It is played with instruments like the datong (fiddle), yueqin (moon lute), dizi (bamboo flute), and suona (oboe).
[2] Originating from songs, Huaguxi can be referred to as early as the reign of Emperor Jiaqing (1760 – 1820) of the Qing dynasty.
[citation needed] The early Huaguxi lasted only 45 minutes to an hour, and the contents of the performances were mostly related to the rural life of the peasants.
In the late 19th and 20th centuries, some Huaguxi performance groups began to move to Changsha, the capital of Hunan.
After describing the evolution of Huaguxi as ‘relatively realistically reflect[ing] the working people’s wish for [a] free life’, it criticizes the form severely: ‘After huaguxi entered the international concessions, it gradually became contaminated by the semi-feudal and semi-colonial dust and dirt.
[4] According to the regulation, Huaguxi players were required to change the content of the plays—to abolish the ‘ugly, vulgar’ acting style.
After the extensive reformation of the traditional Huaguxi, the demand for new plays especially reflecting the new lives of Chinese people became the dominant aim of the artists.
With rapid economic development, people are more used to Internet entertainments, which have a huge impact on traditional Huaguxi.
Some famous Huaguxi plays are ‘Liu Hai Kan Qiao’, ‘Da Tong Luo’, and ‘Bu Guo’.
‘Da Tong luo’ tells people selfishness is bad; to damage others in order to benefit oneself is immoral; to help others is to help yourself.
‘The Revolutionary job is a whole Just as a big machine You're raising pigs, need me to fix the pan To fix the pan requires iron Iron workers are powerful Yet they need to eat and wear clothes Eating depends on farmers Wearing depends on weaving cotton workers Seventy-two professions are equally important Complement each other, can't be separated.’[2] --- Bu Guo