Spiritual civilization, like material civilization, belongs to the whole of mankind. The fine literary and artistic works of any country and nation are the common wealth of mankind and part of the world trdasure-house of culture. As the famous Chinese writer Lu Xun said, 'It is better for mankind not to be estranged from each other but to show concern for each other. The smoothest way to achieve the aim is the interflow of art.' The exchanges of culture and art are not only educational, but also bring people closer together. Such exchanges provide an opportunity for cultural cross-fertilization, enrich the culture and arts of different countries and enchance mutual understanding and friendship among all peoples.
Chinese opera is a traditional dramatic form which sizes literature, music, dance, fine arts, martial arts and acrobatics. Its origin can be traced back as far as to primitive society and the prototype of Chinese opera already appeared in the Song Dynasty 800 years ago. In the long course of evolution, it was enriched and improved and gradually formed a complete artistic system of its own. There are many tune systems in Chinese opera which are typical features to distinguish one opera from another. The operas derived from different dialects, folk songs and folk music and at the same time interacted on each other. Roles or characters are divided into four categories: Sheng (males), Dan (females), Jing (males with painted face) and Chou (clowns). Its acting is featured by highly stylized movements from daily life and by a very imaginative usage of the stage to deal with the problem of space, emphasizing singing , acting , reciting and skilful acrobatic fighting.
Beining Opera, once called 'Peking Opera', is the most influential and representative of all operas in China and has a history of about 200 years. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a local opera troupe from Anhui Province came to Beijing and brought its 'Hui Tune' (which originated in Anhui Pronince and was called 'Pihuang' opera) to the capital. It soon became prevalent. In the course of evolution, it partly drew and adopted repertoire, tune and manner of perfromance from Kun Opera (a local opera from Jiangsu area) and Qin Opera (a local opera from Shaanxi Province) as well as folk tunes, gradually developing into what we now call Beijing Opera. Placing emphasis on dancing as well as on singing, it adopted the skills of Chinese martial arts and created its own uniquely stylized, fictitious and strongly rhythmical movements.Singing and reciting show elaborate articulation and phrasing . Systemized in its four categories of singing, acting reciting and acrobatic fighting, Beijing Opera has exerted a strong influence on other local operas.
Chinese folk dance is a rich and colourful performing art with a long history. There are a great number of vivid dancing figures on stone carvings, frescoes, paintings and other historical relics which were created some thousand years ago. The first Chinese poetry collection 'The Book of Songs' recorded the grand occasion of singing and dancing of young people living in the Central Plains. Court orchestras of successive dynasties often performed dancing programmes of different national minorities and many celebrated singers and dancers appeared. Among the people, folk dance is even more popular, rich and colourful with various styles and forms, some of them reflecting work, love, customs or wars and some depicting natural scenes, flowers and birds. In form, dancing and singing are combined. It is thus very effective and expresses the people's feeling thoroughly.
China has a vast territory inhabited by many nationalities, each of them very good at dancing and singing. Because of different living environments and customs, folk dances of different nationalities and regions vary greatly. They are loved by the people. After the founding of the People's Republic of China , the Chinese government has been carrying out the policy of 'making the past serve the present and foreign things serve China', of 'letting a hundred flowers blossom' and 'weed through the old to bring forth the new'. The government has helped to greatly develop Chinese folk dance by building numerous professional and amateur dance troupes which have been exploring, arranging and creating a great number of programmes and at the same time, through cultural exchange, have been drawing experience from abroad.
Chinese puppet shows which originated in the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, have a history of over 1,000 years. The art form is categorised into four types, based on the shapes of the puppets and the operative skills: figure puppets, marionettes, stick puppetsand wire-supported puppets. Each has its own artistic characteristics. At present, puppet shows are usually accompanied by the tunes of local operas and some adopt the form of dialogue or singing and dancing. The finure puppets of Longxi county, marionettes of Quanzhou (both in Fujian Province), stick puppets of Hainan Province and the other puppet shows of Hunan and Shaanxi Provinces and the Beijing region are well-known for their wide range of repertoire, wonderful performance and beautiful music. Some puppet troupes have performed abroad many times and have been warmly welcomed by the audience.