Cantonese Opera
| Cantonese opera | |||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 1. 粵劇 2. 大戲 |
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | 1. Yuè jù 2. dà xì |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | 1. Jyut6 kek6 2. daai6 hei3 |
The Cantonese opera (Chinese: 粵劇) is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Guangdong Province. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau and among the Chinese community in Southeast Asia. Like all versions of Chinese opera, it is a traditional Chinese art form, involving music, singing, martial arts, acrobatics, and acting.
There is a debate about the origins of Cantonese opera, but it is generally accepted that opera was brought from the northern part of China and slowly migrated to the southern province of Guangdong in late 13th century, during the late Southern Song dynasty. In the 12th century, there was a theatrical form called the Nanxi or "Southern drama", which was performed in public theatres of Hangzhou, then capital of the Southern Song. With the invasion of the Mongol army, Emperor Gong of the Song dynasty fled with hundreds of thousands of Song people into Guangdong in 1276. Among them were Nanxi performers from Zhejiang, who brought Nanxi into Guangdong and helped develop the opera traditions in the south.
Many well-known operas performed today, such as Tai Nui Fa originated in the Ming Dynasty and The Purple Hairpin originated in the Yuan Dynasty, with the lyrics and scripts in Cantonese. Until the 20th century all the female roles were performed by males.
Beginning in the 1950s massive waves of immigrants fled Shanghai to destinations like North Point. Their arrival boosted the Cantonese opera fan-base significantly. However, a decreased number of Cantonese opera troupes are left to preserve the art in Hong Kong today. As a result, many stages that were dedicated to the Cantonese genre are closing down. Hong Kong's Sunbeam Theatre is one of the last facilities that is still standing to exhibit Cantonese opera.
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