The fourth China Pingju Opera Art Festival will be held from September 17-26 this year at the opera's birthplace Tangshan, a city in north China's Hebei Province. Since 2000, three sessions of China Pingju Opera Art Festivals have been held in Tangshan.

Pingju Opera is popular among northern Chinese people and is believed to be one of the most influential operas in China, next to Peking Opera, the national opera, only.

The performing art of Pingju came into being in Tangshan in 1909, the first year of the reign of Emperor Xuantong (Puyi) of the Qing Dynasty. It was also known as Tangshan Laozi.

Its creator, Cheng Zhaocai (1874-1929), who is considered as the father of Pingju Opera, was born in a village in Luanxian County, Tangshan. A singer and playwright too, Cheng wrote over 100 plays, many of which have been passed down as classic Pingju programs.

According to the festival's organizing committee, 22 Pingju organizations from across the country, including small troupes usually performing in rural areas, will stage 46 performances in Tangshan from September 17 to 26. Many famous Pingju artists will also give their classic performances.

During the festival, an exhibition will be held to showcase the history and development of Pingju Opera with photos and real-life objects. Besides, professionals will participate in a workshop on the creation and performing of the opera. They will also discuss issues concerning inheriting and future development of this performing art.

Amateurs will also have opportunities to show their talents in a contest held during the festival.

Pingju Opera became popular throughout China’s vast northeastern areas in the early 1920s, owing to the fact that many of its programs told stories about rewarding the virtue and punishing the criminals, or about criticizing corrupt officials. Eventually, this particular form of performing art became known as Pingju, since the Chinese character "ping" means "criticism" or "comment."

The name was first formally used in 1936 on the posters when the movie Haitang Red, starred by the famous Pingju actress Bai Yushuang, was shown. From then on, Pingju Opera spread widely across the country.

The songs and dialogues of Pingju Opera are all performed in local dialect. During its process of development, it absorbed folk songs and dances, such as Yangge, into its performances. The form of story telling also changed, from being narrated to being sung by relevant characters. Gongs, drums, suona and other traditional Chinese strings and woodwinds are used for the music in Pingju Opera.

(China.org.cn by Wang Zhiyong, September 8, 2004)