在不同社会结构和制度背景下，身份的主体、内容和评价标准存在巨大差异。在等级制度下，艺人的身份呈现寄生性和依附性。他们在政治上被规定为“下九流”，严格区别于传统的“四民”群体。经济上，艺人不仅处于戏班分配体制的底端，还要缴纳苛捐杂税，面临帮派、兵痞和流氓的敲诈，难以保持人的独立性。社会方面，艺人背负着“伤风败俗”的“污名”，并造成一种自我轻贱的身份意识，游走于社会边缘。艺人位居下流的身份定位真正发生改变起始于民主革命时期。中国共产党在领导戏剧大众化运动中，形成了对艺人被压迫的阶级属性的基本认知。在此基础上，中国共产党对艺人及其团体的思想和各项组织制度进行了教育和改造，使“红色区域”内的艺人获得了革命新身份，这为新中国的戏改工作与戏曲界身份的转换提供了思想和历史经验的借鉴。

Under different social and historical conditions, the subject and content of identity are different. There are also different in their evaluation criteria. They are politically defined as the "lower orders", which was strictly distinguished from the traditional "four people" group. Economically, drama performer was not only at the bottom of the troupe distribution system, they also had to pay exorbitant taxes and taxes. They face blackmail from gangs, soldiers, and hooligans, making it difficult to maintain their independence. In terms of society, drama performer was burdened with the "stigma" of "crippling morals" and creating a sense of self-contemptuous identity, wandering on the margins of society. The drama performer’s status of "illegal" and "illegal" has truly changed, starting in the period of the democratic revolution. In the popularization of drama in some of its governing areas, the Communist Party of China insisted a basic understanding of the oppressed class, including drama performer. The Communist Party of China had united, educated and reformed their thoughts, organizational systems, and performances. In this background, the drama performer acquired a revolutionary new identity in the red zone. That also provided experience and demonstrations for the transformation of the opera after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.