Luantan is also named Bangzi or Huabu. Sometimes it also refers to Qingqiang, the main genre of Bangzi opera.

From the mid-Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), various forms of local opera flourished. Except for Kunqu, which was on the decline, they were all called local operas. Of these local operas, Bangzi, Pihuang and Xiansuo occupied the leading position during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795). At that time, Kunqu represented the refined, while local operas represented the popular, as they featured folk music.

Bangzi was then a general term used for local operas in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei and Shangdong provinces. So sometimes we call Henan opera Henan Bangzi.

It is also said that Luantan in the past was also used to refer to all local operas except Kunqu.