Villages in China's Shanxi province celebrated the birthdays of local gods with large festivals. The celebrations included solemn rituals performed in the god's temple. They also included grand banquets of food and programs of opera. Temples in the countryside always included stages. The stages faced the statues of the gods in their great hall, who were the real audience, though villagers were also present. Both stage and great hall were in the temple compound, hence the title of the book. The operas were based on stories from Chinese history. Love stories, crime and punishment stories, and farces were not allowed. These ritual operas were called "Za Opera" in Shanxi and many other regions as well. Za Opera first appeared in capital and countryside in the eleventh century. As other operatic genres appeared in later times, Za Opera became strictly village opera. It was virtually ignored by educated town and city dwellers until recently. Hence it changed little and provides important information about the history of Chinese drama.