Gaojia opera is a form of Chinese opera

Chinese opera

Chinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE...

 popular in Fujian

Fujian

' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...

 province in the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. It is famous for its various Chou, or clown roles. The form emerged at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

. It was originally an improvised form that was part of a religious parade. It then developed into Songjiang drama, which featured acrobatics and a relatively simple plot. In the middle of the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

, it absorbed the influences of Hui opera (徽戏), Beijing opera

Beijing opera

Peking opera or Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court...

, and Yiyang

Yiyang

Yiyang is a prefecture-level city at the Zi River in Hunan province, China. According to the 2010 Census, Yiyang has a population of 4,313,084 inhabitants residing in an area of 12,144 km². It can be said that the population of the city hasn't changed since the last census in 2000, when the data...

 music. All music accompanying Gaojia opera is in the style of southern China, and is also influenced by Liyuan opera

Liyuan opera

Liyuan opera is a form of Chinese opera originating in Fujian province, China. In recent years, one of Liyuan opera's staunchest advocates and most celebrated performers has been Zeng Jingping. At the 2009 NPC session, she proposed incorporating the study of traditional operas into the national...

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