Chaling Xiang Opera is the representative opera of Hunan Province. It has a long history of nearly 600 years and is spread in Changsha, Xiangtan in the Xiang and Zi River basins, Chaling in the eastern Hunan region, and western Jiangxi. On the basis of inheriting the Yuan Nanxi Opera, Xiang Opera has four major vocal styles: Gaoqiang, Dipaizi, Kunqiang and Danqiang. They were produced in different historical periods and formed the distinctive local characteristics of Xiang Opera through eclecticism. Chaling is located at the border of eastern Hunan and western Jiangxi. It is the most active area of Xiang Opera in the early days. For example, the protagonist "Mulian" in the early Yiyang Opera Liantaiben play "The Biography of Mulian" is from Chaling, which is enough to prove the historical origin of Xiang Opera and Chaling. During the Tongzhi and Guangxu years, many troupes emerged in Chaling until the first year of Xuantong (1909), and many troupes flowed into Chaling to perform Xiang Opera, including Renhe, Qinghua, Yonghe and other troupes. During the Republic of China period, Renhe troupes basically settled in Chaling. After liberation, in 1950, the People's Government of Chaling County took over the Renhe class and named it the Chaling Renhe Xiang Opera Troupe, which brought the Xiang Opera cause in Chaling into a new era. In 1954, in accordance with the instructions of the provincial government on supporting the construction of cultural undertakings in the old revolutionary base areas, the Dongting Xiang Opera Troupe of the Provincial Military Region transferred 12 people including Chen Fufang and Ling Ye to Chaling, and formally named it the "Chaling Xiang Opera Troupe" on the basis of the Renhe Xiang Opera Troupe. So far, Chaling Xiang Opera has reached a new height. Chaling Xiang Opera not only inherits the artistic characteristics of the older generation of Xiang Opera artists, but also incorporates Xiangdong folk music on this basis, making the singing of Xiang Opera more full and complete, and also integrates folk "hundreds of plays", "acrobatics" and "martial arts" into the performance, thus enriching the performing arts of Xiang Opera. Over the past 60 years, the Chaling Xiang Opera Troupe has performed more than 200 traditional plays, such as "The Golden Seal", "The White Rabbit", "The Moon Worship", "The Pipa", "The Life and Death Card", and more than 10 original plays, such as "The Trial of Fakes", "Sun Bin and Pang Juan", "The Dream of the Black Gauze", "The Story of Lan Chuan", and "Yu Gu". Among them, the original plays "The Story of Lan Chuan", "The Dream of the Black Gauze", and "Yu Gu" have won provincial and municipal creation and performance awards for many times. In 2010, the modern Xiang Opera "Yu Gu" was renamed "The Soul of the Fen River" after further processing, creation and adaptation. In the same year, it participated in the excellent play performance exhibition of county-level professional troupes in Hunan Province and won the "Gold Award". The footprints of Chaling Xiang Opera have spread throughout Hunan, Jiangxi, Hubei and other places, and it is deeply loved and appreciated by the audience wherever it goes. Chaling Xiang Opera is not only an art that Chaling and the people of Hunan and Xiang are fond of, but its influence spreads throughout Hunan, Jiangxi and even the whole of China. The Chaling Hunan Opera Troupe is the county-level troupe with the most titles of outstanding young and middle-aged actors from the provincial and municipal governments, and it is also one of the only two remaining county-level Hunan Opera troupes in our province.