Peking Opera (Beijing Opera, jingju)

Abstract

Peking Opera (jingju京剧), a major genre of classical Chinese theater (xiqu戏曲), emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries during the Qing dynasty. As a blend of various Southern Chinese theatrical traditions, Peking Opera inherits and stylizes many representative musical features of Chinese xiqu in its melodies, rhythms, and vocal techniques. During the early 20th century in the Republic of China, Peking Opera thrived as virtuoso artists performed nationwide and toured internationally. After the establishment of the PRC in 1949, the government implemented drama reform that aimed at bringing Peking Opera into better line with Communist ideology. With the start of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), Peking Opera was reinvented as Model Opera (yangbanxi样板戏). At the same time in Taiwan, the genre was renamed by the KMT military government as “National Opera (guoju國劇)” in response to defeat and expulsion by the Communist Party. Contemporary performance and composition of Peking Opera remain innovative while still reviving traditional forms. Scholarship on Peking Opera conducted in Mainland China sometimes diverges in methodology from that conducted abroad due to the different academic and social environments. Local Chinese scholarship tends to focus on archival work and theories related to musical practice, while the Western counterpart is predominantly concerned with critical and structural analysis. This article selects works and resources that would benefit scholars proficient in the Chinese language who are interested in researching, teaching, and/or publishing in English academic settings. Notice that writings after the international standardization of the pinyin system (1979) may adapt the pinyin transliteration, “Beijing Opera.” Meanwhile, the more conventional “Peking Opera” continues to exist in various contexts, as many European languages outside English still refer to the name of city in its traditional transliteration.