越剧的故乡The Birthplace of Yue Opera

越剧是中国流传最广的戏曲之一，常被称为仅次于京剧的“第二大剧种”。它的老家，就在嵊州。

Yue opera (越剧) is one of the most widely loved forms of Chinese opera, often called the country’s second-largest after Peking opera. It was born in Shengzhou.

十九世纪，剡溪两岸流行一种说唱艺术，叫“落地唱书”。艺人们走村串户，连说带唱地讲故事。

In the nineteenth century, a form of sung storytelling called luodi changshu (落地唱书) was popular along the Shan stream. Performers went from village to village, half speaking and half singing their tales.

1906 年 3 月 27 日，在嵊县甘霖镇东王村的香火堂前，李世泉、高炳火等几位唱书艺人用四只稻桶和几块门板搭起一座草台，穿着简陋的戏服，演出了《双金花》等戏。这一天被看作越剧的诞生日。

On March 27, 1906, in front of the ancestral hall of Dongwang Village in Ganlin, a few of these storytellers — Li Shiquan, Gao Binghuo and others — built a makeshift stage from four rice-threshing tubs and some door planks. In simple costumes, they performed Two Golden Flowers (《双金花》) and other pieces. That day is considered the birthday of Yue opera.

起初，人们管它叫“小歌班”或“的笃班”。七八个人组成一个班，在乡间四处演出，凭着朴实的唱词和真挚的感情，很快唱红了乡野。

At first it was called the “little song troupe” (小歌班) or the “di-du troupe” (的笃班), after the sound of its clappers. Troupes of seven or eight people toured the countryside, and their plain lyrics and heartfelt singing quickly won over rural audiences.

早期的越剧演员都是男性。1923 年，本地人王金水回乡，在甘霖镇施家岙村办起第一个女子越剧科班，打破了女子不能登台唱戏的旧规矩。这个科班培养出施银花、赵瑞花、屠杏花等早期名角，并把越剧带上了上海的舞台。

The earliest Yue opera performers were all men. In 1923, a local man named Wang Jinshui came home and started the first all-female Yue opera school in Shijia’ao Village, Ganlin, breaking the old rule that women could not perform on stage. Its students, including Shi Yinhua, Zhao Ruihua and Tu Xinghua, became the genre’s first stars and took Yue opera to the stages of Shanghai.

从那以后，女演员成了越剧的主角，戏里的男角也常由女演员来演。这是越剧最独特的地方之一。

Since then, women have been at the heart of Yue opera, and they often play the male roles, too. It is one of the things that make the form unique.

越剧并没有老去。据中新社报道，嵊州本地有 117 个民营剧团，一年演出约 3 万场。出生在嵊州的青年演员陈丽君，凭越剧《新龙门客栈》里的扮相走红网络；嵊州办的“乡村越剧联赛”，在网上的传播超过 12 亿次。

Yue opera is far from fading. According to China News Service, Shengzhou alone has 117 private troupes giving some 30,000 performances a year. Chen Lijun, a young actress born in Shengzhou, became an online sensation for her role in the Yue opera New Dragon Inn (《新龙门客栈》), and the city’s village Yue opera league has been viewed more than 1.2 billion times online.

2026 年，越剧迎来诞生 120 周年。它从嵊州乡间的草台出发，唱遍了大江南北。

In 2026, Yue opera turns 120. From a straw stage in the Shengzhou countryside, it went on to be sung all over China.

想去看看的话，可以去越剧诞生地东王村、施家岙一带的“越剧小镇”，还有崇仁古镇玉山公祠的古戏台——早年不少越剧艺人，就是在那座戏台上起步的。

To see where it began, visit Dongwang Village, the “Yue Opera Town” around Shijia’ao, and the old stage in the Yushan Ancestral Hall at Chongren — where many early Yue opera performers got their start.