Ruling the Stage: Social and Cultural History of Opera in Sichuan from the Qing to the People's Republic of China

Through an innovative interdisciplinary reading and field research, Igor Chabrowski analyses the history of the development of opera inSichuan, arguing that opera serves as a microcosm of the profound transformation of modern Chinese culture between the 18th centuryand 1950s. He investigates the complex path of opera over this course of history: exiting the temple festivals, becoming a public obsessionon commercial stages, and finally being harnessed to partisan propaganda work. The book analyzes the process of cross-regional integrationof Chinese culture and the emergence of the national opera genre. Moreover, opera is shown as an example of the culture wars that raged insideChina’s popular culture.