Chuanju is a regional genre in the xiqu form, which is popular in Sichuan, part of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. The genre contains different musical systems: kunqiang, gaoqiang, huqin, tanxi and dengxi, which originated in other local genres of the big xiqu family. From about the mid-18th century, the repertoires of different musical systems started performing together but it was not until the early 1910s that practitioners decided to bring the five different musical systems together and to make them into Theatre of Chuan (chuanxi). It is now officially known as chuanju (Chuan Drama). Even within chuanju, there are further ‘sub-styles’ that show their own distinguished features in different areas.
The five musical systems all contain their own traditional repertoire. This clip of Forcing the Nephew to Enter the Imperial Examination is from gaoqiang. Newly created plays are normally composed within one musical system but can sometimes use musical phrases from other systems as a kind of decorative device.
川剧是流行于四川全省及云南、贵州部分地区的戏曲剧种。川剧包括五种声腔：昆腔、高腔、胡琴、弹戏和灯戏，这些声腔都来自其他地方的戏曲剧种。清乾隆以来（18世纪中期），这些不同声腔就经常同台表演，然而，直到1910年代，四川的艺人们才决定把这些声腔组合在一起，并以“川戏”命名，现在这一剧种的正式名称是“川剧”。即便在川剧之内，也还有根据地理位置而形成的不同派别以及自己的特点。
五种声腔有各自不同的传统剧目。《逼侄赴科》是高腔的传统戏。新创作的剧目也按照声腔系统谱曲，但是有时可以用其他声腔的曲调作为色彩性点缀。