a warm, narrative melody system from Anhui.

Blending with Han and Kunqu

Once in the capital, the Anhui troupes absorbed the Han melodies (西皮, xipi) of Hubei and borrowed training, arias and repertoire from the older, refined Kunqu and the local Qinqiang. Out of this mixing pot emerged a new, Beijing-flavoured style — by the mid-19th century recognisably the art we now call Peking Opera.

The Laiyang era and the great names

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the art matured through rival “schools” (派, pai) founded by star performers. The actor Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳, 1894–1961) elevated the dan (female-role) art to new heights, toured internationally, and became the global face of Chinese opera. His restrained, poetic style is still taught as the Mei school today.

From court entertainment to national heritage

• Early 20th c. — Opera houses flourish in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin; recording and radio spread the stars’ voices nationwide.
• 1949 onward — State troupes are formed; classic and new revolutionary works are staged (including the famous “model operas” of the 1960s–70s).
• 2010 — UNESCO inscribes Peking Opera on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Today

Peking Opera now shares the stage with pop culture, film and experimental theatre, and regional operas from across China keep their own vibrant traditions alive. This portal is part of that continuing story — an English-language window onto a living art, with every topic linked to the deep Chinese-language archive at aixiw.com.