How did Chinese Opera come about? Chinese Opera has a history that dates back 4,000 years ago. It is believed that the Chinese people were involved in ritual dancing and singing to please or entertain spirits during their religious rites. During the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD 220), story-telling was blended with dance to produce an elementary form of musical drama. Thus, the lessons on friendship, love, hatred, treachery and loyalty in folktales were played out on the Chinese Opera stage, where performers share these traditional folktales through speech, songs, dance, elaborate costume and colourful make-up. These stories were performed on stage as part of the ceremonies and celebrations in the imperial courts. Opera singing and acting further developed during the Zhou Dynasty. Religious festivals were held where priests and soothsayers chanted and performed mimes to convey their beliefs to worshippers. During the Song Dynasty, opera groups were usually made up of family members who wandered from place to place to put up performances. Child actors were common and they are trained from very young ages for a particular role. Opera female impersonators were common as women were banned from performing on stage to prevent men from being corrupted. At that time, Opera actors were regarded as belonging to the lowest strata of society. In the past, large-scale shows were put up at the imperial palace. However, actors who had no place to practise before the royal performances, used to rehearse in teahouses and customers would watch. Plays were also performed in temple courtyards during religious festivals such as birthdays of deities. The wealthy also engaged troupes to perform at their homes during wedding or anniversary celebrations as well as for private entertainment.