Gezi Opera is a local opera sung in the Hokkien language.

Xiang Opera was originally called Gezi Opera. Xiang Opera is a local opera sung in southern Fujian. The music is very distinctive and the folk songs are rich in color, so it can quickly become popular in southern Fujian. The Minnan region refers to Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Longyan, Xinluo District and Zhangping in the southeastern part of Fujian Province. The dialect is Minnan, which is mainly divided based on language, culture and customs.

At first, Gezi Opera was mainly rural dramas. Later, it absorbed the nutrients of Nanguan Opera, Beiguan Opera, Peking Opera and Fuzhou Opera and developed into a mature stage drama. The content of the scripts is mainly folk stories. Classic scripts include "Chen Sanwu Niang", "Shan Bo Yingtai", "Black White Snake", "Lü Mengzheng", etc., which emphasize loyalty, filial piety and justice.

Gezai opera is mostly white but with free rhythm, and has more than 100 traditional tunes. Chop suey tune and Qi Zi tune are the two most important singing styles of Gezai opera. The characters all sing with real voices, among which Kudan is the most distinctive. The accompaniment instruments include Kezixian, Daguangxian, Yueqin, flute, duck mother da, Sanxian, suona, single-skin drum, gong, cymbals, etc.

Drama content

The content of Gezi Opera is mainly about singing folk stories. Representative plays include "Chen Sanwu Niang", "Liu Xiu's Return to the Country", "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea", "The Biography of Jigong", "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" and other plays emphasize loyalty, filial piety and justice, and generally do not have a fixed script. They are still performed today in a way where "Mr. Opera" tells the play and assigns roles.

The Story of Chen San and Wuniang Lijing is an ancient folk legend. It belongs to the legendary works of the Ming Dynasty in China. It originated from Quanzhou (Chen San) in Fujian and Chaozhou (Wuniang) in Guangdong in southern Fujian. The author has lost Yi, probably originated during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty.

It is mainly in the form of Qupai (script). The scripts are all written in Hokkien and performed in drama. It is a beautiful legend widely spread in eastern Guangdong (today's Chaozhou, Shantou, Jieyang, Shanwei) and southern Fujian. Historical stories later evolved into operas, and opera stories made folklore more legendary.

The above content refers to Baidu Encyclopedia-Gezai Opera