Itinerant troupes from northern China probably brought the clapper element, tan xi, to Sichuan. This style is characterized by cunning, emotionally fraught rhythms played on wooden clappers, accompanied by the so-called "moon guitar."

The fifth stylistic element in Sichuan Opera is called kun qu. It originated in the southern Yangtze Basin and was later imported to Sichuan as a variant of the traditional and respected Kun Opera, with its discriminating literary dramas and fluent, highly artful melodies. The dominant melodic instrument here is the bamboo flute (di zi). A single theater piece of Sichuan Opera usually combines two or three of these musical styles. Only very rarely do all five systems appear together. The gao qiang style is the most frequent and its structure is most clearly developed.

All rights reserved. Reproduction of text for non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that both the source and author are acknowledged and a notifying email is sent to us.