Kunqu

Kunqu (Chinese: 崑曲), also known as Kunju (崑劇), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from a music style local to Kunshan, part of the Wu cultural area, and later came to dominate Chinese theater from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Wei Liangfu refined the musical style of kunqu, and it gained widespread popularity when Liang Chenyu used the style in his drama Huansha ji (Washing Silken Gauze). Well-known pieces of Kunqu opera included The Peony Pavilion from the Ming dynasty.

The melody or tune of Kunqu is one of the Four Great Characteristic Melodies in Chinese opera. It is known for its elegant lyrics, graceful style and delicate performance. It is one of the operas grouped under Southern Opera, and it is known as the "ancestor of a hundred operas." Kunqu uses drum and board to provide rhythm to the tunes, with flute, sanxian and so on as the main accompanying instrument. The opera is sung in "Zhongzhou rhyme". In 2001, Kunqu was proclaimed one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. and it was inscribed on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.