Yangzhou Qingqu, also known as Guangling Qingqu, Yangzhou Xiaoqu and Yangzhou Xiaoqu, has a history of more than 600 years. Amin Shen Defu talked about the popularity of Han folk songs in Miscellaneous Words of Ancient Songs: "Between Jia and Long, there are five tables, parasitic grass, Luojiang resentment, Tongcheng songs and mourning for the emperor, from Huaibei to Jiangnan." The article mentions an area centered on Yangzhou. As he listed, except for a few lost songs, most of them are traditional songs often sung in Yangzhou Qingqu. At the same time, the voice control of Yu Yaoqiang and other operas is also very popular in Yangzhou. Xu Wei's "Narration of Southern Ci" said: "The name of" Ci "comes from collection, regularity, decoration, pool, Taiwan, Yang and Xu Yong." Due to the popularity of folk songs and operas, Yangzhou Qingqu in Ming Dynasty matured rapidly.
In the past, people engaged in Yangzhou Qingqu art activities, except prostitutes in brothels and folk artists selling songs, were mostly men who had no formal organization to entertain themselves, but their cultural and artistic level was high, which made great contributions to the development and perfection of Yangzhou Qingqu. During the Republic of China, Yangzhou's youth drama lovers had voluntary groups "Southern Drama" and "Northern Drama". Besides entertaining themselves, "Southern Opera" is often employed to sing in cities, and "Northern Opera" often sings in rural towns.
From 1950s to 1960s, many masters of Qing Opera were absorbed by Yang Troupe and Quyi Troupe. Yangzhou Quyi Troupe has established a professional Qingqu team, trained a group of young actors, and composed and performed new songs such as Competition between Workers and Peasants, Glorious Family and Liu Hulan.
1949 Shortly after the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the government conducted extensive teaching and performance of Yangzhou Qingqu in a number of newly-built opera schools and troupes. However, during the Cultural Revolution (1966- 1976), such measures were curbed. Until 1985, the literary and art departments in Shanghai and Jiangsu reconvened the survivors for organized entertainment activities.
Due to the lack of a long-term and complete Yangzhou Qingqu performance plan. Since 1999, as the hometown of Yangzhou Qingqu, the cultural administrative department of Guangling District of Yangzhou City has set up a special research room and started systematic research and planning. The Yangzhou Qingqu Research Office and the Friends of Yangzhou Quyi Society began to plan to comprehensively collect the tracks, performance photos, audio and video materials of Yangzhou Qingqu. The government plans to support the research office of Yangzhou Qingqu and the Friends of Yangzhou Quyi Society to strengthen the revival of Yangzhou Qingqu art and hold related art activities in due course.
At the "Yangzhou Qingqu Research Room 200 1 Annual Meeting" held in March, 200012000, artists and experts from Yanghu and other places focused on the artistic value and living conditions of Yangzhou Qingqu, and compared it with Kunqu Opera, which was first included in the oral and spiritual cultural heritage of mankind. It is found that the value of the two is similar, but the endangered situation of Yangzhou Qingqu is more serious. Then, it makes a detailed comparison with the Regulations on the Evaluation of World Cultural Heritage.
The state attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20th, 2006, Quyi was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.