Lyu Opera is a Chinese national intangible cultural heritage item that originated in Shijia – a village located in the Dongying district of Dongying city in East China's Shandong province.
It's evolved from Shandong qinshu, a traditional narrative music and adds elements from other folk arts such as Wuyin Opera and dagu – a type of ballad singing with a drum accompaniment.
A qinshu drama – wangxiaoganjiao – was innovated and performed by the folk artist Shi Dianyuan in 1900, which was considered the birth of Lyu Opera. Since then, the opera has revived and developed for more than 100 years and it has become one of the most popular folk opera styles in Shandong.
Lyu Opera is a traditional folk art that can be seen throughout Shandong. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
