 Theatre and drama in China trace their roots back to the academy of music known as the Pear Garden , founded in the early 8th century during the Tang dynasty . However , historian Stephen H. West asserts that the Northern Song era capital Kaifeng was the first real center where the performing arts became " an industry , a conglomerate involving theatre , gambling , prostitution , and food . " The rise in consumption by merchants and scholar @-@ officials , he states , " accelerated the growth of both the performance and the food industries , " asserting a direct link between the two due to their close proximity within the cities . Of the fifty some theatres located in the ' pleasure districts ' of Kaifeng , four of these theatres were large enough to entertain audiences of several thousand each , drawing huge crowds which nearby businesses thrived upon . The chief crowd that gathered was composed of those from the merchant class , while government officials only went to restaurants and attended theatre performances during holidays . 
