Peking Opera of China

China is known for their

traditional theater art form,
the Peking opera, or Beijing
opera which combines music,
vocal performance,
pantomime, dance, and
acrobatics.
It started in the late 18th century and became fully
developed and recognized by the mid-19th century.
During the Qing Dynasty court, it became
extremely popular and came to be regarded as
one of the cultural treasures of China.
 Pupils were often handpicked at a
young age by a teacher and trained
for seven years on contract from
the
child’s
After 1911, training took place
parents. in
more formally organized
schools.
Students of these schools rose
as early as five o’ clock in
the
morning exercises.
Daytime was spent learning the skills
of acting and combat and
senior students performed in
outside theaters in the evening.
Characters
and Roles
Sheng
Peking Opera’s main role.

There are three kinds.

Xiaosheng
Actors are often involved with
beautiful women by virtue of
the handsome and young
image they project.
Wusheng
It is a martial character for
roles involving combat. They
are highly trained in
acrobatics and have a natural
voice when singing.
Laosheng
A dignified older role.
These characters have a
gentle and cultivated
disposition and wear
sensible costumes.
Dan
It refers to any female role in Peking Opera.

There are five kinds.

Laodan
An old woman.
Wudan
A martial woman.
Daomadan
A young female warrior.
Qingyi
An elite, virtuous woman.
Huadan
An unmarried, vivacious woman.
Jing
Jing is a painted face male role who
plays either primary or secondary
roles.
This type of role entails a forceful
character, which means that a
Jing actor must have a strong
voice and be able to exaggerate
gestures.
The red color denotes
loyalty and goodness,
white denotes evil, and
black denotes
integrity.
Chou
A male clown that usually
plays secondary roles.
Chou, meaning “ugly”, reflects the
traditional belief that the clown’s
ugliness and laughter could drive
away evil spirits.
 Visual

Performance
Elements
Peking opera performers
utilize four main skills
such as the following.
Song Speech

Dance-Acting Combat
pure dance acrobatics
pantomime fighting with all manner
other types of dances of weaponry
 A review on
Peking Opera’s Facial
Makeup Colors
and Their
Meanings
 fierceness

Black

roughness
 loyalty

fierceness

Blue

sharpness
 impulsive

Green
violence
stubborness
cool-headedness

sophistication
Purple

uprightness
 courage

bravery devotion

Red

loyalty uprightness
just

Reddish Purple
(Magenta)

nobility
 craftiness

White

dangerousness
suspiciousness
 ambition

cool-headedness

Yellow

fierceness
 Xiaohualian
It is a small patch of chalk on
around the nose.

Clowns of traditional drama

who wears this special makeup
show any mean and secretive
character.
 Aesthetic Aims and
Principal
Movement
The highest aim of performers in Peking opera is to
put beauty into every motion.
The art forms, gestures, settings, music,
and character types are determine by
long
help conventions.
Conventions of movement
 Walking in a large circle
always symbolizes travelling
a
A character straightening his or
her costume and headdress
symbolizes that an
important character is about
 Pantomimic is the opening
and closing of the doors
and mounting and
descending of
Staging and

Costumes
Stage
The stage are composed of square platforms, action on stage is
usually visible from at least three sides; stages were built above the
line of sight of the viewers, but some modern stages have been
constructed with higher audience divided into two parts by an
embroidered curtain called shoujiu.
Costumes
Xingtou, popularly known as Xifu, in Chinese origins of Peking opera.
Costumes can be traced back to the mid-14th century.
They enable the audience to distinguish a character’s sex and status
at
first glance – if noble or humble, civilian or military, officials or private
citizens, give expressions to sharp distinctions between of good and evil
Costumes
Oblong wings (Chizi) attached to a gauze hat indicate a
loyal official. In contrast, a corrupt official is made to wear
a gauze hat with rhomboidal wing.
Props
The play utilizes very few props, will
almost always have a table and at
least one chair, which can be turned
to convention into such diverse
objects as a city wall, a mountain, or
a bed. A whip is used to indicate a
horse, and an oar symbolizes a boat.
Musicians
They are visible to the audience on
the front part of the stage.
Performers
They immediately move to the center
north upon entering the stage. All
characters enter from the east and
exist from the west.