Hence it is often termed Chinese opera. The music has both foreign and native sources. About the history of Yuan drama. This is a version of the precursor to The Story of the Western Wing. The Southern Song was initiated when the Chinese were forced south with the occupation of North China by the Jurchen.
Mixes prose and verse in a prosimetric or chantefable type form.
Had innovative features of prosidy that differed from formal literature. Told by a narrator. Suzhou has long been the center of tanci performance. Tanci ballads can be very long or very short. Tanci styles are identified by school and the master who originated them.