'vocal tune') is a concept in Chinese opera which helps to categorize its hundreds of regional genres by the music played during arias.
Today, the four major shengqiang (四大声腔 pinyin: Sìdà Shēngqiāng) are Bangziqiang, Pihuangqiang, Kunqiang and Gaoqiang (i.e.
Bangziqiang (梆子腔) consists of Qinqiang (秦腔), Yu opera (豫剧), Jinju (晋剧), Hebei Bangzi (河北梆子), Sixianqiang in Dianju (滇剧的丝弦腔), Tanxi in Chuanju (川剧的弹戏), etc.
[2] Pihuang qiang (皮黄腔, a coinage made from xipi and erhuang)[3] comprises Huiju (徽剧 Hui theatre), Hanju (汉剧), Beijing opera (京剧), Cantonese opera (粤剧), Xiangju (湘剧), Chuanju (川剧), Dianju (滇剧), etc.
Kunqiang (崑腔), also known as Kunshanqiang (崑山腔), or Kunqu (崑曲) was listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2001.