Opera Xianxi: From Yilan Temple Courtyards to Television, and Back to the People

30-Second Overview: Opera Xianxi did not begin in a theater, but in the street performances of late 19th-century Yilan temple courtyards. It entered commercial theaters in the 1920s, then survived by constantly changing stages through the radio, film, and television eras. Today, preserving it requires more than just saving play titles; it requires preserving the actors’ singing, recitation, physical movements, and the audience’s ability to respond in real time.

_Image: Performance by the Xiuwenhua Opera Troupe at the Shanshui Shangdi Temple. Author: Boattoad. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Embedded from Wikimedia Commons file page. Not downloaded or modified._

In the late 19th century, in Yilan’s temple courtyards, under trees, and alongside street processions, there was a performance without a stage. The actors were mostly amateur rural men; they wore no costumes and applied no makeup, singing songs while performing movements from the Chegu (car drum) style. This was the early form of what would become Opera Xianxi, known as "Local Opera Xianxi" (Bendi Gezai).¹ In the 1920s, it entered commercial theaters, absorbing movements, repertoires, and stage techniques from Luan Tan, Waijiang, Jiu Jia Xi, and other opera genres.²

What is most memorable about Opera Xianxi is that it never locked "tradition" into a fixed version. In temple courtyards, it relied on improvisation; in theaters, it learned to sell tickets; in radio, it replaced physical movements with sound; in television, it dismantled the stage into camera shots. Each change of venue moved it slightly away from its original form, yet also extended its lifespan.^{1 3}

A Play Without a Stage

The performance of Local Opera Xianxi in Yilan initially required no scenery and lacked the heavy costumes familiar today. The National Center for Traditional Arts summarizes this form as "no stage" and "no makeup": rural youth performed in temple courtyards, squares, or under trees, with singing and acting driven by the atmosphere of the moment. This was called "Luodi Sao" (sweeping the ground) or "Tu Jiao Qiu" (walking on dirt floors).⁴

"Gezai" itself is related to the storytelling arts of Zhangzhou, Fujian, while Chegu provided the movements for song-and-dance mini-plays. In Yilan, where Zhangzhou immigrants were numerous, these melodies met local life, gradually forming their own performance style. This origin is not suitable to be described as simple transplantation, nor as a pure creation free from external influence. It is more like a group of people rearranging old materials into a play in a new place.^{1 4}

Early Local Opera Xianxi was often described as performed by amateur male actors, with relatively simple repertoires and melodies. The performance venue was part of daily life; the audience might be watching a temple fair, passing through a square, or simply sitting down next to an acquaintance. This close-distance performance later became the foundation of Opera Xianxi’s "improvised plays" (Huo Xi): actors knew when the audience laughed and knew which lines needed a pause.^{1 3}

Opera Xianxi later developed roles such as Sheng (male), Dan (female), Jing (painted face), and Chou (clown). Actors had to remember not only the identity of their characters but also learn their respective footwork, gestures, vocal styles, and blocking. The Huamian (painted face) role was originally introduced from large-scale operas like Beiguan and Peking Opera, illustrating how Opera Xianxi transformed external stage vocabulary into its own performance system.¹

Image: The Huamian (Painted Face) Role in Opera Xianxi. Author: Sean Chiu. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Embedded from Wikimedia Commons file page. Not downloaded or modified.

📝 Curator’s Note: The first stage of Opera Xianxi was not a building, but a small space left between people.

Why It Quickly Became a Grand Opera

As Opera Xianxi spread from Yilan, relying solely on its original song-and-dance mini-plays was no longer sufficient to meet new competition. In the 1920s, with the rise of commercial theaters, Opera Xianxi entered "inner stages" (indoor theaters), beginning to use lighting, sound, scenery, and newly written scripts. It also extensively absorbed repertoires, character roles, and movements from other opera genres.^{3 2}

This absorption was not mere decoration; it was the way the genre took shape. Opera Xianxi’s singing and recitation used Hokkien, which most audiences could understand, and its melodies and stories easily entered daily life. On the other hand, it incorporated elements from Beiguan, Nanguan, Peking Opera, and folk songs into its own body.^{1 3}

Cultural heritage records divide its development into several successive scenes: Luodi Sao Opera Xianxi processions, outdoor stage Opera Xianxi, inner stage Opera Xianxi, radio, film, television, and theater. This route is less like a straight line that eliminates old forms and more like a troupe constantly adding new outlets to find its audience.²

Outdoor stage performances remained connected to temple fairs, deity birthdays, Jiao rituals, and vow fulfillments. The main play often began with "Ban Xian" (dressing as immortals) to congratulate deities and pray for believers. Daytime plays could feature history and legends, while nighttime plays might add popular songs and new stories. Thus, Opera Xianxi simultaneously retained ritual time while bearing the market’s demand for novelty.¹

War Pushed the Hokkien Language into the Shadows

After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the Japanese colonial government implemented the "Imperialization" (Kōminka) policy, strictly restricting Opera Xianxi. Troupes were required to change names, rewrite content, and even wear kimonos, carry swords, and sing Japanese songs. Some performers preserved traditional content when police were absent, hastily switching to compliant performances when inspections approached.³

This history gave "adaptation" an uncomfortable weight. Opera Xianxi indeed survived by changing its appearance, but this was not free innovation; it was a survival tactic forced by power. In the post-war 1950s, troupes rapidly revived, and inner stage Opera Xianxi reached a new peak. Subsequently, radio, film, and television took over its transformation.³

A memory from Hong Mingxue makes that era more than just dates. She said, "In the past, fans had to save money and buy tickets just to see me." That was the distance between inner stage stars and their audiences, established by a ticket. Later, television moved this distance directly into homes; actors no longer waited for audiences to enter the theater, and audiences could wait for the play to start while eating dinner.³

Yang Lihua and the Xiaosheng on Television

One of the most recognizable figures after Opera Xianxi entered television was Yang Lihua. Data from the Taipei City Government Bureau of Cultural Affairs indicates that she performed over a hundred television Opera Xianxi plays between 1966 and 1980, and established an Opera Xianxi training class in 1981 to cultivate subsequent actors.⁵

Yang Lihua’s significance lies not only in the quantity of her performances. She brought the appearance, singing style, and character charm of the Xiaosheng (young male role) into households, allowing Opera Xianxi to cross the geographical boundaries of temple entrances and theaters. Television Opera Xianxi thus became a shared memory for a generation, yet it simultaneously faced a problem: when audiences understood Opera Xianxi as a television image, could they still recognize the improvisation and physical movements of the temple courtyard live performance?^{6 7}

When The Reporter compiled Yang Lihua and her era, it presented an imperfect answer. Scholar Su Shuo-bin recalled that around the time of Martial Law lifting, cultural evaluations viewed television Opera Xianxi as a side tolerated by politics and capital. However, he later pointed out that if Opera Xianxi had not made compromises in different eras, it might have disappeared long ago.⁶

This contradiction is important: those who preserve tradition do not necessarily reject change. Those who change forms do not necessarily betray tradition. Yang Lihua’s path from radio, film, and television to national-level theaters illustrates that Opera Xianxi’s vitality lies not in remaining exactly the same, but in its ability to turn new media into its own stage.^{5 7}

_Image: Performance by the Xinchuan Opera Troupe. Author: Miwang de Rensheng. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Embedded from Wikimedia Commons file page. Not downloaded or modified._

This photo of a troupe performance makes "entering the theater" no longer just an abstract cultural policy. The actors, lighting, and audience distance on stage are not two mutually exclusive worlds from the outdoor temple stage; they are two spaces Opera Xianxi learned to use in different eras.

📝 Curator’s Note: True preservation sometimes means not putting the play back in its original place, but asking where it will meet its audience next.

"Improvised Plays" Meet the City

Another keyword for Opera Xianxi is "Huo Xi" (improvised play). Most private troupes in Taiwan must face temple fair invitations, performance fees, venue conditions, and audience reactions, preserving the tradition of interacting with the live scene and making temporary adjustments. In contrast, modern theaters demand scripts, directors, music design, stage design, and rehearsals.³

Neither is inherently more orthodox. The freedom at the temple entrance may bring intimacy, but it may not have sufficient sound systems or subtitles. The detailed production of the theater can allow more people to understand, but it may fix a play that was meant to respond to the audience into the same version every night. Opera Xianxi’s current dilemma is allowing these two strengths to meet.

Urbanization makes this dilemma concrete. Temple courtyards in metropolitan areas where tents can be erected are becoming fewer; noise controls and performance costs are increasing; and young audiences may not understand Hokkien folk plays without subtitles. The National Center for Traditional Arts’ report lists "developing audiences and actors" as an urgent task, recording troupes’ attempts to use subtitles and "outer stage cultural fields" to shorten the distance between the theater and the temple entrance.³

Therefore, the inheritance of Opera Xianxi cannot rely solely on re-performing classic repertoires. It also requires learners to engage with singing styles, recitation, physical movements, and backstage music, understanding which parts can be improvised and which require years of accumulation. Inheritance is actually a system of bodily knowledge, not just copying play titles into a catalog.

Preserving a Moving Art

The cultural heritage system has already established a registry of preservers and preservation groups for Opera Xianxi. In 2024, the Taipei City Government Bureau of Cultural Affairs announced the registration of Yang Lihua as an Opera Xianxi preserver, recording her long-term commitment to teaching, promotion, and various performance forms.⁵

Preservation is also beginning to use digital tools. In 2026, the National Center for Traditional Arts announced the second phase of Opera Xianxi Artist Skill Preservation, inviting Lin Meixiang, Chen Zhaoxiang, and Zhang Xiuqin to demonstrate signature repertoires. They deconstruct singing, recitation, physical movements, and character postures, providing a visible, researchable, and teachable path for knowledge that previously flowed only between masters and apprentices on stage.⁸

Image: Rehearsal by the Zhuang San Xinliang Orchestra in Yilan, Taiwan. Author: Dov, photographed in 2020. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Embedded from Wikimedia Commons file page. Not downloaded or modified.

The rehearsal photo pulls inheritance back to the moment before the stage. The 2020 rehearsal in Yilan was not a completed performance, but actors polishing movements, rhythm, and mutual rapport through repetition.⁴

But digital records cannot replace the risk of the body on stage. A camera can preserve a water-sleeve movement, but it cannot bear the weight that learners only understand after long hours of practice. Subtitles can help the audience follow the plot, but they cannot automatically generate the rhythm of mutual testing between the actor and the audience. The value of preservation lies in clarifying these limitations, rather than claiming a video equals the completion of inheritance.⁸

Local Opera Xianxi in Yilan was registered as an Important Traditional Performing Art in 2012, with the Zhuang San Xinliang Orchestra designated as the preservation group. This decision preserved not a fixed "old version," but allowed people to see where Opera Xianxi grew from: a song-and-dance mini-play without a stage, without makeup, performed by amateurs in villages and temple courtyards.⁴

Where Is the Next Temple Courtyard?

The history of Opera Xianxi has never been as simple as "tradition declines, modernity saves." It was once criticized as vulgar; it was once restricted by the state. It moved from temple courtyards to theaters, from radios to television, and from television to national theaters. Each new position brought new audiences, and new trade-offs.^{3 9 6}

Thus, the most counter-intuitive aspect of Opera Xianxi is: it preserves itself through change. It did not become Taiwan’s opera by rejecting external elements, but by mixing Zhangzhou Gezai, Chegu, local folk songs, other opera genres, Hokkien vernacular, and modern media in Yilan, slowly growing a voice recognizable to Taiwanese people.^{1 2}

The next time you encounter Opera Xianxi at a temple entrance, in a theater, or in online video, notice one small thing: after the actor finishes a line, is there a response from the audience? That response might be laughter, silence, or someone finally understanding a line of Hokkien. Whether Opera Xianxi can continue depends ultimately on whether there is still a place for such responses to occur.

📝 Curator’s Note: Preserving an improvised play is not just about leaving behind images, but ensuring the next actor can still make choices in front of the audience.

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