midicnMusic History 中文

The Formation of Peking Opera

Anhui troupes, Hubei melodies and Beijing speech fused erhuang and xipi into Peking Opera in the nineteenth century.

Peking OperaErhuangXipiJinghu

Time and place

In 1790 the Sanqing troupe led the four great Anhui companies into Beijing for Qianlong's birthday, lodging outside the front gate. Hubei singers followed; the two companies shared stages, and the genre took shape under Daoguang and Xianfeng.

Vocal style and musical features

Erhuang and xipi, together called pihuang, carry the singing. Erhuang begins on the beat, moves mostly by step and suits sombre narrative; xipi starts off the beat, leaps more and sounds bright. Ban forms include yuanban, manban, kuaiban, sanban, yaoban and liushui, stretched or compressed to fit the scene. The civil band is led by jinghu, with jing erhu, yueqin and sanxian; the martial band uses drum, clapper, gongs and cymbals. Stage speech follows Zhongzhou and Huguang pronunciation, with sharp and rounded initials and stage readings.

Representative plays

Silang Visits His Mother, The Jade Hall Spring, The Empty City Stratagem, Dingjun Mountain, Farewell My Concubine, The Drunken Beauty and Fisherman's Revenge cover laosheng, qingyi, hualian and chou roles.

What to listen for

Begin with Beijing folk songs such as Grand West Chamber and Hua Mulan to hear the tone and phrase endings of local speech, then how pihuang absorbed them. In the opera, follow the leaps of xipi and the steps of erhuang, and the jinghu answering the voice at phrase ends.

Common misunderstandings

It is common to treat 1790 as the birth of Peking Opera, or to assume it grew from Beijing dialect. The visit was a beginning; the genre fused Anhui and Hubei tunes with Kunqu and Qinqiang over decades. The name became current only in the republican era.

Listen in the library

大西厢C30:46北京小调《大西厢》，唱西厢故事，听北京语音的叙事顿挫，非京剧唱段；C3 民歌，C1 无京剧录音Details花木兰C32:34北京小调《花木兰》，与京剧共享题材，听五声与垛句，非京剧唱段；C3 民歌，C1 无京剧录音Details孟姜女寻夫C31:47北京《孟姜女寻夫》，时调叙事，听句尾收腔与十三辙，非京剧唱段；C3 民歌，C1 无京剧录音Details

All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).

Sources

  • 《中国音乐词典》编辑部编，中国音乐词典（人民音乐出版社）— 条目与年代核对，未引用
  • The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., entry "China" — framework and dates checked, not quoted

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.