The singing in traditional opera is an amalgam of various local tunes from diverse regions of the country. Tunes with names like "his-p'i erh-huang", "i-yang-ch'iang", "pang-tzu-ch'iang", "mo-tiao", "Hui-tiao", etc. have all been absorbed into traditional opera and their flavor can still be discerned in Chinese Opera today. Melodies and tunes of other minor regional operas, while more or less exerting some influence on the singing of Chinese Opera, are usually employed in a humorous vein or to display a performer's wealth of talents and added unto into the opera's singing proper. In operas such as "His-mi-chuan", "Shih-huang-chin", "His-huang-chuang", etc, northern and southern modes are intermixed, but these are not representative of the singing in main oeuvres of traditional Chinese Opera.
The southern K'un-ch'u opera had developed into a coherent art form much earlier (around the late 14th century). Its melodic modes, rhythmic structure as well as its manner of singing, tunes, manner of beating time, its tune-names, have their own flavor, and differ radically from the "his-p'i erh-huang" of the traditional Chinese Opera which forms the subject of our studies here. That is to say, while the singing of Chinese Opera has absorb various regional strains, it has not been able to absorb the singing modes and manners of K'un-ch'u. Instead, during performances of Chinese Opera, it has become customary to include some acts of K'un-ch'u opera, performing and singing them entirely according to the K'un-ch'u canons, whitout altering them at all. On such occasions when one has superior skills, we say that he or she is a master of both styles without confusing them. Those who focus on Chinese Opera (p'i-huang) acquire greater stature when they master a few acts of K'un-chu. Hence in voice training and singing techniques designed for students of the opera academies, it is best to include some plays from the K'un-ch'u repertoire. This will be of invaluable aid to the student's study of traditional opera singing.
