The word "revolutionary model operas" appeared in May 1967. On 24th, People's Daily reported that "eight revolutionary model operas were staged in Beijing at the same time", and then published an editorial "Excellent Model of Revolutionary Literature and Art" on 3 1, in which the words "(this) eight revolutionary model operas" appeared five times. The word "model opera" spread from now on. These two articles mentioned eight repertoires, namely, Peking Opera "Taking the Tiger Mountain Outward", "The Red Lantern", "Shajiabang", "White Tiger Raiders", "Harbor", ballet "Red Female Soldier", "White-haired Girl" and "Symphony Music" Shajiabang. From the following year to 1976, some model operas were added one after another, which will appear in many articles promoting model operas in newspapers, but the number of model operas is no longer mentioned. Only Chu Lan (the literary criticism writing team directly controlled by Jiang Qing) said in "Ten Years of Peking Opera Revolution" published by1Red Flag magazine on July 5, 974 that "there are sixteen or seven revolutionary model operas cultivated by the proletariat now". Seventeen works are mentioned in this paper, of which sixteen are drama or Beijing Opera oratorio music. Because the piano concerto Yellow River (the tenth model opera) is not a drama, it is called Sixteen Seven.

Model operas refer to some large and medium-sized stage art works captured by Jiang Qing. Jiang Qing was in charge of literature and art at that time, and was promoted as "the standard bearer of proletarian literary revolution". Model operas include Peking Opera, Taking the Tiger Mountain, The Red Lantern, Shajiabang, Surprise on the White Tiger, Harbor, Ode to the Dragon River, Red women soldiers, Fighting in the Plain, Rhododendron Mountain, Rock Bay, Red Yungang, Ballets, Red women soldiers and Red. Among them, there are five dramas with the highest artistic quality, the most broadcast by radio stations, the most performances by professional and amateur groups, and the most attractive to the public in whole or part of the drama: Peking Opera, The Story of the Red Lantern, Shajiabang, Ballet, Red Female Soldiers and White-haired Women. Of course, the three major Beijing operas are more easily accepted by the public. For example, many lines of these three Beijing operas are often used. Peking Opera, which was officially launched in the last six months, is a "revolutionary model opera" established during the Cultural Revolution, commonly known as more than 20 stage art works mainly based on drama. His representative works include five plays, including Peking Opera, Witchcraft Tiger Mountain, The Red Lantern, Shajiabang, and ballet, Red women soldiers and White-haired Girl. "Red Yungang" and several small plays, most people have never even heard of them.