Cantonese Opera is a traditional Chinese art form with a long history originating in Guangdong region. With its outstanding achievements in costumes, music, singing, and acting styles, it is popular in Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau and among the Chinese community in East Asia. In Hong Kong, many renowned artists and opera troupes emerged from 1930s to 1950s, including Sit Kok Sin’s Kok Sin Sing Opera Troupe, Yam Kim Fai and Pak Suet Sin’s Sing Fung Ming Opera Troupe, and Fong Yim Fun’s Sun Yim Yeung Opera Troupe. In the past years, CUHK Library has received many treasures of Cantonese Opera through generous donations. The collection includes libretti, postbills, opera stills, photos, and many artifacts. Postbill is commonly called xiqiao (戲橋), a standard promotional material of opera troupes listing the cast and the main plays on stage. It provides a vivid picture of the vibrancy of Cantonese Opera in the early to mid-20th century. The postbill collection consists of two parts: the first part is the opera performance of Sit Kok Sin and the second part is mainly by Yam Kim Fai and Pak Suet Sin.
