Editing Performing arts (section)

====China====
{{main|Theatre of China}}
[[File:Hand shadow drama 3.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Hand shadow drama, China]]

There are references to theatrical entertainments in China as early as 1500 BC during the [[Shang dynasty]]; they often involved music, clowning and acrobatic displays.<ref name="McConachie Sorgenfrei Underiner Nellhaus 2016 p. 153">{{cite book | last1=McConachie | first1=B. | last2=Sorgenfrei | first2=C.F. | last3=Underiner | first3=T. | last4=Nellhaus | first4=T. | title=Theatre Histories: An Introduction | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-135-04113-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMmjCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA153 | access-date=29 Jun 2023 | page=153 | archive-date=29 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629202618/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZMmjCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA153 | url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Tang dynasty]] is sometimes known as "The Age of 1000 Entertainments". During this era, [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang]] formed an acting school known as the Children of the [[Pear Garden]] to produce a form of drama that was primarily musical.<ref name="McConachie Sorgenfrei Underiner Nellhaus 2016 p. 153"/>

During the [[Han dynasty]], [[shadow play]], also known as shadow puppetry, first emerged as a recognized form of theatre in China. The plays depicted adventure and fantasy. Symbolic color was prevalent; a black face represented honesty, a red one bravery. The heads were removed at night, in keeping with the old superstition that if left intact, the puppets would come to life. Shadow puppetry is said to have reached its highest point of artistic development in the 11th century, before becoming a tool of the government.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

In the [[Song dynasty]], there were many popular plays involving [[acrobatic]]s and music. These developed in the [[Yuan dynasty]] into a more sophisticated form with a four- or five-act structure. Yuan drama spread across China and diversified into numerous regional forms, the best known of which is Beijing Opera, which is still popular today.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=James |date=2022-09-28 |title=The origins of Peking Opera |url=https://thechinaproject.com/2022/09/28/the-origins-of-peking-opera/ |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=The China Project |language=en-US}}</ref>