Peking Opera (京剧, Jīngjù) is a form of Chinese theatre that fuses singing, dialogue, mime, dance and acrobatics into a single, highly stylised performance. Born in Beijing around 1790, it became the most influential of China’s hundreds of regional operas and was inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.

Despite the name, it is not “opera” in the Western sense. There is no orchestra hidden in a pit and no continuous sung recitative. Instead, a small on-stage band punctuates a drama carried by four interlocking skills — chang (singing), nian (speech/recitation), zuo (acting/mime) and da (combat/acrobatics). A single performer may sing a soaring aria, deliver crisp spoken verse, and then execute a flipping martial sequence — all in character.

The music: “two dangers” and a drum

The melodic backbone is the erhuang and xipi systems, played on string instruments such as the jinghu (a high, bright fiddle). Rhythm and mood are driven by percussion — gongs and drums — led by a drummer who is effectively the conductor. A rise in tempo, a single gong strike, or a roll of drums can signal a character’s entrance, a shift from thought to action, or an impending battle.

Symbolism over realism

Peking Opera is theatrical, not literal. A character “rides” an invisible horse with a whip; a circle walked around the stage is a journey of a thousand miles; a few soldiers represent an army. Recognising the code is part of the fun:

• A blue banner with a name = a general’s standard.
• A鞭 (whip) = a horse; oars = a boat.
• Face paint (lianpu) = a quick read of a character’s personality and fate (see Roles & Makeup).
• Costume colour and rank signal status, age and temperament.

How to watch it for the first time

1. Pick a famous title — stories like The Drunken Concubine, Farewell My Concubine or Havoc in Heaven are crowd-pleasers.
2. Read a one-line synopsis first so you can relax into the performance.
3. Follow the role types: notice who is sheng (male), dan (female), jing (painted-face) or chou (clown).
4. Let the music guide you — when the percussion heats up, something is about to happen.

Peking Opera is the tip of a very large iceberg. Across China there are dozens of regional operas, each with its own dialect, melodies and flavour. This site is your English starting point — and when you’re ready for the originals, every topic links through to the Chinese-language aixiw.com archive.