Historical drama is one of the types of drama divided according to the theme. Refers to a drama adapted from historical events and historical figures. In the west, works belonging to this kind of drama have existed since ancient times. When Hegel used this name, he defined it as a work that "draws material from the past" and took "keeping historical loyalty" as an important creative principle. The creation of historical drama is based on real historical figures and events and is processed by the author's art. It is necessary to analyze and study a large number of historical materials, select typical events on the basis of historical truth, and appropriately enrich and supplement them with imagination and fiction to form dramatic conflicts and reproduce social life in a certain historical period. The main characters and events, as well as the environment and customs, expressed in historical dramas should be historical and true. Guo Moruo's Qu Yuan and Cai Wenji, Tian Han's Princess Wencheng and Cao Yu's The Condor Heroes are all famous historical dramas.

In China, according to the historical stage of plays, some people divide such plays into historical plays and revolutionary historical plays. The latter refers to the works drawn from the modern revolutionary history after the Revolution of 1911, while the former refers to the scripts drawn from the long historical era before.

To what extent historical drama should be faithful to history has always been a controversial topic in theoretical circles. Generally speaking, historical drama, as a kind of drama art, does not require works to stick to the natural process and details of historical events, but requires playwrights to pay attention to the grasp, performance and interpretation of historical figures. The historical inheritance and authenticity of characters should be the basic yardstick for evaluating historical dramas and the basic principles followed by playwrights. In realizing this principle, playwrights can choose and process historical events according to the needs of shaping typical characters, which can not only change their natural process, but also make local fiction.