The study reported in this paper examined the structure and function of Chinese opera (also known as Peking opera) as an effective communication medium of social control and change in China, a land populated by 800 million people and nourished by a 5,000-year-old civilization. The study followed structural-functional analysis, content analysis, and factor analysis and was mainly based on ten Peking opera plays--five traditional and five revolutionary. Findings of the study indicate that the Chinese Communist revolutionary plays deal mostly with the salvation factor, which advocates the full dedication of the masses to the revolutionary causes; that traditional plays are mostly concerned with the family security factor, which stresses the importance of family love, individual rights, and human feelings; and that the traditional opera functions for social control, while the revolutionary opera works for social change. Appendixes contain data pertaining to the study. (JM)