Yuju (Henan Opera)

Yuju, historically called Henan bangzi, is a clapper-opera form that arose and flourished in Henan, rooted deep in the Central Plains. It grew out of a long fusion of folk singing and bangzi vocal styles spreading through the towns and villages along the Yellow River, becoming Henan's signature theatre and one of the most widely performed and influential local operas in all of China.

Yuju keeps time with the bangzi clapper and is led by the banhu fiddle; its singing is high, bold and ringing, with role types divided into sheng (male), dan (female), jing (painted-face) and chou (clown). It prizes singing and acting, delivers spoken lines in the Henan dialect — plain and close to ordinary people — and excels at tales of loyalty, filial duty and family-and-country virtue, with works like Hua Mulan and Mu Guiying Takes Command widely beloved.

Yuju is a national-level item of intangible cultural heritage. As a major vessel of Central Plains culture, it carries the language, ethics and aesthetic feeling of the Henan people, ranks among China's largest local opera forms, and reaches deeply into Chinese communities at home and abroad.

In Zhengzhou, Yuju can be enjoyed at theatres, performances by opera troupes, and on the stages of cultural festivals and temple fairs; open-air village stages across the region stage it too, offering the most direct way to feel the spirit of Central Plains opera.