From the mid-Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), various forms of local opera flourished. Except for Kunqu, they were all called local operas. Of these local operas, Bangzi, Pihuang and Xiansuo occupied the leading position during the reign of Qianlong (1736-1795). Well, in this period, Kunqu was on the decline.

The Chinese rulers regarded music as refined, and songs as popular. At that time, Kunqu represented the refined, or Yabu; and local operas, the popular, or Huabu, as they featured folk music.

While poetic dramas, including local tunes of Kunqu, were created by men of letters of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Huabu got little help from either the literati or officialdom. Huabu plays, which drew their materials directly from folk culture, were full of the aroma of the earth and the intense emotion of life. Huabu did not conform to the literary standards and style of the time, which Kunqu, or Yabu, did.

However, Huabu had its own advantages as theater, and was by no means inferior to Zaju or poetic dramas of the previous dynasty. Its artistry was forged on the stage instead of being worked out in the quiet of a study. As there were no playwrights for Huabu, the Qing Dynasty did not give birth to famous playwrights equal to Guan Hanqing and Tang Xianzu.

The themes of Huabu were mainly historical stories. In the 19th century Chinese feudal society was approaching its end; the Chinese people's resentment of feudal rule that had been smoldering for quite a long time was strongly represented in Huabu dramas. The Fisherman's Revenge is a moving and tragic story of how an aged hero of the Marsh is forced to rebel by local tyrants.

From then on, the focus of Chinese theater began to be transferred from libretto literature to stage arts. The local operas of the Qing Dynasty were handed down by means of hand-copied scripts and oral instructions, and only a few librettos were printed. The only libretto that has survived is Zhui Bai Qiu, printed during the reign of Qianlong.