Huagu Opera is a now famous local opera of Central China's Hunan Province with a history of more than 200 years, and with a complete set of roles, various arias and very strong expressive power.

The opera has developed from simple folk song and dance to an influential local opera capable of play interpretations. Huagu Opera's basic arias, which accompanies simple play plots, are based on the tunes of the local folk songs sung in the mountains and fields. But due to more intricate plots and the need to express the complicated feelings and thoughts of characters in plays, these basic arias have developed into different qupai (the names of tunes to which qu are composed) with different rhythms.

The early Huagu Opera troupes were mainly composed of semi-professional members engaged in seasonal performances. In the busy farming season, they farmed, while in the slack season they performed. In the past the Huagu Opera was discriminated against and prohibited by feudal governors. This led to Huagu Opera troupes throughout the province also performing other major prevailing local opera as a shield for performing Huagu Opera.

There are over 400 Huagu Opera's traditional plays. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Huagu Opera has greatly thrived. Traditional plays like Killing a Bird have been collected and re-performed, while modern plays like Sanliwan have been created. Also, a number of repertoires like "Beating the Bronze Gong" and "Repairing the Pan" have been made into films. 

In the terms of genres, the art form has different genres like Changsha Huagu Opera, Hengyang Huagu Opera and Shaoyang Huagu Opera, with Changsha Huagu Opera being the most influential.