Michael Chen Opera is a kind of Han Opera. It is mainly popular in Shui Yuan, Hunan Province, the middle reaches (formerly Chenzhou) and Michael Chen operas in neighboring parts of Guizhou and Sichuan. Jiangxi immigrants who moved to Chen in Ming Dynasty.

Michael Chen Opera is popular in the upper reaches of Yuanshui (commonly known as Chenhe), so it is called Chenhe Team, also known as Chenzhou Team, and it is one of the local operas in Hunan. Mainly popular in the middle and upper reaches of Shui Yuan, including Huaihua, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Tongren, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Youyang, Xiushan, Hubei Laifeng, Xianfeng and other places. Its performance is primitive and rough, bold and lively, and affectionate. Generally, it is carried out in three forms: high platform (stage singing), low platform (puppet show) and drum hall (sitting singing). Vocal voices are divided into four categories: high, low, singing and playing, and the high-pitched cavity is the representative. It originated from the entertainment of local witches, Nuo and Taoism, and gradually evolved. It is an ancient local drama, which is called the "living fossil" of China's drama by foreign academic circles.