Kun Opera
Part 1: The Revival of Kun Opera in 21st Century China
Designation of Kun Opera as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)
In 2001, UNESCO released its first Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (ICH), and Kun Opera (kunqu 昆曲) was among the selected items. This marked a significant turning point for Kun Opera.Two decades into the reforms (gaige kaifang 改革开放) that began in 1978, China was eager to gain broader international recognition. A watershed moment came in 2001 when China joined World Trade Organization (WTO), symbolizing its entry into the global market economy. In this context, the UNESCO nomination of Kun Opera was perceived not only as an international gesture of goodwill, but also as an opportunity for China to showcase the aesthetic richness and historical depth of one of its oldest extant theatrical traditions.
The Chinese government attached great importance to this designation. Preserving Kun Opera was no longer merely an act of cultural conservation—it also became a diplomatic signal, a way for China to present itself as a responsible global actor that shares universal values. Following Kun Opera’s designation as ICH, funding from multiple levels of government—national, provincial, and municipal—was channeled into the revitalization of Kun Opera.
Practitioners realized this was their chance to revive Kun Opera. In the second half of twentieth century, Chinese theater suffered severe setbacks from successive political movements and had only slowly regained its footing by the late 1980s, though it did not regain its former domestic prominence. With new funding, domestic Chinese troupes could train a new generation of performers, update stage props and costumes, and mount new productions. Performers who had been trained by master artists in the twentieth century finally had the chance to showcase their artistry and mentor younger successors. Combined with public interest and curiosity sparked by UNESCO’s recognition, these efforts gradually breathed new life into the old-time art form.
A good case in point is The Peony Pavilion: The Youth Edition in 2004. The adaptation is an excellent example of how government, practitioners, and patrons collaborated to bring Kun Opera to modern audiences in the wake of its UNESCO designation.
Bai Xianyong and his The Peony Pavilion: The Youth Edition
The convenor and producer of The Peony Pavilion: The Youth Edition is Bai Xianyong (Pai Hsien-yung 白先勇, b.1937), a Taiwanese writer and emeritus professor of Chinese literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Bai is also an aficionado of Chinese theater. He initiated the project to make a modern adaptation of The Peony Pavilion.This adaptation sought to rejuvenate Kun Opera by modernizing both its performers and its audience. For the lead roles, Bai cast Shen Fengying 沈丰英 and Yu Jiulin 俞玖林—young performers with an outstanding stage presence. Although they had some training in Kun Opera, neither had been groomed from childhood as professional Kun Opera actors. To remedy this, Bai invited master artists Zhang Jiqing 张继青 and Wang Shiyu 汪世瑜 to mentor and discipline them. In terms of choreography and stage design, the production also borrowed elements from modern theater to attract a broader audience. Most notably, the Youth Edition targeted young adults as its primary audience—a major departure from traditional Kun Opera’s predominantly elderly audiences. Nearly half of the production’s first 200 performances were staged on college campuses in China and overseas. This strategic engagement brought Kun Opera back into the consciousness of a younger generation and helped cultivate a new, youthful audience base.
Beyond the short-term university tour, Bai Xianyong also initiated The Peony Pavilion: The Campus Edition, in which university students themselves took part in rehearsing and performing the play. This project brought Kun Opera into higher education not just as a temporary novelty but as a lasting part of campus culture and student life (see Part 3).
The success of the Youth Edition was inseparable from Bai’s efforts. As producer, he coordinated multiple parties by leveraging his influence in the Sinophone world. Many of the key figures in script adaptation, directing, and choreography were his long-time friends from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and abroad. His personal connections and reputation enabled this cross-regional creative effort.
Financing the project also required his initiative. The total cost of the Youth Edition’s creation and touring was around 30 million RMB (approximately 4.5 million USD). Bai secured 80% of the funding through his own efforts and persuaded the Chinese government to cover the rest.
Bai’s ability to mobilize government support, however, was not only influenced by a desire to preserve Kun Opera—it was also closely tied to Bai’s background. He is the son of Bai Chongxi (白崇禧, 1893-1966), a high-ranking general of the Kuomintang (KMT). After the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, the KMT retreated to Taiwan while the CCP established control over the mainland, leading to decades of political tension. By the late 20th century, however, relations between the two sides began to ease. In this context, Bai’s collaboration with the Suzhou Kun Opera Theater on the Youth Edition can be seen as a symbolic gesture of cultural goodwill and cross-strait engagement. Although rarely stated outright, Bai’s Taiwan-related background likely earned implicit support from Chinese authorities, and became a subtle marketing advantage, attracting a wider audience to the performance.
In short, the 2004 debut of The Peony Pavilion: The Youth Edition drew unprecedented public attention. This production not only restored Kun Opera to mainstream cultural awareness but also charted a new path forward for the survival of Kun Opera in the modern arts market. Its innovations in both artistic aesthetics and production management have profoundly influenced the development of Kun Opera since then.
Part 2: What’s on Stage Today?
In today’s China, Kun Opera performances can generally be divided into two categories: the classical repertoire and newly created works.The Classics
The classics refer to traditional plays written centuries ago by literati and passed down through generations of performers. These canonical works have stood the test of time and remain cornerstones of the Kun Opera repertoire. Their plots, music, and staging have been refined through repeated performance. For actors, these plays serve as essential training material from a young age and are often the pieces they know best. For audiences, attending the performance of a classic is always a safe choice (see CTC Kun Opera modules: The Peony Pavilion (1986), The Peony Pavilion: The Youth Edition (2007), The Lute (2012), and Top Graduate Zhang Xie (2017)).It may come as a surprise to some that, unlike Western drama, Chinese theater rarely stages the entire script of a play—particularly in the case of chuanqi 传奇, which developed from the southern branch of Chinese theater and was popular in Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Chuanqi plays are often extremely long, for example, The Peony Pavilion has 55 acts in total and would take several days to perform in full, typically too demanding for performers and audiences alike.
To address the issue of length, Chinese theater practitioners have developed two solutions: either they divide the full production and stage it over multiple days or they select and perform only the most iconic scenes. Even when a troupe advertises that it is staging the “complete version” (quanben 全本) of a play like The Peony Pavilion, the script typically has been streamlined. While the overall structure and number of scenes may be preserved, cuts are often made to repetitive arias or minor plotlines. A “complete version” show would be offered over two or three days, with each day’s performance lasting around three hours. In 1999 the Lincoln Center in New York produced a complete twenty-hour version of The Peony Pavilion that extended across three days. Since 2023, the Shanghai Kun Opera Troupe has staged and toured a complete version of The Peony Pavilion over three days, totaling eight hours. However, the cost of producing such large-scale shows is extremely high, and not all audiences are able or willing to commit to sitting through such lengthy performances. Therefore, while full-length stagings remain important cultural events, they are not sustainable as a regular performance practice.
One effective solution to the challenge of staging lengthy traditional plays is rearranged “highlight scenes” (zhezi xi 折子戏). Highlight scenes refer to one or multiple scenes selected from the entire play which have particular significance in terms of plot, music, or performance. For audiences, this is an economical and engaging format, as it allows them to enjoy a variety of outstanding scenes within a single performance.
Sometimes, highlight scenes derive just from a single, self-contained act. “Fleeing by Night”(Yeben 夜奔) from The Story of the Precious Sword (Baojian ji 宝剑记) is a representative example. The Story of the Precious Sword is a play based on the Ming-dynasty novel Water Margin (Shuihu zhuan 水浒传). The play’s protagonist Lin Chong is an upright imperial commander who has been entrapped by his political enemies and has to flee for his life. In the “Fleeing by Night” scene, Lin struggles with the decision to abandon his loyalty to the court and become an outlaw. The act is performed without props or supporting characters, requiring exceptional skills in both vocal performance and expressive acting.
In other cases, a highlight play may combine several (usually two) related scenes into one, such as “The Stroll in the Garden and Interrupted Dream” (Youyuan jingmeng 游园惊梦) from The Peony Pavilion. The first act depicts Du Liniang’s walk in the garden with her maid, while the second portrays her dream encounter with Liu Mengmei during a nap in the garden. Though distinct in the original script, these two scenes are among the most iconic in the play and are often performed together as a unified piece.
When there is not enough time to present the entire play, a performance format known as “sequential highlight scenes” (chuanyan ben 串演本) is often used. This involves selecting key scenes from the script, usually those central to the main plot, and presenting them in a condensed but coherent order. This format has become increasingly popular for staging classical plays, as it preserves the core storyline, while significantly reducing performance time. As a result, many troupes prefer this approach over staging a full-length production.
Occasionally, minor plot changes are made in these abridged adaptations to better align with contemporary values. For example, in different renditions of The White Robe (Bailuoshan 白罗衫), a play similar to The Orphan of Zhao , two Kun Opera troupes offer alternative interpretations of a morally complex ending. The story follows a young man seeking revenge against his stepfather, a pirate who murdered his family. Faced with the dilemma of upholding the law or showing filial love, the protagonist in the Jiangsu Province Kun Opera Troupe’s version allows his stepfather to die with dignity. In contrast, the Suzhou Kun Opera Troupe’s version has the son first decide to release his stepfather and take his own life to express remorse to both the court and his deceased parents. However, as he flees, the stepfather realizes his son’s intention and returns to kill himself.
New Creations
Compared to classical works, newly created Kun Oprea represents a broader and more diverse category, encompassing a variety of subtypes and creative approaches.One of the most distinctive features of new Kun Opera is that it is no longer confined to imperial Chinese settings. Because these works are not based on pre-existing stories, they are free to explore modern or even contemporary time periods. For instance, Qu Qiubai 瞿秋白 (2023) produced by the Jiangsu Province Kun Opera Troupe is set in 1935. The protagonist Qu Qiubai is one of the early leaders of Chinese Communist Party and the show is about his last days in prison. Another work by the same troupe, Love the City Wuhan (Juan jiangcheng 眷江城) (2020), tells a story set in a Wuhan hospital during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. In such productions, the historical setting shifts to modern times, and the costumes change accordingly—military uniforms, lab coats, and hospital gowns replace traditional robes (see Fig. 3). Yet the performance methods remain rooted in classical Kun Opera aesthetics, resulting in visual and stylistic contrasts that challenge audience expectations.
However, most newly created works still take place in imperial China and often portray literati, aristocrats, or young lovers. On the surface, they are very similar to the classics, but they differ in crucial ways. Without existing scripts to rely on, contemporary playwrights must compose original arias in classical Chinese—a difficult task for writers raised in a modern linguistic environment. Making successful musical arrangements, where the written Chinese character’s tone must match the underlying melody to achieve a pleasing harmony is even more demanding. Despite the composers’ efforts, most modern texts often fall short when compared with the literary and musical sophistication of the classics. Nevertheless, new creations have their own advantages. While set in the past, these works are not bound by historical themes. Playwrights are free to incorporate contemporary concerns or experiment with modern storytelling techniques. In recent adaptations of A New Account of the Tales of the World (Shishuo xinyu 世说新语), for example, the playwrights not only focus on the anecdotes of third-century male scholars and artists but also on the female characters, who were traditionally marginalized in classical narratives.
Finally, there is a growing body of experimental Kun Opera that pushes the boundaries of the genre even further. Some productions blend Kun Opera with modern dance, exploring new physical vocabularies and stage expressions. Others adapt Western classics like The Chairs by Eugène Ionesco, using Kun Opera techniques to explore possibilities for cross-cultural translation and engagement. These experiments are not merely stylistic; they represent a search for Kun Opera’s place in a global, pluralistic artistic landscape.
Part 3: Where are Performances Held?
Professional Theaters
Much like Western opera, Chinese opera, including Kun Opera, requires staging in a theater with acoustics specifically designed to project the performers’ voices and music. In imperial China, Chinese theater practitioners developed a variety of architectural settings for performances (Sieber and Llamas, How to Read Chinese Drama, 20-22). However, most Kun Opera performances in contemporary China now take place in the same theaters used for Western opera or modern Chinese spoken drama (huaju 话剧). These venues are generally divided into two categories, that is, large theaters and small theaters, based on seating capacity and stage size.Large theaters are typically reserved for major productions, such as full-length version or “sequential highlight scenes” of a certain play. These performances often feature elaborate lighting, complex stage designs, and larger ensembles, including choruses and group choreography. In terms of scale and theatricality, they are comparable to Western opera or Broadway-style musicals.
Small theaters, by contrast, usually accommodate no more than 150 people and more closely resemble the intimate atmosphere of a traditional Chinese theater before the microphone was invented. They are ideal for “highlight scene” presentations, which often involve just two or three performers in a single act. Although microphones are available, actors usually choose not to use them in order to preserve the integrity of their vocal techniques. Thanks to years of rigorous voice training and carefully designed acoustics, even audience members seated in the back rows can hear every note and every word clearly. Small theaters also offer a perfect opportunity for audiences to observe the subtleties of Kun Opera performance in close proximity. Audiences can catch the performers’ detailed facial expressions, eye movements, and hand gestures, which are all essential parts of the artistry of Kun Opera.
Of course, all the performances that take place in small theater can also be performed in a bigger venue, but such a move requires adjustments on the part of the actors. Actors must amplify their energy and exaggerate their physical movements in order to maintain the performance’s emotional intensity and visual clarity. A mature performer can subtly adjust their acting style to suit different performance spaces—an ability that only comes with years of stage experience.
Outdoor Performances
In addition to professional indoor theaters, Chinese theater sometimes is performed on outdoor or semi-open stages. This is because, historically, Chinese theater also functioned as a social occasion, bringing people together during festivals or communal gatherings. In many rural areas it was common for audiences to attend performances not to follow the play closely, but rather, to socialize with each other. As a result, performances did not always require permanent or dedicated stages. On occasion, performances took place on a temporary open-air stage; at other times, performances borrowed existing locations, such as temple courtyards, for the occasion (cf. Sieber and Llamas, How to Read Chinese Drama, pp.359-363). This legacy persists today: some Kun Opera performances still take place on outdoor stages, somewhat resembling musical festival stages, though with less professional equipment than is usually used at concerts.As Kun Opera originated in the southeastern region of China, Suzhou, there has been a growing trend of staging performances in traditional Suzhou Gardens. Relocating Kun Opera from indoor stages to natural settings enhances its aesthetic appeal. The moonlight, breeze, trees, and flowers, combined with elaborate historical costumes, create a poetic atmosphere. One notable example is the Master-of-Nets Garden (Wangshi yuan 网师园), which offers a popular nighttime tour priced at 160 yuan (approximately $25). The tour includes six mini-performances in different corners of the garden, one of which is Kun Opera. The Kun Opera scene offered is “Enquiry of the Rat” (Fangshu 访鼠) from Fifteen Strings of Cash (Shiwu guan 十五贯), a detective comedy. Two actors play this scene repeatedly throughout the evening. This performance, enhanced by the natural surroundings, allows visitors to encounter Kun Opera as an integrated part of the garden’s atmosphere rather than as a formal, distant act.
Beyond tourism, the concept of garden-based Kun Opera has developed into a new form referred to as “live-action Kun Opera” or “immersive Kun Opera” (chenjin shi kunqu 沉浸式昆曲). For plays that include garden scenes or are set entirely in gardens, these performances recreate the stage environment in the actual locations, drawing the audience directly into the world of the story. The most well-known example of this kind is the immersive production of The Peony Pavillion produced by the famous composer Tan Dun 谭盾 in 2010, performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2012.
The Tea House at Nanjing Museum
Lastly, one particularly interesting example of contemporary Kun Opera performance takes place at the Nanjing Museum. Since 2013, the museum has opened a permanent exhibition hall for so-called “intangible cultural heritage.” In the exhibition, a tea house-style theater was built to stage traditional Chinese performing arts such as Kun Opera, pingtan 评弹 storytelling, and baiju 白局 comic singing.
The combination of theater and tea house is not a new invention in Chinese performance culture. It dates back to the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), when performances often took place in restaurants. The restaurants didn’t organize performances themselves but allowed wealthy patrons to invite troupes for private entertainment. The host would pay both the restaurant and the performers separately, choosing which highlight scenes to watch while enjoying a banquet with guests. These events were still technically open to the public—other patrons seated around the edges could watch the show for free.
Later, the location of these performances shifted from restaurants to tea houses, which focused more exclusively on theatrical enjoyment. Food and alcohol were no longer central; instead, tea and light snacks were served. Unlike restaurant performances, tea house performances had set programs posted in advance. Patrons could check the schedule and attend a tea house on the day of a show that interested them. Tickets were not typically sold—instead, guests were charged for tea and refreshments. However, good seating often required advance reservations.
This is exactly how the tea house theater at the Nanjing Museum operates today. Any museum visitor can stop by and watch the performance from the outer corridor free of charge (see Fig. 4). But for those who wish to sit and enjoy the show more comfortably, there are two options. One can order tea and snacks from the menu and be seated on the ground floor, close to the stage (see Fig. 6). Alternatively, for 200 yuan (about $30), visitors can book a private second-floor room, which includes premium seating, tea, snacks, and fresh fruit. The second-floor seats offer a better view and a quieter environment (see Fig. 6). All the seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Watching Kun Opera in tea house offers a distinctly different experience from that of a conventional theater. There is no need to dress formally. The lights remain on throughout the performance. Eating, walking around, taking photos, and even chatting, are allowed. You might clearly hear the sound of sunflower seeds being cracked from all corners of the room. And yet no one, neither audience nor performers, considers this impolite. That is simply the culture of tea house theater.
Part 4: How Popular is Kun Opera among the Younger Generation?
For a long time, young adults typically considered Chinese traditional theater as outdated and tedious—an art form only appreciated by their grandparents. However, in recent years, this perception has begun to shift. More and more young people are rediscovering the beauty of Kun Opera and embracing it.The Peony Pavilion: The Youth Edition and Its Long-Lasting Impact
As noted above, The Peony Pavilion: The Youth Edition was created with the explicit goal of attracting young audiences—those more accustomed to Hollywood blockbusters, Hong Kong cinema, or Korean dramas—to the world of traditional Chinese theater. The production team cast two exceptionally attractive young performers, designed lavish sets and costumes, and adjusted the narrative pacing to align with contemporary viewing habits and expectations. This strategy proved highly successful, opening up the Kun Opera market to younger generations.
An important legacy of The Peony Pavilion: The Youth Edition is the launch of The Peony Pavilion: The Campus Edition, also initiated by Bai Xianyong. After the Youth Edition concluded its touring circuit on university campuses, Bai sought to ensure that Kun Opera would not remain a fleeting trend but would instead take root as a lasting part of campus culture. His idea was to have university students themselves perform Kun Opera, thereby embedding it into student life.
This initiative was carried out in close collaboration with the Suzhou Kun Opera Troupe. The first round of the Campus Edition began in 2017, with professional actors from the troupe training selected student performers over the course of eight months. The troupe also lent the original props and costumes from the Youth Edition to these student-led performances. These productions began touring in 2018 and were highly successful and well-received among college audiences. The second round of the Campus Edition was initiated in 2024 and began touring in 2025.
In addition to these performances, Bai also advocated for formal Kun Opera education within the higher education system. Since 2009, first at Peking University, then 2012 at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and National Taiwan University, he assembled a group of renowned Kun Opera performers and scholars to offer Kun Opera course regularly. The course quickly became popular, not only with enrolled students but also with members of the public who attended lectures and workshops. The enthusiastic response once again demonstrated Kun Opera’s appeal among the younger generation.
Beyond the influence of The Peony Pavilion: The Youth Edition, the Chinese government has also increasingly recognized the importance of promoting traditional culture on university campuses. In 2011, the Ministry of Education launched a national program titled “Bringing High Art to Campus” (Gaoya yishu jin xiaoyuan 高雅艺术进校园). Since then, troupes specializing in Kun Opera, Peking Opera, Yue Opera, Huangmei Opera, and other traditional forms have toured colleges and universities across the country, offering free performances to students. These efforts have played an important role in cultivating a growing youth market for traditional Chinese theater.
Meanwhile, encouraged by the Youth Edition’s success, other troupes adopted similar strategies and created new youth-oriented productions. Notable examples include The Jade Hairpin (Yuzan ji 玉簪记, 2008) by the Suzhou Kun Opera Troupe, 1699: The Peach Blossom Fan (1699: Taohua shan 1699: 桃花扇, 2006) by the Jiangsu Province Kun Opera Troupe, and The Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng 红楼梦, 2011) by the Northern Kun Opera Troupe.
Alongside these productions, a new generation of Kun Opera performers, many still in their early twenties, emerged as rising stars. Over the past decade, with the rise of these young performers, fan communities have grown significantly. The internet has played a very important role in this development: many fan circles exist primarily online, through WeChat and QQ chat groups, Tieba (贴吧, a BBS-like forum), and social media platforms such as Weibo (微博, similar to Twitter/X). Fans share reviews of performances, post photos of performances they have seen, and exchange anecdotes about performers. Offline fan communities also exist, including the Kun Opera Study Societies that will be introduced later. Among these fans, young people, especially university students, make up a significant proportion, though there are also some middle-aged enthusiasts. In the past five years, China’s musical theater market has also seen a surge among younger generations. These two subcultural communities began to influence each other, forming a very vibrant and stable audience group.
Amateur Kun Opera Singing Societies
Another significant force in the Kun Opera world comes from amateurs. In Chinese theater culture, there is even a special term for them: piaoyou (票友). These are not just passive spectators who enjoy watching performances or listening to recordings—they actively want to sing and act. Many of them voluntarily come together to form study groups where they can learn Kun Opera collaboratively.These amateur groups are commonly called Kun Opera Study Societies (Kunqu yanxi she 昆曲研习社), usually prefixed with the location or institution’s name, such as “Shanghai Kun Opera Study Society” or “Nanjing University Kun Opera Study Society.” Generally, these groups fall into two categories: public groups open to anyone and university-based groups open primarily to students and staff. In cities where Kun Opera is especially popular, such as Suzhou, Nanjing, and Shanghai, there may be as many as four or five public study groups, and almost every university with a tradition of Kun Opera maintains at least one student troupe. In total, a single city may host around a dozen amateur groups.
Although non-professional, these societies are often highly organized and maintain a surprisingly high level of performance. A typical university-based group meets once a week, with sessions lasting two to three hours. Meetings typically focus on vocal training. The instructors are highly experienced Kun Opera artists—some are retired professionals from an older generation, while others are exceptionally skilled amateurs who have studied Kun Opera for years and sing at a level comparable to professionals.
A typical session starts with a review of the aria learned the previous week, sung in unison by the group. Then, the teacher distributes a new score and demonstrates the melody. Members begin by learning the gongche musical notation (工尺谱), the traditional system used in Chinese theater. This phase can involve dozens of repetitions. Only once the melody is internalized do students begin to add the lyrics. The goal is to develop muscle memory.
If someone in the group plays the bamboo flute, the primary accompanying instrument in Kun Opera, instrumental support is added in the later stages to help singers refine their pitch and rhythm. To keep sessions lively, teachers often share anecdotes and backstage stories, especially if they are former professionals. These stories may include their own training experiences with their mentors. It’s worth noting that Kun Opera acting is less commonly taught in these groups, likely due to space constraints and the physical demands on the instructors.
As shown in the image (Fig. 9), the university group consists entirely of young adults. The same trend appears in public groups, where the average age ranges from 30 to 40. Some members work in related fields such as culture, education, or media, while others come from completely unrelated professions. Their shared motivation is a deep interest in Kun Opera. Most groups also maintain online chat groups where members exchange performance reviews, ticket information, and tips about vocal techniques.
Some societies host annual performances, either public or private, and occasionally hold joint events with other groups. The most well-known of these is the Huqiu Kun Opera Gathering (Huqiu quhui 虎丘曲会) in Suzhou. The event boasts a 200-year history and was revived in 2000. While professionals do perform, amateur showcases and inter-group communication are the focus. Today, the Huqiu Gathering has become more than just a Kun Opera event—it functions as a public cultural festival. It provides a space for people to discover, appreciate, and even begin learning Kun Opera. In recent years, the event has also been made available via online live streaming, expanding its reach to new audiences.
In sum, amateur Kun Opera societies are an essential force in keeping Kun Opera active in everyday life. They bridge the gap between professional troupes and the general public, ensuring that Kun Opera remains not just an elite heritage, but a living, participatory art form.
Part 5: How Can You Watch Kun Opera Today?
Major Kun Opera Houses across China
Today, there are eight major Kun Opera houses across China: Jiangsu Province Performing Arts Group Kun Opera Division (江苏省演艺集团昆剧院), Jiangsu Province Suzhou Kun Opera House (江苏省苏州昆剧院), Kunshan Contemporary Kun Opera House (昆山当代昆剧院), Shanghai Kun Opera House (上海昆剧团), Zhejiang Kun Opera House (浙江昆剧团), Zhejiang Yongjia Kun Opera House (浙江永嘉昆剧团), Hunan Province Kun Opera House (湖南省昆剧团), and Northern Kun Opera House (北方昆曲剧院).Jiangsu Province Performing Arts Group Kun Opera Division, Jiangsu Province Suzhou Kun Opera House, and Kunshan Contemporary Kun Opera House are all based in Jiangsu Province. Found in the cultural home of Kun Opera, these Jiangsu-based troupes enjoy the most prestige. Through 1960, the first two were originally the same troupe—Suzhou Kun Opera troupe. In that year, the troupe was split, with half of the performers remaining in Suzhou, and the other half being transferred to Nanjing, the provincial capital. There, they formed what is the Jiangsu Province Performing Art Group Kun Opera Division, commonly known as Jiangsu Kun Opera House (江苏省昆剧院) (see this for more on the transmission of Kun Opera through generations of artists). In 2015, a new troupe—Kunshan Contemporary Kun Opera House—was established in the smaller city of Kunshan generally believed to be the birthplace of Kun Opera. Many of its performers were originally from Jiangsu Kun Opera House. The performers of The Peony Pavilion: The Youth Edition are from Suzhou Kun Opera House. Renowned actress Zhang Jiqing 张继青 (1939-2022), a major figure in 20th century Kun Opera belonged to Jiangsu Kun Opera House.
Shanghai Kun Opera House, founded in 1978, is another institution with an outstanding reputation. Yu Zhenfei 俞振飞 (1902-1993), a legendary performer who excelled in both Kun Opera and Beijing Opera, served as its first artistic director (1978-1984). Embedded within Shanghai’s rich theatrical culture and modern infrastructure, the troupe is very active in preserving the classical repertoire and in pursuing innovative productions.
The Zhejiang Kun Opera House, based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, was founded in 1955. At that time, Kun Opera was nearly extinct. In 1956, the troupe staged Fifteen Strings of Cash (Shiwu guan 十五贯) and performed it in Beijing for Chairman Mao Zedong (毛泽东, 1893-1976) and Premier Zhou Enlai (周恩来, 1898-1976). Their performance received high praise from top leaders and helped Kun Opera back into national attention, sparking a revival.
The Yongjia Kun Opera House is also located in Zhejiang Province, in Yongjia Country. The Yongjia troupe differs from the five troupes mentioned above, which all trace their artistic lineage to the famous Chuan 传 generation, a group of master performers from 1920s whose names share the character chuan. Instead, the Yongjia troupe developed from local folk performance traditions. Heavily influenced heavily by southern drama (nanxi 南戏), its repertoire includes some unique and now rarely performed scenes in mainstream Kun Opera, such as The Thorn Hairpin (Jingchai ji 荆钗记).
Hunan Province Kun Opera House also has its own distinctive identity. Geographically distant from Kun Opera’s cultural heartland, Hunan’s local culture is known for its directness and dynamism—quite different from Kun Opera’s refined and elegant aesthetic. In this vein, the troupe’s representative works often involve dramatic conflict and martial arts sequences, such as Wu Song Kills His Sister-in-Law (Wusong shasao 武松杀嫂).
Finally, Northern Kun Opera House, based in Beijing, is the only Kun Opera trouped located in northern China. To reflect its geographic position, the troupe often incorporates northern-style melodies into its performances. Though Beijing Opera dominates the region, Kun Opera supported by a group of Kun Opera performers and a community of literati and enthusiasts, maintains a small but persistent presence. Its existence affirms Kun Opera’s enduring cultural influence even outside its southern origins.
Tips on Booking Tickets
If you are interested in attending a Kun Opera performance, there are two main ways to purchase tickets.All eight Kun Opera houses hold regular performance (usually on weekends) and post their schedules through their official WeChat accounts. Ticket links are also available on these accounts. Below are the QR codes for accessing the official accounts of each Kun Opera house:
Shanghai Kunqu Theater
Suzhou Kunqu Theater
Kunshan Contemporary Kun Opera House
Jiangsu Province Kun Opera
Zhejiang Kun Opera Troupe
Zhejiang Yongjia Kun Opera House
Hunan Province Kun Opera House
Northern Kun Opera House
Another way to buy tickets is through major ticketing platforms. You can download apps like Damai 大麦 or Maoyan 猫眼, which are widely used in China. After selecting your location, simply search for “Kun Opera” to see the latest performance schedules and ticket information in your area. Even if there are no Kun Opera performances in your city, the app will recommend similar traditional Chinese opera shows or Kun Opera performances in nearby cities.
WORKS CONSULTED: CLICK TO EXPAND/COLLAPSE
Bai Xianyong 白先勇, ed. Mudan Huakai Ershi Nian 牡丹花开二十年 (Twenty Years of Peony Blossoms). Beijing: Writers Publishing House, 2024.
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