After the end of the Cultural Revolution, there was gradually a de facto ban on the showing of some model plays. Class struggle was becoming out of time. Years later some of the play segments instead of the whole plays were occasionally performed. Arias from the model plays could be heared some time on the [...]

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Model plays did not come in a sudden. Modern plays in Beijing Opera appeared probably as soon as the founding of the People’s Republic. There were other modern plays before the model ones. Actually the model plays were just performance enhanced versions of the already-there ones.

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Modern plays can be understood as a trial of reform to this grand old art. Traditional plays feature the stories of ancient or pre-modern Chinese history. There are certain forms for the costumes, the character face paintings, stage properties, musical melodies and stage actions. But most of these are not appliable to the modern plays. [...]

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The so-called eight model plays were officially formed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). They were the only plays performed at that time. Materials were from the communist activities or related subjects. Actually the then staged modern plays were not just limited to eight. They are the “The Legend of Red Lantern”, “Sha Jia Bang”, “The [...]

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