Han opera () is a form of

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

, previously known as "Chu tone" (楚调) or "Han tone" (汉调). It arose in the middle

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

period in

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The pr ...

, and later spread to

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ning ...

, and part of

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of th ...

. The music of Han opera incorporates the Xipi (西皮) and Erhuang (二黄) styles. There are ten roles in Han opera: Mo (末), Jing,

Sheng Sheng may refer to: * Sheng (instrument) (笙), a Chinese wind instrument * Sheng (surname) (盛), a Chinese surname * Sheng (Chinese opera), a major role in Chinese opera * Sheng (升), ancient Chinese unit of volume, approximately 1 liter * S ...

, Dan, Chou, Wai (外), Xiao (小), Tie (贴), Fu (夫), and Za (杂).

Sources

* Chinese opera {{Chinese opera