After the putting away of the seals, theatres select a day on which to close. The eight theatrical companies of the City unite to give a performance (the proceeds from which are given to the theatre employees, after which there are no more plays) until the arrival of New Year's Day, when the play,Conferring Happiness(Zhu Fu) opens the theatrical season. This in truth serves to bring in with song a year of tranquility.

　　Looking at the plays presented in Peking, one can see that the taste of different times has varied. Thus before and during the period of Hsien Feng (1851-1861), the k'un and kao or Yi types of drama were most valued. The kao form has gongs and drums, but is without stringed and bamboo instruments and its sad songs are in the old taste of the Capital. From the time of Hsien Feng onward the?two flute(er huang) form has been especially favored. In recent times the cb'in form has been equally valued, and is the same as what is commonly called the pang-tzu type.

　　There are no theatres in the Inner (i.e.Tartar) City, these being all in the Outer (or Chinese) City. This is probably because of the fear that the soldiers of the Eight Banners (stationed in the Tartar City) might become accustomed to idle pleasures.

　　Besides the legitimate stage, there are such forms of entertainment as puppet-shows, shadow-plays, tambourines, shih-pu-hsien, tzu-ti-shu, variety vaudeville, Pa-shih, sound imitators,big drums,and story-tellers..... In the shadow-plays, a light is used to produce a shadow. They give extraordinary impressions of sorrow and anger, and when old women listen to them many of them are compelled to drop tears. The tambourine form is made up of a few people of the lower class, some of whom play stringed instruments, while others sing; the buffoonery which they strike up makes one laugh very much. The shih-pu-hsien has a tan (a man who plays a feminine character) and a comedian (ch'ou), but no leading character (sheng). They sing a special type of song, the while inking and rising and winsomely circling, delightfully corning and going incessantly. In the time of Hsien Feng (185l-1861) and T'ung Chih (l862-l874) and before, they were especially esteemed, but in recent times they have disappeared like Kuang Ling.

　　The songs of the tzu-ti-shu are sad and lovely, and their words are refined. Variety vaudeville and the pa-shih consist, respectively, of miscellaneous entertainments and of military arts (such as sword dancing). Sound imitators use their mouths to imitate the sound of various birds, reproduce northern and southern accents, and simulate joy, laughter, sorrow, and reviling, all combined in one man in such a way that listeners can distinguish all these things in every detail.

　　The arts of the?big drumand the story-teller can have an especially harmful effect on people's minds. This is because thebig drum(which is singing and dancing done by female performers), concerns itself for the most part with matters relating to thepicking of valerian,andpresentation of small peonies,while the mere singing and posturing by women is in itself already something improper. The story-teller simply gesticulates and talks, without any assisting music, and by his words makes bravoes and desperadoes comesintosmovement as if alive. When townspeople listen to such things, it is easy to instill in them ideas of creating .