Abstract: The History of New Opera published by Shanghai New Drama & Novel Publishing House in 1914 is the first chronicle of drama in China. The book, which describes the development of the early Shanghai drama in the 16 years from 1899 to 1914, is one of the important existing literature for the study of early drama. Zhu Shuangyun, the author of the book, is not only a former witness, but also a researcher and practitioner of the early drama movement of our country. However, the History of New Opera was written in a hurry and not well composed. the author, in the course of collating the book, referring to other literatures, chronicles the early students’ acting activities, and points out several neglected questions in the book, so as to evaluate Zhu Shuangyun and the History of New Opera objectively in a perspective close to the truth of history.

Key words:  , Zhu Shuangyun,, The History of New Opera,, Students’ acting activities, , Questions