Gen Z Keeps 600-Year-Old 'Ground Opera' Alive in Guizhou

Zhou Shun, a 20-year-old from Tianlong Village in Guizhou's Anshun, has spent 11 years mastering Dixi, a local masked performance tradition that dates back six centuries. When the mask comes off, he is an easygoing young man; when it goes on, he transforms into a fierce war deity, channeling spirits that locals believe command armies and vanquish evil.

Dixi is not merely folk theater but a ritual deeply rooted in local belief. Performers put on masks to ignite the spirits, effectively lending their bodies to gods and legendary warriors. For most of its history, this sacred practice was reserved for seasoned elders, but a shift is underway as post-00s youths like Zhou take up the mantle.

As a member of the Yanwutang troupe, Zhou comes from a lineage of Dixi performers. He represents a growing movement of young inheritors stepping into the tradition, even as modern youth culture occasionally clashes with the art's rigid conventions. The result, according to practitioners, is a productive meeting of generations: elders' discipline meets fresh, youthful energy.

The gong is still ringing in Anshun's villages, and it is this generation of Gen Z performers who are ensuring the centuries-old show goes on.