Development of training and performativity in Shanghai YueJu

Abstract

This paper illustrates the development of training and performativity in a Chinese regional opera form: the all-female Shanghai Yue Opera (YueJu). All-female YueJu is currently the second largest opera form, out of over 360 different opera genres, in China. Its reputation rests on its femininity, which is expressed through music, gender roles and movements. YueJu is often compared to Beijing Opera (JingJu); whilst Beijing Opera (JingJu) is regarded as representing the Chinese national Yang culture, YueJu is representative of the national Yin culture. This Cosmological Yin–Yang balance, based on Neo-Confucian ideologies, symbolises the ultimate harmony of a society and brought about YueJu's legitimacy. This paper suggests that YueJu's femininity is a process of gender reconstruction, through training and performativity, formed under socio-psychological criteria and presented according to a particular political preference in history. YueJu's development reveals the deeply embedded masculine domination in modern Chinese society.