Huizhou Opera

As the name indicates, Huizhou Opera originated from Huichi Tune in Huizhou and the surrounding areas of Taiping, Qingyang and Shitai in the Ming Dynasty. It enjoyed a full development during Qianlong's reign and spread all over China during Daoguang's reign in the Qing Dynasty. Huichi Tune was a combination of Huizhou Lilts and Qingyang Llits. In the 55th year of Qianlong's reign (1790), Gao Langting, a well-known local actor led his Sanqing Huizhou Opera Troupe to Bei-jing, the capital in the Qing Dynasty, successively followed by other troupes such as Sixi, Chuntai and Hechun. They became the famous Four Huizhou Opera Troupes entering Beijing as often mentioned. The troupes aroused a sensation in the capital. Their performances were so widely loved by the townspeople of the capital that in every theatre Huizhou Opera was put on, and in every performance a Huizhou Troupe took a major part. After that, Cheng Changgeng, a native of Anqing and a descendant of Gao Langting, helped develop Huizhou Opera into Peking Opera by combining it with Han, Kun and other operas. So Huizhou Opera in a sense is an ancestor of Peking Opera.