Christianity on the Taiwanese Traditional Stage: Why “Hallelujah”?

Xiqu (“Chinese opera”) is often associated with religion, but usually not with Christianity. Over the last twenty years, troupes in the Taiwanese genre of gezaixi, funded by Protestant churches, have sought to find new audiences through the performance of bible stories. This article argues that such endeavors, known as “gospel” gezaixi, constitute a conscious effort on the part of Taiwanese Protestants to eliminate the barrier still presumed between Christianity and “local culture.” At the same time, Christian organizations represent an important new source of sponsorship for the genre, whose audience is ageing.