The development of Cantonese opera was interrupted, however, between 1850-1870 during the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor and the commencement of the Taiping Rebellion. The anti-Manchu sentiment from the Han population threatened the aristocracy and led to eventual conflict culminating in the deaths of 20 million people. With the greatest source of resentment from the South, Cantonese opera troupes began using their artform as a political vessel to instigate the population against the ruling powers; actors were found to be involved with the rebellion. As a result the imperial court censored and banned all performances of Cantonese opera and persecuted those who practiced it. Most actors disguised themselves and melted into the peasantry or fled the region to work with the Beijing opera troupes.

The documents and materials available from this period are limited. However, certain scraps and legends survived. Key figures of the Cantonese operatic world were represented as key military figures against the Manchu rulers, fashioning their attire from the costumes they wore on stage as a symbol of defiance. Others survived on the red boats of bendi tradition and continued to practice in secret. The shadow of this oppression was lifted when the viceroy of Guangdong, an opera lover himself, successfully sought consent from the imperial court to lift the ban placed on the artform. Returning from hiding, the performers brought new practices that they had learned from the Beijing and Shanghai school of opera during their time of exile and continued to enrich their performances.

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