Shanghai opera is a representative opera in Shanghai, popular in Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, and Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou areas of Zhejiang. It originated from the folk songs and folk slang songs on both sides of the Huangpu River. It was influenced by tanci and other folk singing during its spread, and evolved into the rap form of Tanhuang. During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, Tanhuang in the Huangpu River area developed into a "couplet play" in which two people played and sang by themselves, and a "same scene play" in which more than three actors dressed up as characters and had a special accompaniment. In 1898, artists had already flowed into Shanghai and sat in teahouses to sing, which was called Bentan. In 1914, Bentan was renamed Shenqu. After 1927, Shenqu began to perform civilized dramas and current affairs dramas. In 1941, the Shanghai Shanghai Opera Society was established, and Shenqu was officially renamed Shanghai opera. The music of Shanghai opera is gentle and soft, with beautiful and pleasant tunes, and has a strong Jiangnan water village atmosphere. Its singing music originated from the folk songs in the fields, and gradually formed a rich tune and unique style in the long-term practice. The singing of Shanghai opera is good at both narration and lyricism. Its tunes are mainly divided into two categories: banqiang and qupai. Banqiang singing includes some ban-style variation singing with long tunes and long boards as the main style. It represents the style of Shanghai opera and is widely used. It is generally called "basic tune". In the process of its evolution and formation, the male and female singing styles have been separated. Most of the qupai singing styles are popular songs of the Ming and Qing dynasties, folk rap qupai and Jiangzhe folk songs. There are also qupai, folk songs and miscellaneous songs absorbed from other operas, but in most cases they are only used as interludes according to the scene and time. The accompaniment instruments of Shanghai opera are mainly bamboo tube erhu, supplemented by pipa, yangqin, sanxian, flute, and xiao. Later, a few Guangdong instruments were absorbed, and the tones of some Jiangnan silk and bamboo music and Guangdong music were integrated into the singing style. The roles of Shanghai opera in different periods are different. In the period of couplets, there are mostly Shengxing and Chouxing, and in the period of the same scene, there are differences between Shengxing and Chouxing. The male roles include young males and old males, and young males are divided into the main male role and the romantic male role. The female role is also known as Baotou, which is divided into the main Baotou, the empress Baotou, the flower Baotou, the old Baotou, the sloppy Baotou, etc. At that time, due to the lack of manpower in the troupe, the actors often had to play in a series of roles. As Shanghai opera performances moved closer to civilized dramas and dramas, the classification of roles and roles gradually faded, and the movements and lines did not form a routine for the roles, and the singing was also done in real voice. Shanghai opera has a rich repertoire, including traditional plays such as "Meeting in the Nunnery", "Yang Naiwu and Xiaobaicai", "Pearl Tower", "Meng Lijun", and "Double Pearl Phoenix", as well as newly compiled modern themes such as "Begonia", "Home", "Thunderstorm", and "Arhat Money". Shanghai opera is a typical representative of Shanghai's regional culture. It reflects the style of modern Chinese metropolises from different aspects and shows strong vitality and vigor in its growth process. In recent years, with the acceleration of the modernization process, Shanghai opera art is facing an increasingly serious survival crisis. The performance market is shrinking, the audience is decreasing, the income of Shanghai opera practitioners is low, and there is a brain drain and fault phenomenon. There are only three left of the dozens of Shanghai opera performance groups in the Jiangnan region. It is urgent and imperative to take effective measures to rescue and protect Shanghai opera art.