Recreational activities available in Chinese feudal society, which took Confucian rites and viewpoints as the "foundation of the country," were few and of low quality, and theatrical performances were the only recreational activities enjoyed by nobles, scholars and ordinary people alike in those days. An American missionary once said, "To the Chinese people, the theater is just like sports to the British and bull-fighting to the Spanish." We may even assert that going to the theater used to be the most important recreational activity for the Chinese people. Evidence for this are the facts that some dramas have been performed for 800 years, and are still popular, and that millions of urban people used to scramble to watch performances by Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), the most famous modern Peking Opera actor.
- Stories Expressed Through songs and Dances
- Keeping a Distance from Life
- No Limitation of Time or Space
- Fictitious Expression Method - the Core of the Stage Structure
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