A northern official was posted south. On his first day, local gentry hosted a banquet with an opera performance. He loved opera back north.
The actors opened their mouths and sang. The official understood not a single word.
He whispered to his host, What language is that?
The local dialect.
But I cannot understand a word.
Never mind the words. Watch the painted-face character. The moment he enters, you know he is a traitor, yes?
The official watched. His walk is different from the good characters.
Exactly. Good characters have their walk, their costume, their makeup. Bad characters have their own set. Our opera is eighty percent understandable without subtitles, through face patterns, postures, costumes, and drumbeats. These have no dialect. Opera fans across China read them the same way.
The official watched the entire show and followed the plot perfectly.
Now I see. Opera is not only sung, it is shown. Language may differ, but performance is universal.
Explanation
Chinese opera comprises over three hundred regional styles, each with its own dialect and music, from Kunqu's elegance to Peking opera's grandeur, Sichuan opera's humor to Yue opera's tenderness. Yet they all share a unified performance grammar: stylization and symbolism. A walk around the stage represents a thousand-mile journey. Four soldiers represent an entire army. A horsewhip means a steed. This vocabulary transcends dialect, making opera a shared aesthetic language for all Chinese people.
Kunqu OperaLate Yuan to presentAn early opera form grown from the Kunshan tune, known for its refined 'water-mill' singing
Peking OperaQianlong reign of the Qing to presentA nationwide form born in Beijing from Anhui and Hubei troupes, sung to xipi and erhuang
Cantonese OperaLate Ming–early Qing to presentBangzi and erhuang sung in Cantonese, across Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and overseas
Yue Opera (Shaoxing Opera)Late Qing to presentA lyrical form that began as Shengxian storytelling and matured in Shanghai
Huangmei OperaMid-to-late Qing to presentAn Anhui opera from Huangmei tea-picking songs, sung in the Anqing dialect
Yu Opera (Henan Opera)Late Ming–early Qing to presentThe bangzi opera of the Central Plains, plain-spoken and earthy in song
Ping Opera (Pingju)Late Qing to presentA young opera grown from eastern Hebei lotus-flower ballads, sung like plain speech
Qinqiang OperaYuan–Ming transition to presentThe root of northwestern bangzi opera, sung high, fierce and plaintive
Sichuan OperaEarly Qing to presentSichuan's five-tune opera, known for face-changing and other stage feats
Han OperaKangxi–Qianlong era to presentHubei's old pihuang opera and a source of Peking Opera
Xiang OperaEarly Ming to presentHunan's principal regional opera, joining gaoqiang and tanqiang
Liyuan OperaSong-Yuan to presentQuanzhou's eight-century living fossil of southern drama
Puxian OperaSouthern Song to presentA living fossil of Song-Yuan drama, grown from Xinghua zaju
Tibetan Operac. 15th century to presentMasked open-air music drama of the Tibetan Plateau
Gan OperaLate Yuan and early Ming to presentJiangxi's main opera, still carrying the Yiyang tune
Teochew Opera (Chaozhou Opera)Ming Jiajing reign to presentA branch of southern drama sung in Teochew
Jin Opera (Shanxi Opera)Mid-Qing to presentCentral Shanxi's Zhonglu clapper opera
Gezai Opera (Taiwanese Opera)Around 1900 to presentA Minnan-language opera that grew from Yilan folk song and is performed on both sides of the Taiwan Strait
Shanghai Opera (Huju)Daoguang reign (Qing) to presentFrom tanhuang and shenqu to Shanghai's own regional opera
Lü Opera (Lüju)Late Qing to presentA rural Shandong opera that began as qinshu storytelling put into costume