Beijing Opera
Beijing opera is a national treasure of China with a history of 200 years.
In
the 55th year of the Qing Dynasty (1790), the four big Huiban opera
entered the
capital and combined with Kunqu opera, Yiyang opera, Hanju opera
and Luantan in
Beijing. Through a period of more than 50 years of
combination and integration
of various kinds of opera there evolved the
present Beijing opera. Beijing opera
is a combination of stylized action,
singing, dialogues, acrobatic fighting and
dancing to represent a story or
depict different characters and their feelings
of anger, sorrow, happiness,
surprise, fear and sadness. In Beijing opera there
are four main types of
roles: sheng (male) dan (young female), jing (painted
face, male), and chou
(clown, male or female). Sheng has some sub-categories,
including Senior,
Junior, Acrobatic, Junior Acrobatic, Child, Red-face, Poor,
Official,
etc. These are classified according to the role's characteristics.
Male
roles are either civil or military. The actors themselves are mainly
trained
for three main parts: Senior Male Role or Lao Sheng, a middle-aged or
old man
who wears a beard, Junior Male Role or Xiao Sheng (Hsiao sheng), a young
man;
and Acrobatic Male Role or Wu Sheng, a man of military tenor,
especially
skilled in acrobatics. Lao Sheng actors are required to attain the
dignity of
bearing and gentle, polished manners of the middle-aged mandarin
official or
scholar; in military plays they may be a general or high-ranking
officer of a
gentler and more educated character than of the painted faces.
Their apparel
accordingly is of good quality but not too garish in its design
or color. A Lao
Sheng has a black or white beard, depending on his age,
and wears a black hat
with two fins on either side, which vary in shape
according to his rank in a
civil role. When a military role is played, the
costume is quieter and of a more
uniform color than those of the warriors in
the painted-face roles, but the Kao
or amour is also worn. A Lao Sheng's
voice is soft and pleasant to listen to,
neither too harsh nor too high
pitched, but gentle and firm. Minor officials or
landowners who have attained
a small degree of responsibility are also included
in this role. The junior
male or Xiao Sheng requires of its actor the
distinguishing feature of a
swirl on his forehead and high-pitched voice to
indicate his youth. The part
is extremely difficult to sing, and when the actor
is speaking his voice must
suddenly drop from its high-pitched quality to
indicate the voice-breaking
period of adolescence. The Xiao Sheng is usually
small and slight of stature,
and his clothes are often quite elaborate if a
young man of society or a
young warrior is being represented, but can be subdued
if they are those of
an impoverished scholar. The young warrior can often be
distinguished by his
long pheasant feathers, which rise in sweeping curves from
his hat. No beard
is worn for this part. Wu Sheng actors are mainly acrobats,
although they
sometimes have a part, which requires much acting. They play any
part in
military or civil plays, which requires a high standard of acrobats.
The
skill of these actors is demonstrated in the fighting scenes, which take
on a
stylized form in Beijing opera, and also in scenes from legendary
stories when
immortals and devils tumble and twist about the stage showing
off feats of
skill. In military plays swords and spears are wielded deftly
and quickly
without the attacker actually touching his opponent. These
movements require
great precision in timing, and the actor ducks and twists
his body, often
turning somersaults at same time. If he is a young military
officer, the Wu
Sheng will also have pheasant feathers in his hat, and
four small flags or
pennants strapped to his back and high-soled boots, all
of which make his
acrobatic feats even more spectacular. His costume is often
bright in color,
especially in the legendary plays. A Wu Sheng actor is not
trained as highly in
singing, for acting and acrobatics are his outstanding
feature, but he has a
pleasant voice, slightly stronger than Lao Sheng but
rather quiet in pitch, and
he sings with a natural voice. The Dan or female
role can be divided into six
main parts which principally indicate character;
Qing Yi, modest and virtuous
usually rich and educated; Hua dan (Hua tan)
flirtatious usually poor; Gui Men
Dan, a young, married girl; Dao Ma Dan,
a stronger, more forceful character,
usually a woman general; Wu Dan, the
female acrobat; and Lao Dan, an old woman.
A Qing Yi actress portrays a
lady of good and sympathetic character Usually of a
quiet, gentle disposition
and graceful in her movements, she is the Chinese
ideal of a beautiful woman.
As a wife she is faithful, as a young girl a model
of propriety. Her good
breeding is shown by the graceful, flowing movements of
her 'water sleeves'.
The Qing Yi's costume is elegant, simple and of good
quality, but not as
vivid in color as that of the Hua Dan. Her singing is of a
pure, high-pitched
quality. For a Hua Dan actress the happy, flirtatious
personality of a young
girl is required. Usually not of such a high social
standing as the Qing Yi,
the Hua Dan actress with her child like and generally
quicker movements
attracts the attention of the audience. This is a difficult
part to play
successfully. The Hua Dan's facial expression is continually
changing and her
mischievous eye movements are particularly attractive. Because
of her lower
social status more hand movements are required, as in old times it
was not
considered polite for a well-bred Chinese lady to show her
hands.
Costume, usually vivid in design and color, consists of a jacket
and trousers,
and a red or other loud colored handkerchief is carried to
flutter in the
actress's hand. Her character, needless to say, is not as
virtuous as that of
the Qing Yi and therefore her singing voice has a happier
and slightly stronger
quality. She also has to do more speaking than singing.
A Gui Men Dan is the
young, unmarried girl, who in later life will develop
into a Qing Yi or a Hua
Dan; her immaturity is clearly shown in her
reactions, for though naughty and
slightly mischievous, she has not the
confidence of the Hua Dan, although her
schemes and plans are often just as
successful. A Dao Ma Dan plays the part of
the female warrior. She is trained
mainly for acting and singing and performs
many skilful movements especially
with the pheasant feathers in her headdress
and her military weapons. She
still retains feminine charm, however, and a very
versatile actress is
required for this role. A Dao Ma Dan's clothes can be very
elaborate, as she
wears the four pennant strapped to her back and the Kao . A Wu
Dan is the
female acrobatic role and the Wu Dan actress steps into or takes any
female
role that requires a high degree of acrobatics. She is purely an acrobat
but
her role demands a talented actress for a successful performance. A Lao
Dan
is simply an old woman, but great skill is required for this specialized
part.
The Lao Dan actress cleverly portrays in her bent back and
faltering but
dignified movements her character's advancing years. She is
often seen carrying
a staff. Unlike the other female roles, the Lao Dan wears
no make-up and her
costume is plainer in color and design. Her voice tends to
be slightly deeper,
because the natural voice is used, not the forced
high-pitched one used on other
Dan roles. To see a Jing actor for the
first time is a startling experience for
the spectator. This part is more
noted for courage and resourcefulness than for
scholarly intelligence. Often
playing the part of a high-ranking army general,
the Jing actor with his
painted face can also be seen as a warrior or official.
His robust,
gruff, bass voice and grotesquely painted face together with his
swaggering
self-assertive manner all combine to make him the most forceful
personality
in most scenes in which he appears. Jing actors are usually, in
fact,
extroverts. The general rule for the basic color is: red for good, white
for
deceitful, black for rough, and blue for wild, i.e. a bandit would have
a
blue face. All Jing actors wear a heavy, ornate costume and a head dress
with a
padded jacket underneath to enhance the effect, They can be divided
into three
main types: Hei Tou (black face), who is good at singing and
usually a loyal
general; Jia Zi (Chia Tze), who is good at acting, and
generally a more
complicated character; and Wu Jing, who is mainly proficient
in fighting and
acrobatics and seldom plays a very prominent role. Lastly
there is the Chou or
comedy actor who generally plays the role of a dumb but
likeable and amusing
character with blinking eyes and all the appropriate
gestures. Sometimes the
Chou can be a rascal, with a slightly wicked
nature. Alternatively a scholar or
prince--an eccentric or representing the
sort of scholar or prince who would not
command much respect. Chou parts can
be divided into two types: Wen Chou, who is
usually a civilian, such as a
jailer, servant, merchant or scholar; and Wu Chou,
who performs minor
military roles as a soldier and must be skilled in
acrobatics. His costume is
either elaborate or fussy if of high social standing,
but simple if of a low
standing. The repertoire of Peking opera is mainly
engaged in fairy tales of
preceding dynasties, important historical events,
emperors, ministers and
generals, geniuses and great beauties, from the ancient
times to Yao, Shun,
Yu, the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period
and the dynasties
of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing. The music of
Peking opera
is that of the "plate and cavity style". Its melody with
harmonious rhythms
is graceful and pleasing to the ears. The melody may be
classified into two
groups: "Xipi" and "erhong", guiding
pattern, original pattern, slow pattern,
quick pattern, desultory pattern being
their chief patterns. The performance
is accompanied by a tune played on wind
instruments, percussion instruments
and stringed instruments, the chief musical
instruments being jinghu (a
two-stringed bowed instrument with a high register),
yueqin (a four-stringed
plucked instrument with a full-moon-shaped sound box),
Sanxian (a
three-stringed plucked instrument), suona horn, flute drum,
big-gong,
cymbals, small-gong, etc. The costumes in Peking opera are
graceful,
magnificent, elegant and brilliant, most of which are made in
handicraft
embroidery. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Beijing
Opera suffered
along with other kinds of theatrical arts in China. All the
traditional pieces
reflecting the Old Societies were banned from performance.
Traditional Beijing
Opera was allowed to be shown again in 1978. But due
to the threat from other
entertainments, Beijing Opera's out-of-date styles
and the lack of historical
and theatrical knowledge of the young, this art
had lost a lot of its audiences.
Most of the audiences are old people,
who were children when Beijing Opera was
at its peak. The art is
dying.