Beijing Opera appeared in the Qing Dynasty(朝代). In 1790, many opera troupes(戏班)went to Beijing for performances to celebrate the birthday of Qianlong. This kind of unusual performance touched the hearts of the people deeply. While in Beijing, the troupes created a new kind of opera called Beijing Opera. It was on the basis(基础)of Anhui Opera by taking in the advantages of other operas.

Beijing Opera is quite unique(唯一的)in role shaping because it divides the roles into different kinds. They are sheng, dan, jing and chou which are quite different in many ways.

A popular song goes like this, “Foreigners call Jingxi Beijing Opera.” In fact, Beijing Opera is different from opera. Opera tells the story and expresses the thoughts by singing instead of speaking. But Beijjing Opera stresses(强调)chang, nian, zuo and da. Chang means singing; nian means musical spoken parts; zuo means dance movements and da means martial(武打)skills.

Mei Lanfang is an excellent performing artist of Beijing Opera in China. In 1930, he led an opera troupe to America and presented Beijing Opera before western people. Today, Beijing Opera has become the sign of Chinese culture. It is changing with the development of different musical styles.

When referring to history, some big events or historic figures may pop into our minds. 【小题1】 Yet, a recent Chinese drama—Under the Microscope which aired on iQIYI—turns to the lives of the ordinary people during the Ming Dynasty.

The drama opens with the story of a young man called Shuai Jiamo helping measure（测量）the land for a farming family, but only to find the result is different from what’s recorded on the official papers. 【小题2】

Following Shuai and his friends’ fight to solve the problem, this drama gradually presents viewers with a realistic and vivid picture of the lives of ordinary people at the bottom. 【小题3】 For example, it shows people cutting silver to give change and carrying certificates for travel. It also shows the customs that the ordinary enjoyed like fireworks and dragon dance.

【小题4】 “Only learning the situation of the ordinary people can help us gain a better understanding of each order and law from the government and then the changes of the history,” Ma wrote in the book.

History, in fact, is a collection of stories of people. Though some people were brought to the spotlight（聚光灯）for different reasons, it never becomes an excuse to take the “little” people for granted. 【小题5】