As an opera genre, kunqu (literally, "songs of kun", "kun" being the shortened form of "kunshan", where "shan" means "mountain") - also known as kunshanqiang - evolved as a refinement of the earlier kunshan diao theatre which had originated in Kunshan, near Shanghai, in the coastal province of Jiangsu. While nanxi and zaju had been more folk-oriented operas, that is, operas which received their impetus primarily from the bottom up, as it were, kunqu (pronounced "kwin chu") was more of a top-down inspired opera genre. That said, it would be unfair to compare kunqu with earlier forms of "opera" commissioned by the royal court.

    Whereas earlier forms of song-and-dance exhibitions such as the Pear Garden "opera" troupe commissioned by Emperor Xuanzong (CE 712-755) of the Tang (CE 618-907) Dynasty could be considered as somewhat effete royal demonstrations, far removed from the lives of ordinary people, the Chinese opera of the Ming (CE 1368-1644) Dynasty - given the advancements of Chinese society away from its feudalistic past (there was a burgeoning administator and merchant class in China during the period) and given the special circumstances of the migration of massive numbers of Han Chinese peoples southwards as a consequence of warring in the north during the Jin Dynasty and in response to the comparatively harsh Mongol rule (compared to the previous rule) of the Yuan Dynasty - was something of a cultural renaissance for what was believed to be the cradle of Chinese culture, i.e., central China. It was in this much more complexly socially-stratified Chinese society - compared to the more feudalistic Chinese society of the Tang Dynasty - with its spirit of renewed hope and vitality, that the refined, scholarly-directed romantic drama of kunqu opera saw the light of day.

   A leading member of the culturati of the period, Wei Liangfu (1522-1573, circa), dramatist and author of the book, Rules for Kunqu Tunes, collaborated with a number of other dramatists to standardize the rules of rhyme, tone, pronunciation and notation of earlier forms of xiqu, from nanxi to kunshan diao, and in the process created the new romantic theatre that would be known thereafter as kunqu opera, although the performances were strictly intended for royal audiences. The most famous kunqu dramatist and playwright was Tang Xianzu (1550-1616), dubbed 'the Shakespeare of China' by later chroniclers of Chinese opera. Tang Xianzu refined the harmonic structure of the kunqu song style, rendering it even more "romantic", a feature that was especially popular with female members of the royal court.

   So popular were the romantic musical arrangements of Tang Xianzu, in fact, that his style became the standard for romantic opera for generations to come. The romantic themes of kunqu opera, combined with kunqu's refined, classical language, its subdued dancing sequences and the restrained manner in which kunqu plots unfolded appealed especially to cultured audiences.

   Kunqu opera became the dominant dramatic form throughout China, having spread, by the end of the 16th century, to the rest of China (kunqu, or kun, developed Northern Kun, Xiang Kun, Chuan Kun and Ning Kun branches as a sort of precursor to the later "schools" of Chinese opera), where it would remain the most prestigious form of Chinese drama for the next 200 years. It should be noted that kunqu remains alive and well in today's China (indeed, it is considered as the most sublime literary form of Chinese opera ever created, which automatically places kunqu in an elitist, non mass-consumption category), where it is performed in major theatres round about the country, including in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Chenzhou, Wenzhou and Hangzhou, as well as in the capital of Taiwan, Taipei.

    [1] As indicated, some scholars of Chinese opera insist that kunqu was the first genuine xiqu, and indeed, the UNESCO Proclamation 2001 on Kunqu Opera, which recognizes kunqu as "one of the oldest forms of Chinese opera still performed today", though it stops short of claiming that kunqu is the original and first example of xiqu, suggests that kunqu is at least a valid competitor to that title.