In the second half of the Qing Dynasty, it was introduced to Zibo and became popular among the people. Especially in the slack season, artists unite for their livelihood (mostly five people, so it is also called "five-person class") and move to neighboring villages to engage in singing. The earliest folk pentatonic troupe was Daxu Opera Troupe, which was founded around 1860 (now Fujia Town, Zhangdian District). Its repertoires included Lion Building and Tales of Colorful Buildings. In addition, there is Rongchun Opera Troupe (now Shiqiao Township, Zhangdian District). At that time, the troupe was not fixed, and there was no makeup or accompaniment in the performance. Singing in yangko cavity or ditty, the lyrics are mostly in the form of jingles, with circus and earthen platform as the main performance places. Influenced by Bangzi and other operas in the late Qing Dynasty, it was accompanied by gongs and drums, and the actors dressed up a little.
At the beginning of the 20th century, "Zhouguzi Opera" has spread all over the country, and folk troupes (clubs) have become very common. 19 14, a troupe of more than 50 people was founded by Zhangdian Wang Huankui (stage name Wang Nizi), which had a great influence among the people. During this period, "Zhouguzi Opera" gradually absorbed the nutrition of Peking Opera, Kunqu Opera and other operas. 1933, Deng Hongshan, a folk artist, was introduced by Beijing Horse to Shanghai EMI Company for recording. The company presented Deng Hongshan with a banner that read "Master of Five Tones". Since then, "Zhouguzi Opera" has been officially renamed as "Wuyin Opera".
On the eve of liberation, artists of Wuyin Opera included Deng Hongshan and Ming Red Army.
In the early days of liberation, there was a five-tone drama club composed of more than 40 people in the southeast village of Zhangdian, which once staged Picking up Jade Bracelets, Sister Wang Sifu and The Young Couple Going Back to Their Mothers. There are more than 30 Wusheng Drama Clubs founded by Deng Hongshan and others in Zhoucun, and Liu Fangyu Wusheng Drama Troupe in Boshan. Soon, Liu and Deng merged to form the first large-scale pentatonic drama performance group. 1952, silk stringed instruments such as erhu were added to the accompaniment of Wuyin Opera. 1954 Wuyin Drama Club participated in the drama viewing exhibition in Shandong Province and East China, and performed The Story of Colorful Buildings and Grasping Feet in Wang Xiaoer. Deng Hongshan won the first prize as an actor. The performance of Wuyin Opera has changed from folk singing to formal stage performance.
1956 Zibo wuyin drama club was renamed Zibo wuyin theatre company, and its cast increased to more than 60 people. 1958- 1965, the troupe went to the countryside to perform for the masses every year, which made the Wuyin Opera spread all over Zibo. During this period, the repertoires are Qionghua, Dragon and Horse Spirit, Farewell Sickle, New Wife and so on.
1975 merged with Lu Opera Troupe, with more than 0/00 members. The repertoire is rich and colorful, with more than 700 traditional plays, new historical plays and modern plays. The wonderful performance made Wuyin Opera famous both inside and outside the province, and the troupe was invited to perform in various places for many times. 1960 during the national day, the troupe went to Beijing to report the performance, some central leaders and cultural celebrities watched the performance, and Premier Zhou personally met some actors of the troupe. 196 1 year, the troupe toured south to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, passing through Jinan, Xuzhou, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Wuxi, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Qingdao. 1985, the troupe went to Beijing again and performed in Zhongnanhai, where it was received by the central leading comrades.
This performance team of nearly 100 people is still active among districts and counties in Zibo, performing excellent traditional plays such as The Story of the Great Wall, Flying Sister and Huilongzhuan. The troupe is located at No.35/KLOC-0, Qingtuan West Road, Zhangdian District, where the municipal cultural activity center and the municipal government are located.
The state attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20th, 2006, Wuyin Opera was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. On June 8th, 2007, Zibo Wuyin Theatre won the first Cultural Heritage Day Award from the Ministry of Culture.