Four Great Characteristic Melodies (四大声腔 pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: Sìdà Shēngqiāng) in Chinese opera

Chinese opera

Chinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE...

 are Bangziqiang, Huangpiqiang, Kunqiang and Gaoqiang.

Bangziqiang

Qinqiang

Qinqiang

Qinqiang or Luantan is the representative folk Chinese opera of the northwest Province of Shaanxi, China, where it was called Qin thousands of years ago. Its melodies were originated from the rural areas of ancient Shaanxi and Gansu...

, Yuju, Jinju, Hebei Bangzi

Hebei bangzi

Hebei bangzi is a genre of Chinese opera from the northern province of Hebei. It may also be found in the nearby cities of Beijing and Tianjin, as well as in Shandong, Henan, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, and Inner Mongolia, as well as some areas south of the Yangtze River such as Shanghai and...

, Sixianqiang in Dianju, Tanxi in Chuanju, etc.

Huangpiqiang

Huiju

Huiju

Huiju is a variety of Chinese opera from the east-central province of Anhui, China, and was formerly also popular in neighboring Zhejiang...

, Hanju, Beijing opera

Beijing opera

Peking opera or Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court...

, Cantonese opera

Cantonese opera

Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Cantonese culture. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia. Like all versions of Chinese opera, it is a traditional Chinese art form, involving music, singing,...

, Xiangju, Chuanju

Sichuan opera

Sichuanese opera is a type of Chinese opera originating in China's Sichuan province around 1700. Today's Sichuan opera is a relatively recent synthesis of 5 historic melodic styles...

, Dianju, etc.

Kunqiang

Kunqiang, also known as Kunshanqiang, or Kunqu

Kunqu

Kunqu , also known as Kunju , Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from the Kunshan melody, and dominated Chinese theatre from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The style originated in the Wu cultural area...

 (Kunju) was listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity

Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity

The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness on intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and the local people who sustain these forms of cultural...

 by UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 in 2001.

Gaoqiang

Chuanju, Xiangju, Ganju, Dianju, Chenhexi, Diaoqiang, etc.