 The troupe mostly performed for the emperors' personal pleasure.To this day operatic professionals are still referred to as "Disciples of the Pear Garden" (梨园子弟).In the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), forms like the "Zaju" (, variety plays), which acts based on rhyming schemes plus the innovation of having specialized roles like "Dan" (旦, female), "Sheng" (生, male) and "Chou" (丑, Clown), were introduced into the opera.