Cantonese opera originated from the opera tune. Since the early years of Daoguang's reign in the Qing Dynasty, it has experienced several different development periods and has become the largest type of music in Guangdong Province.

The period from 1821 to 1861 was the eight-yin class period. The team composed of 8 musicians was called the Small Eight Music Class, and later the organization expanded to 24 people and was called the Big Eight Music Class. In the early days, it mainly performed instrumental music, and also absorbed the singing styles of the Western Qin Opera and other Waijiang Troupes, so it was also called the Xi Qin Troupe. Later, it gradually changed to singing Cantonese opera. The period from 1862 to 1917 was the period of "Master's Wife". The "sister wives" are all blind women. They were trained by "tangkou" who specially adopted blind girls to teach Cantonese singing and playing skills when they were young. They became professional entertainers and made a living by performing and singing on invitations at door-to-door or door-to-door. In the early years of the Republic of China, "Master Niang" began to sing in folk art teahouses opened in teahouses, creating the "one, a few, two chairs" performance model. From 1918 onwards, the period of "female actresses" began, with non-blind female artists called "female actors" gradually replacing "sister wives". The "female actress" changed from the "one or two chairs" sitting singing in the "Master Niang" period to standing singing, and also changed the "Master Niang" one person with multiple roles and one person with multiple voices to sing a whole set of big songs with storylines to sing a single Cantonese song. Due to the flexible singing form, Cantonese opera performances have formed a performing arts team of more than 400 people in just a few years. The "female actress" period from 1918 to 1938 was the heyday in the history of Cantonese opera, with numerous talents and genres, famous artists, famous songs, and famous tunes constantly emerging. The reason for its prosperity at that time was firstly that the level of performing arts was further improved, and a group of highly accomplished musicians entered the music industry, not only accompanying them, but also composing and assisting actors in designing music vocals; secondly, there were a group of writers in the music world who wrote music specifically for artists. Instead of relying solely on opera scripts in the past, artists can sing repertoire that suits their own artistic style. During the period of "female actresses", Cantonese opera underwent some major changes: the original singing in "stage mandarin" was changed to singing in Guangzhou dialect; the original falsetto singing was changed to singing in the real voice, and the basic tune was also lowered from E to C accordingly. ; The ten major singing styles originally divided into Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, Chou, Wai, Xiao, Fu, Tie and Za are combined into Dahou (also known as Baqiang or left-handed, which is a male singing tune and mostly uses the high range), There are three major tune systems: Pinghou (a singing tune for male characters, mostly used in the alto range) and Zihou (a special tune for female characters). Cantonese opera has 7 types of qupaiban forms: Bangzi; Erhuang; Paiziqu; various folk art forms and tunes in the same region; ditties and minor tunes; ditties and miscellaneous tunes created according to Bangzi and Huangxuan methods; "Guangdong music" and others Folk music. From playing and singing to accompaniment by a band, five basic accompaniment instrument combinations have been formed: a combination called soft bow with gaohu, dulcimer, pipa, horizontal flute and long throat as the core (mostly used for flat throat, zi throat and the accompaniment of literary singing); the combination called hard bow with erxian, fiddle (unique national musical instrument), yueqin and short throat pipe as the core (mostly used for the accompaniment of big throat and martial arts singing), hard bow plus suona and gongs and drums The wind and percussion music group (mostly used for accompaniment of brand music and specific singing styles), is a group with Ye Hu, Dong Xiao, Pipa, Yang Qin (or Zheng) as the core (dedicated to the accompaniment of Nanyin and other folk arts tunes), absorbing the use of Western instruments such as violin, The core combination is Xi Shifeng, electric guitar, xylophone, etc. (mostly mixed with soft bows or alternately with flat throat and sub-throat accompaniment).

After Guangzhou was occupied by the Japanese army, the folk art industry declined. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, it recovered slightly, but it was no longer as prosperous as before the war.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, under the guidance of the policy of "letting a hundred flowers blossom, a hundred schools of thought contend, and weeding out the old and bringing forth the new", Cantonese opera has experienced a prosperous situation. In 1958, outstanding actors and musicians were gathered together to establish the Guangdong Music Troupe. On the basis of inheriting the tradition, they vigorously reformed and innovated, making Cantonese opera develop from a basic stand-up singing to a variety of forms including playing singing, rapping, performance singing, group singing, etc. The form has cultivated a large number of new talents. While creating a large number of new repertoire, it has also compiled many traditional repertoires. During the "Cultural Revolution", Cantonese opera suffered greatly. After the end of the "Cultural Revolution", Cantonese opera gradually recovered. The government's cultural authorities have taken measures to promote creation, train successors, and vigorously promote mass Cantonese opera singing activities, which has brought Cantonese opera into a new development period since the 1980s.

Cantonese opera has produced outstanding talents in every period.

During the "Master's Wife" period, there were Yueying, Hanying, Cuiyan, Fulan, Qunfang, Ermei, etc. During the period of "female singers", there were many talents. The representative figures are the big-throated singer Xiong Feiying, the small-throated singer Zhang Qiongxian (also known as Zhang Yujing) and the four major flat-throated singers Xiaoxing (Deng Manwei), Xu Liuxian, Zhang Yue'er and Zhang Huifang. Among the famous musicians of this period, Lu Wencheng, Yin Zizhong, He Dasha and He Langping, known as the "Four Heavenly Kings", were the outstanding ones. In addition, there are also famous composers Wang Xinfan, Wu Yixiao, Zeng Pusheng, Chen Guanqing, Yang Zijing, etc. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Cantonese opera has become more talented. Famous actors include Li Shaofang, Guan Chumei, Huang Peiying, He Lifang, Bai Yanzi, Tan Peiyi, Huang Shaomei, Li Danhong, He Zishuang, He Shirong (blind artist), Chen Yanying, Lai Tianya, etc. Famous musicians include Liang Qiu, Fang Han, Zhu Hai, Chen Pingjia, Su Wenbing, Qu Qing, Li Haoming, Tang Kaixuan, etc. Famous composers include Cai Yanfen, Lu Feng, Ding Feng, Chen Ziqiang, Liu Hannai, Pan Bangzhen, etc. Since the 1980s, it has also trained a number of outstanding young actors and musicians.

Most of the early repertoire of Cantonese opera came from Cantonese opera "class scripts". During the "Master's Wife" period, it began to accumulate its own unique repertoire. The representative work is the "Eight Major Song Scripts": "Bai Li Xi Hui Wife" , "Distinguishing Talents and Dispelling Demons", "Daiyu Buries Flowers", "Liu Lang's Sinful Son", "Abandoning Chu and Returning to Han", "Lu Zhishen Became a Monk", "With Recommendation to He Wenxiu", "The Sage in the Snow". During the period of "female actresses" competing in singing new songs, creations flourished. Famous actors all had their own first famous songs, such as "Yue Wu Mu Ban Shi", "Wu Song Havoc in the Lion Tower", "Night Fight with Ma Chao" by big-throated singer Xiong Feiying, Ping Throat Singer Yan Yan's "Heart-Broken Stele", Little Star's "Romantic Dream" and "Where is the Friend", Xu Liuxian's "Breaking the Willows in Changting Pavilion Again" and "Mengjue Red Mansion", and son-throat singer Zhang Qiongxian's "Swallow Tower" and "Swallow Tower". Farewell to the Autumn River", "Night Rain in Xiaoxiang", etc. During the Anti-Japanese War, many Anti-Japanese War-themed songs were produced, such as "Hate to Lock Wuyang City" and "Public Enemy of Mankind" sung by little stars, "Hot-Blooded Loyal Soul" and "When Will the Blood Debt Become" sung by Xu Liuxian, and "Danger of War" sung by Li Shaofang ", "Dancing after hearing the chicken", "Kill the enemy to comfort the soul" sung by Zhang Huifang, etc. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, there have been countless compositions. The more frequently sung historical-themed works include "Niu Gao's Pursuit", "Zhou Yu Writes a Table", "Qin Qiong Sells Horses", "Mu Guiying Takes the Command", "Mulan's Camp Tour", "Cai Wenji Returns to the Han", "Re-Jin" "Shenyuan", "Zi Jian Hui Luo Shen", "Jinjiang Poetry Couple", "Wu Song Fights Tiger", "Pipa Heroic Song", "Peacock Flying Southeast", etc. Modern works include "The River Is Clear One Day", "A Cow Drive" "Whip", "Zhu Laogong Protecting the Bell", "Remembering Love by Fulongtan", "Ten Thousand Ducks Beach", "Second Wife Chasing Cars", "The Moon Reflected in Two Springs", "Wrangler", and "The New Eight Scenes of Yangcheng" "Smoke and Rain at Two Bridges", "Fragrant Snow at Luogang", "Moonlight at Ear Pond", "Spring Dawn at East Lake", "Zhuhai Red Heart", "Rising Sun at Hongling", "White Clouds and Pine Waves", "Yuexiu Yuanxiu", etc.