The initial development of xiqu in Taiwan was brought by Minnan immigrants in the early Qing Dynasty. After Cantonese immigrants settled down in Taiwan, the operas of Hakka and Chaozhou were seen and spread in Taiwan. In the Qing Dynasty, the hometown operas spread to Taiwan in this way included Qizi Opera, Chaozhou Opera, Luantan Opera, Siping Opera, Tea-picking Opera, Chegu Opera, Glove Puppetry, Sting Puppetry, and Shadow Puppetry. At that time, operas were performed for festivals, non-religious ceremonies, religious ceremonies, and government propaganda campaigns. In addition, Kunqu Opera, Beijing Opera, and Hui Opera also spread in Taiwan due to the preference of officials living in Taiwan.

In addition to extending the range of early hometown operas, xiqu in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period were also influenced by the rise of modernization and commercial theaters. About 80 opera troupes from China engaged in the commercial performances of more than 12 opera categories in Taiwan. Among these opera categories, the most popular ones in Taiwan were Beijing Opera, Fuzhou Opera, and Chaozhou Opera. Local operas in Taiwan were also strongly influences by those popular operas. Meanwhile, operatic arts  spread rapidly and extensively through newly arising media, such as album recordings and broadcasts. New opera categories, such as Taiwanese Opera and a modern version of Hakka Opera, rapidly became popular in commercial theaters.

In the late 1940s, the Kuomintang government moved to Taiwan together with armies from various provinces of Mainland China. Various local operas in China, such as Henan Bangzi Opera and Yue Opera, also took on local characteristics in Taiwan. With the assistance of the government, Beijing Opera outshined others. Local operas, which had played important functions in folk society, were categorized as “local operas in Taiwan.” The popularity of operas performed onstage, such as Taiwanese Opera and Taiwan glove puppetry, started to decline in the 1950s after reaching their acmes. The non-stage development of such operatic forms was initiated. Movies, broadcasts, and television productions provided operas with new venues of “performance.”

After the 1980s, operatic arts in Taiwan continued to decline. From popular to traditional operas, Siping Opera and Kaochia Opera vanished one by one. However, with the rise of local awareness and the effectiveness of government subsidies for the arts, xiqu in Taiwan began to take on a new artistic posture and robust vitality in terms of preservation of cultural assets, artistic innovation, and international arts and culture exchanges.

According to institutional size and scale, artistic attributes, and performing media, xiqu in Taiwan can be roughly divided into grand opera, minor opera, and traditional puppetry. Grand opera refers to an opera with institutional integrity, abundant music, complete operatic structure, and relatively mature stage arts performed by professional actors/actresses; this includes such operatic forms as Luantan Opera, Siping Opera, Beijing Opera, Kaochia Opera, and Taiwanese Opera. Minor opera refers to an opera with simple and casual plots, costumes, and music mainly performed by xiao-dan (young female characters) and xiao-chou (comic characters) (two xiao) or xiao-dan, xiao-sheng (young male characters), and xiao-chou (three xiao), such as Chegu Opera, old Taiwanese Opera, and Three-role Tea-picking Opera. In Taiwan, traditional puppetry, in which puppets are used in a performing medium, includes three categories: glove puppetry, string puppetry, and shadow puppetry.

Formerly, audiences used to be relatively familiar with operatic plots. Therefore, in viewing grand opera, they mainly focused on the artistic ability and interpretation of actors/actresses, including performance, singing ability, declaiming, physical appearance, facial expressiveness, and martial arts. With the evolution of modern opera and changes in audiences’ aesthetic conception, plot arrangement, directing technique, choreographic design, and straddling creativity have all become the focus of appreciation for audiences.

Minor opera developed from singing and dancing in folk society. The simple plots of minor opera tend to reflect the life, values, body, language, and musical characteristics and ethnic culture of common people. Therefore, audience appreciation of minor operatic performances focuses on actors’ or actresses’ overall expressiveness, and the aesthetic values of the laymen that they embody. As for traditional puppetry, the ability of a puppeteer to make inanimate puppets lively and lifelike is based on individual skills and the distinctiveness of vocal arts. Undoubtedly, woodcarving skills in creating theaters made of wood also appeal to the aesthetic sense of audiences.

Taiwanese Xiqu integrates such folk arts as literature, music, dancing, performance, arts, and crafts, and serves as a microcosm in exhibiting the folk arts in Taiwan. By understanding and appreciating the cultural and artistic characteristics of Taiwanese xiqu, audiences can also appreciate the values and aesthetic point of view of the Taiwanese people.