Xiqu (Traditional Chinese Drama)
The umbrella term for traditional Chinese drama, story told through song and dance
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Xiqu is the umbrella term for traditional Chinese drama: story told through song and dance, fusing song, speech, movement and combat with literature, music, dance and visual art. It is not one genre but a family of hundreds, including Peking, Kun, Yue, Yu and Sichuan opera; they share conventions while differing in dialect, tune and repertory.
Its music has two great structures, qupai form and banqiang form, while cross-genre vocal traditions — Kunqiang, Gaoqiang, Bangzi and Pihuang — link different genres. A genre is the show itself, a vocal tradition is the way it sings, and a yuezhong is a type of instrumental ensemble such as Jiangnan sizhu or Guangdong yinyue; the three are not interchangeable. Xiqu is not Western opera: its dance, convention and role system are its own.
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Sources
- 戏曲作为综合艺术的定义、剧种声腔乐种的区分、曲牌体与板腔体，参《中国音乐词典》与 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "China" 相关条目；本文为原创表述
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