Last June, “Chinese Regional Opera Series” featured Hui Opera in Hong Kong. The troupe was composed of 44 performers, including the National Class One performer Li Longbin. The troupe has staged many well-preserved works in the traditional repertory, including Flooding the Army, The Drunken Royal Concubine, and The Legend of the White Snake. Their performance gained much attention and concerns over Hui Opera.
Review of history
Hui Opera is one of the most ancient operas in China. Based on the artistic foundation of Qingyang and Kunshan arias, the art form was gradually founded by assimilating the essence of various operas at the end of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In the Kangxi Reign of the Qing Dynasty, Hui Opera started a trend all over the country with its performer’s exquisite skills. In some economic centers of Southern China, rich businessmen even boasted their own private Hui Opera troupes and stages. It enjoyed a full development during Qianlong’s reign (1711-1799) and spread all over China during Daoguang’s reign（1820—1850）.
In 1790, the 55th year of Qianlong’s reign, Gao Langting, a well-known local actor, led his Sanqing Hui Opera Troupe to Beijing, the capital in the Qing Dynasty, to celebrate the 80th birthday of Emperor Qianlong. Some other Hui Opera troupes also performed in Beijing successively. During the Jiaqing Reign, the “Four Great Hui Operas Troupes” - namely, Sanqing, Sixi, Hechun and Chuntai - aroused a sensation in the capital.
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