In 2021, artist Wang Yingsheng created the painting, "Passing the Pear Garden from Generation to Generation."
The painting commemorates the development of Chinese opera and features a group of outstanding opera singers from the past 200 years.
Chinese opera, Greek tragedy and comedy and Indian Sanskrit opera, are three early forms of ancient drama in the world.
Traditional Chinese opera is a form of musical theatre. Its roots stretch back to ancient China.
Early forms of Chinese theater were simple, but over time they evolved and incorporated various art forms. These include music, song, dance, martial arts, acrobatics, costumes and make-up art.
There are more than one hundred regional branches of traditional Chinese opera today. The Peking Opera grew in popularity from the late 19th to mid 20th century. Today, it's known as the "National Theatre" of China.
The Liyuan or Pear Garden was an early performing arts and musical academy in China. It was established during the Tang dynasty by Emperor Xuanzong.
The academy was named after the pear trees planted inside the school.
Performers were commonly called "Children of the Pear Garden." In later dynasties, the phrase "Pear Garden" has been used to refer to the world of Chinese opera in general.
For centuries, Chinese opera was the main form of entertainment for the country's urban and rural residents.
Some classic plays still remain popular today. Such as "Farewell My Concubine," "Lady Mu Guiying Takes Command" and "Lady Wang Zhaojun Goes Beyond the Frontier."
President Xi Jinping has called on artists to create excellent work that is worthy of the times and meets the expectations of the people.
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