What is the oldest opera in China?
There is no conclusion about who is the oldest, because opera is changing gradually. Opera begins with the wizard's dancing god, which is the manifestation of the beauty of opera. There was a "corner play" in the Han Dynasty, which lasted until the Tang Dynasty. In the early Tang dynasty, there was a "joining the army", which was a funny performance similar to the current cross talk and flourished in the middle Tang dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, Song Opera appeared. During the performance, the zaju added real literary creation. At this time, Nanxi also appeared in the unremarkable Wenzhou. The Southern Opera was followed by the Yuan Zaju, which was the real golden age of China's drama. The high prosperity of Yuan Zaju lasted for a century or so, and then it gradually declined, replaced by legends developed from Southern Opera. In Nanxi, the most famous music is Kunqu, so Kunqu finally reached the peak of drama performance and script creation. At this time, there appeared a script with high taste, such as Peony Pavilion. Kunqu opera was formed in the early Ming Dynasty, not in the Qing Dynasty, because Peking Opera appeared at this time. Of course, there were not only Peking Opera at that time, but also many other local operas called "Flower Department". At this time, opera became more and more abundant. So the oldest opera we can see on the stage now should be Kunqu Opera, which has a history of 600 years.