Huju (沪剧; pinyin: Hùjù) opera, or "Songhu opera" is a variety of Chinese opera from the area of Shanghai. It is typically sung in the Shanghainese dialect.

Huju is performed in the Shanghainese dialect of Wu Chinese, which is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin. In other words, a person from Beijing would not understand the lyrics of a Huju piece.

It is particularly popular in Baihe, the oldest town in the Qingpu district of Shanghai. There are eight to ten Huju troupes in the town, and many local residents hire the troupes to perform for weddings and funerals.

Like many of the other regional opera styles, Huju is in danger of disappearing forever. Few young actors take up the art form, since there is much greater fame and fortune to be had in movies, TV, or even Beijing opera. Unlike Beijing opera, which is now considered a national art form, Huju opera is performed in a local dialect, and thus does not translate well to other provinces.

Costumes

Due to the relatively recent nature of the stories and songs that make up Huju, the costumes and makeup are comparatively simple and modern. Shanghai opera performers wear costumes that resemble the street clothing of ordinary people from the pre-communist era. Their makeup is not much more elaborate than that worn by western stage actors, in stark contrast to the heavy and significant grease-paint used in the other Chinese opera forms.

Music and musical instruments

Huju is accompanied by an ensemble of traditional Chinese instruments, including dizi (transverse bamboo flute), erhu (two-stringed fiddle), pipa (pear-shaped lute), yangqin (hammered dulcimer), and percussion. The instrumentation and style are closely related to the instrumental genre of Jiangnan sizhu (江南丝竹, string and wind musical instruments used in the area south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River). The famous Chinese composition "Purple Bamboo Melody" (紫竹调) is adapted from Huju.

dizi (transverse bamboo flute)

erhu (two-stringed fiddle)

pipa (pear-shaped lute)

yangqin (hammered dulcimer)