鷓鴣戲是一個稀有中國戲曲種類，它主要流行於山東省淄博市。山東省亦是多種民間戲曲的發源地，包括太平調及山東梆子。

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鷓鴣是一種主要在中國南部棲息的鳥類。他們是省級保護動物。它們悅耳悠揚的叫聲為鷓鴣戲提供了靈感，演唱者會在歌聲中加入拖音，以模仿鷓鴣的叫聲。

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鷓鴣戲的歷史起源可追溯自清朝乾隆時期。根據嶗山碑志記載時資料，鷓鴣戲的雛形原本是一位尼姑發明的民間歌調。她在修行中把鷓鴣歌聲與她的歌聲融合，而後創作新的歌調並受當地居民歡迎。後來，這歌調在民間流傳並在當地廣傳。鷓鴣戲在未進化成為小戲曲前多以民間小調為主。受到其他重要戲曲種類影響，他們亦以自己的表演方式演出有名的戲曲品，例如《太公傳》。

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後來，尼姑亦在上河頭村(該村在山東省朱台鎮) 教授村民這民間小調，並成功地培養第一批鷓鴣戲表演者。

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它們的化妝、對白、表演模式及服裝揉合了當地特色及京劇元素。表演者主要以敲擊樂器演奏音樂，其他包括二胡、三弦及月琴。人物的社會階級透過其方言表達方式而顯得分明，上流角色如同京劇般，其語調的抑揚頓挫很明顯。至於處於低層的角色會以本地口音表達。角色臉譜亦與京劇臉譜不同。鷓鴣戲總共有15種曲牌及50套戲本。

現時，鷓鴣戲受其他戲曲影響而改良了許多，並有一些有名的作品如《胭脂》、《南北京》、《粉紅江》及《龍寶寺》。但是，有些鷓鴣戲劇本已經失傳，而它面對吸納新傳承者以保留傳統的挑戰。

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Zhegu Opera is a rare Chinese opera genre, popular in the area of Zibo City, Shandong. The province is also known for being the birthplace of many other opera genres, including Taiping Diao and Shandong BangZi.

 

Zhegu (partridge) is a type of bird that mainly inhabits the southern part of China. They are provincially-protected animals. Their call is melodious and became the inspiration for the singing method in Zhegu Opera, in which singers mimic the call of the Zhegu by holding long pauses in the vocals.

 

The history of Zhegu Opera can be traced to the Qing Dynasty, during the Qianlong period. According to the information inscribed on a stele on Mount Lao, the basis of Zhegu Opera is originally a local folk tune created by a female Buddhist Monk. She incorporated the singing style of a zhegu bird to her tunes during her journey and invented a unique folk tune that was appreciated by the locals. Later, the folk tune was passed among the locals and eventually became widespread. Zhegu opera was mainly based on folk tunes, before evolving into a type of small, local opera. Under the influence of major operas, they started to perform some major Chinese opera works like Taigong Zhuan in their own performance style.

 

Later, the nun also started to teach the villagers of Shang He Tou village (located at Zhutai Town, Shandong) the unique folk tune, and thus successfully nurtured the first generation of Zhegu Opera artists.

 

Their makeup, dialogues, performance mode, and costumes are mainly based on both local cultural characterstics and Peking Opera. Performers mainly use percussion for the instrumental accompaniment, along with Erhu, Sanyan and Yueqin. The social status of each characters is made obvious based on the dialect used for their lines, as the upper-class characters will speak in a fluctuating way, similar to those in Peking Opera. For those who are from the lower class, they will use the local accent to read the lines out. The patterns of each character’s painted faces differ from that in Peking Opera.  There are a total 15 Qupai and 50 scripts in Zhegu Opera.

 

Currently, Zhegu Opera has improved a lot under the influence of other opera genres, and they have some notable works like Rouge (Yanzhi), Nan Beijing, The Pink Lake and Long Bao Zi, However, some of the original manuscripts of the Zhegu productions have been lost, and the opera faces the challenge of attracting new inheritors to continue on the tradition.