The Evolution of Peking Opera

The Evolution of Peking Opera is an important study by Mr. Qi Rushan on the development of Peking Opera. A renowned opera theorist, playwright, and folklorist of the Republican era, Qi Rushan recorded, from personal experience and careful observation, many details of Peking Opera from its formation to its heyday in the late Qing and early Republic. The book is not a systematic history of the art; in note form, through anecdotes, stories, and firsthand observations, it vividly traces changes in repertoire, performance, music, costumes, and troupe organization. The author's close association with Mei Lanfang and others gives the book both documentary value and a sense of immediacy. Professionally, its value lies in its 'unofficial,' popular perspective: Qi Rushan steps beyond pure theorizing to place Peking Opera in the broader context of social and cultural change, showing how artistic form and era interacted. His comparisons of the artistic traits of the 'first three masters' and 'later three masters' of the laosheng role, his account of 'amateur' (piaoyou) culture, and his records of troupe rules are primary material for the history of Peking Opera. Readers should note that the author's views carry personal aesthetic preferences and period limitations, yet it is precisely this subjectivity that preserves the vivid atmosphere of the historical scene. In terms of reading value, the book suits two kinds of readers: enthusiasts of Peking Opera itself, who can learn the origins of role types, schools, and performance conventions; and readers interested in modern social and cultural history, who can see the evolution of Peking Opera as a distinctive cross-section of social transformation from the late Qing to the Republic. The writing is plain and fluent, the anecdotes entertaining, but it lacks the systematicity of modern scholarship and is better read as supplementary or for pleasure.