Peking Opera/Beijing Opera
Originally a form of local theatre, Peking Opera spread all over the country and then became the national opera of China. About 200 years ago, the Qing Emperor Qianlong toured in southern China and developed an interest in the local operas. On his 80th birthday, he let local opera troupes come to Beijing to perform for him. Some remained in Beijing after the celebration. The ones from Anhui and Hubei were incorporated with the palace opera -Kunqu Opera, which formed the Peking Opera .Peking Opera combines stylized acting with singing, dancing, musical dialogues, martial arts, colorful facial make-up and fantastic costumes.
Male roles are “Sheng”, and clowns are “Chou”. Each role, according to their sex, age and disposition, is characterized by different designs of facial make-up, say, Jing representing a rough, frank character and Hua Face representing a cruel or sinister character. So the audience can easily tell what kind of character an actor is performing.Facial make-up, costumes and head – dresses are wonderful works of traditional art.
In the past, both Dan and Sheng roles were played by male actors, but now they also can be played by female. It is necessary to see Peking Opera while you are in China, just as seeing an opera while in Italy. There are also some other types of opera staged in China, such as Kunqu Opera, Pingju Opera and Hebei Bangzi as well as other operas from different places.
Main Roles
Sheng: The Sheng is the main male role in Beijing opera, and divided into Lao Sheng and Xiao Sheng. Lao Sheng refers to the middle-aged man with a beard who acts as the decency figure; for example, Zhugeliang in ‘Empty City Scheme’. Xiao Sheng means young man without a beard. Zhangsheng in ‘The Story of the West Room’ is a representative of Xiao Sheng.
Dan: The Dan refers to any female role in Beijing Opera and is divided into Zhengdan, Huadan, Laodan, Wudan. Zhengdan is also called ‘Qingyi’, who mainly plays the part of the strong-minded middle-aged woman who behaves elegantly. Huadan refers to little girls who often live in the bottom of society. Laodan refers to the senior woman and Wudan indicates the female who is good at fighting.
Jing: The Jing is a painted face male role with unique appearance or personality, such as Baozheng and Caocao. Besides, Chou is a comic role or villainous character or righteous person. The actor’s nose is painted by a piece of white powder, making him or her easily recognizable.
Chou: The Chou is a male clown role. The Chou usually plays secondary roles in a troupe. Indeed, most studies of Beijing opera classify the Chou as a minor role. The name of the role is a homophone of the Mandarin Chinese word chou, meaning “ugly”. This reflects the traditional belief that the clown’s combination of ugliness and laughter could drive away evil spirits. Chou roles can be divided into Wen Chou, civilian roles such as merchants and jailers, and Wu Chou, minor military roles. The Wu Chou is one of the most demanding in Beijing opera, because of its combination of comic acting, acrobatics, and a strong voice. Chou characters are generally amusing and likable, if a bit foolish. Their costumes range from simple for characters of lower status to elaborate, perhaps overly so, for high status characters. Chou characters wear special face paint, called xiaohualian, that differs from that of Jing characters. The defining characteristic of this type of face paint is a small patch of white chalk around the nose. This can represent either a mean and secretive nature or a quick wit.
Opera Film
Beijing opera and its stylistic devices have appeared in many Chinese films. It often was used to signify a unique “Chineseness” in contrast to sense of culture being presented in Japanese films.
- Fei Mu, a director of the pre-Communist era, utilized Beijing opera in a number of plays, sometimes within “Westernized”, realistic plots.
- King Hu, a later Chinese film director, utilized many of the formal norms of Beijing opera in his films, such as the parallelism between music, voice, and gesture.
- In the 1993 film Farewell My Concubine, by Chen Kaige, Beijing opera serves as the object of pursuit for the protagonists and a backdrop for their romance. However, the film’s portrayal of Beijing opera has been criticized as one-dimensional. Beijing opera is also featured in Peking Opera Blues by Tsui Hark.
Opera Around the World
In addition to its presence in mainland China, Beijing opera has spread to many other places. It can be found in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities elsewhere.
Mei Lanfang, one of the most famous Dan performers of all time, was also one of the greatest popularizers of Beijing opera abroad. During the 1920s, he performed Beijing opera in Japan. This inspired an American tour in February 1930. Although some, such as the actor Otis Skinner, believed that Beijing opera could never be a success in the United States, the favorable reception of Lanfang and his troupe in New York City disproved this notion. The performances had to be relocated from the 49th Street Theater to the larger National Theater, and the duration of the tour extended from two weeks to five. Lanfang traveled across the United States, receiving honorary degrees from the University of California and Pomona College. He followed this tour with a tour in the Soviet Union in 1935.
Where to See It
Fundamental to the performance and overall ambience of traditional Beijing opera is the venue. There are many restored venues in Beijing dating from the late 17th century onwards, the opera stage at Prince Gong’s Mansion and Zhengyici-xi-lou (Zheng Yici Peking Opera Theatre), being among them. However, modern venues for the general operatic and theatre stage are also common.
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[...] ——————————————————————————–Originally a form of local theatre, Peking Opera spread all over the country and then became the national opera of China. About 200 years ago, the Qing Emperor Qianlong toured in southern China and developed an interest in the local operas. On his 80th birthday, he let local opera troupes come to Beijing to perform for him. Some remained in Beijing after the celebration… >>>More [...]