Xiamen Gezai Opera

Gezai Opera is a South Fujian dialect opera that was formed on the basis of Minnan Gezai, and absorbed the essence of Liyuan Opera, Beiguan Opera, Gaojia Opera, Beijing Opera, and Min Opera etc. It came into being on Taiwan Island in 20th century and is the only one of over 360 operas of China to come into existence in Taiwan. With hundreds of years of development, “Seven-Syllable Rhyming” was finally created. The creation of “Seven-Syllable Rhyming” symbolized the birth of Gezai Opera, which was later quickly spread to Xiamen and then all over South Fujian and S.E. Asia. The musical instruments are mainly four-stringed Kezai String, the Broad-String, Taiwan flute, Yu-kin etc. The performance, roles, costumes, theatrical masks and percussion are basically taken from Beijing Opera. Plays of Gezai Opera include The Butterfly Lovers, A Woman Called Chen Sanwu etc.