Shanghai opera

For Shanghai's western-style opera company, see Shanghai Opera House.

Huju (simplified Chinese: 沪剧; traditional Chinese: 滬劇; pinyin: Hùjù), or Shanghai opera is a variety of Chinese opera from Shanghai. It is typically sung in the Shanghainese dialect.

It is particularly popular in Baihe, the oldest town in the Qingpu District of Shanghai. There are eight to ten huju troupes in the town, and many local residents hire the troupes to perform for weddings and funerals.

Huju is accompanied by an ensemble of traditional Chinese instruments, including dizi (transverse bamboo flute), erhu (two-stringed fiddle), pipa (pear-shaped lute), yangqin (hammered dulcimer), and percussion. The instrumentation and style are closely related to the instrumental genre of Jiangnan sizhu.

The famous Chinese composition "Purple Bamboo Melody" (紫竹调; 紫竹調) is adapted and used for huju.

References

• Stock, Jonathan P. J. (2003). Huju: Traditional Opera in Modern Shanghai. OUP/British Academy. ISBN 0-19-726273-2. ISBN 978-0-19-726273-3.

External links

• Article about huju
• Article about huju
• Article about American singing huju
• Article about the revival of huju

See also

• Shaoxing opera, opera from the Shaoxing region of northeastern Zhejiang Province