Shanghai Opera is a local opera type in Shanghai. It was formed in Shanghai and is mainly distributed in Shanghai, southern Jiangsu and the Hangzhou, Jiazhou and Hu areas of Zhejiang. It belongs to the Tanxiang system. Shanghai Opera originated from the folk songs of Tiantou in Shanghai and rural areas in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It was originally named Huagu Opera. After entering the city, it was renamed local Tanhuang, also known as "Bentan". In the 1920s, it was called "Shenqu". In the 1940s, At first, the name "Shanghai Opera" appeared again. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, it was generally called "Shanghai Opera". It is a younger type of opera. There are many popular opera types in Shanghai, but Shanghai Opera is the only local opera that originated and grew in Shanghai. It originates from the folk, with vivid language, soft music, euphemistic and pleasant sounds, and a strong Jiangnan water town sentiment.

Historical evolution

Shanghai Opera, which belongs to the Tanhuang system, was originally named Huagu Opera. Shanghai Huagu Opera has been popular as early as the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty (1736-1795). It was performed mobilely in rural towns. Generally, they temporarily occupy a corner in a teahouse and sing in front of the tea guests. During temple fairs and festivals, they set up a stage to sing in villages and towns, which is called "putting a high stage".

The performance format at that time was that men played gongs and women played drums at both ends, accompanied by huqin, flute and banh mi, and the guest speakers used native dialects. The tunes sung are folk songs popular in rural areas on both sides of the Wusong River (Suzhou River) and Huangpu River, including "four-sentence folk songs", "antiphonal folk songs" and "narrative long folk songs". These folk songs are either two sentences or one paragraph, or four sentences. One paragraph, with free rhythm, close to spoken language, and euphemistic and simple style. Most of the performances show love, marriage and working life, such as "A Lang Sings Folk Song Like a Bell", "Twelve Zodiac Signs", "Child Bride", and "Langgong Folk Song". Narrative Changshan folk songs include hundreds or thousands of lines, and works include "Baiyangcun Folk Song", "Zhao Shengguan Folk Song", etc.

The singing procedure is to first use musical instruments to play [三六] and other Jiangnan silk and bamboo music, which is called "Lahe Tou". Then they performed a program called "Da Yang Dang", which started with a cappella again, and then the main show. After the play is performed, the audience often sings the opera's arias or ditty according to the excerpts, which is called "flop". The opening chapters of a cappella songs that have been passed down to this day include "Three Kingdoms" and "The Great Western Chamber".