Kunqu Opera can trace its origins back to the late Ming Dynasty and a small town south of the Yangtze, called Kunshan.
Kunqu Opera is remarkable, if for nothing else, because of the long time it has been around. It continues to exert a strong appeal today.
Every period of history has its own fashions and tastes in clothing, music, etc. During the Ming Dynasty, it was fashionable among the intelligentsia to enjoy Kunqu Opera.
Perhaps the greatest masterpiece of Kunqu Opera is “The Peony Pavilion” written by Tang Xianzu in the early years of the 17th century.
The Qing Dynasty’s greatest playwrights, are Hong Sheng and Kong Shangren, who wrote, respectively, “The Palace of Eternal Youth” and “The Peach Blossom Fan”.
The popularity of Kunqu Opera historically has a lot to do with the support it received from the imperial court, from the time of Emperor Kangxi, onwards.
During the Qing Dynasty that followed, it became so popular that it was said to have an influence at every level of society, from the imperial court, down.´
Kunqu Opera can trace its origins back to the Ming Dynasty about six hundred years ago, and a small town south of the Yangtze, called Kunshan.
In the late Qing Dynasty, after five hundred years of development, Kunqu faced the greatest crisis in its existence.
Following the founding of New China, the policy of cultural reawakening offered Kunqu Opera the chance to emerge from a long period of neglect.
