Nuoxi: the ancient Chinese religious theatre that still survives

Abstract

Besides the ‘major’ theatrical genres of traditional Chinese Opera, there still exists a theatrical genre of ancient shamanic and religious origin called nuoxi. Nuoxi is a general term which indicates a ritual theatre, the oldest form of Chinese theatre that has influenced traditional theatre (xiqu), especially that of the different regional varieties (difangxi). Today, not only is nuoxi still represented but it seems to have recently developed in many rural areas of China. Its performative characteristics make it seem very different to other traditional theatre genres.