Cantonese Opera, as modern society knows it, is a relative fledgeling to the operatic scene with its first documented designation in the nineteenth century. We can, however follow the thread of its conception back to the Song Dynasty where the invasion of the Mongols in the thirteenth century precipitated a mass exodus of people living in the North. The merchant class, scholars, performers and workers migrated south into the region of Canton bringing both money and the Song culture with them. This style of opera continued to use Guilin mandarin as the theatrical language, retained its traditional structure but assimilated, over the centuries, the music and folklore of the Guangdong region. Similarly, the Souther martial art style - a tougher, robust form of boxing, was given precedence over the more fleeting, nimble form of the North.

By the mid-fifteenth century, it was the Cantonese style of opera that was favoured by the vast majority of the Canton region and Cantonese opera troupes were patronized by both the aristocracy and the peasantry. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the waijiang troupe was awarded the distinction of bringing multiple reforms to the operatic traditions in Canton by integrating local phrases and sayings into the lines and lyrics (which were otherwise in Mandarin) and deifying the local religious figures in their performances. The Bendi, another Cantonese opera troupe, became so popular witht he river folk that they took to living in red boats and based their performances around local festivals and celebrations. These two schools of Cantonese opera heralded the golden age of the art, picking what they deemed the best theatrical practices from all over China.

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