Beijing opera actors dressed in flamboyant costumes, singing beautiful lines and dancing fiercely to the rhythm of light gongs, cymbals and drums ...... The original Beijing opera did not use stage curtains or drapes like Japanese Noh music, and the stage set consisted of only a table and chairs. The scale of the accompanying band was very small, with only a few people, including tuners and percussion instruments. But over time, the stage curtain has become a musical that advances the story through song, stage, dance and steps, forming its own cultural characteristics.
Stage Setting
In general, Peking Opera has minimal stage sets, and the story is led by the actors' bodies, voices, and performances. Therefore, the stage for Peking Opera is simple, basically one desk and two chairs. Other props include whips, fans, handkerchiefs, and flags held by the actors. For example, a red whip represents a red horse, the movement of a flag represents flowing water, and a handkerchief can be turned around and flattened to represent a plate. The audience can interpret the various scenes from the actors' bodies and the movements of the props, and use their imagination to appreciate the performance.
Because it is up to the audience's imagination, the story can unfold in all directions, such as going to another dimension, or instantly changing scenes from a steep mountain to the bottom of a deep valley. The audience has to concentrate and use their imagination to complete the performance together with the actors...this is the real pleasure of watching Peking Opera.
Role
Characters in Peking Opera are roughly divided into four categories according to the roles and personalities: Sheng (male roles), Dan (female roles), Jing (painted roles) and Chou (clowns). After receiving basic training from a young age, actors only play one kind of role in their lifetime, taking into account their own conditions. It is also possible to identify an actor's role by their makeup and costume.
"Sheng" refers to male roles. Male roles are further divided into Lao Sheng, Xiao Sheng, Wu Sheng according to their age and status. Lao Sheng is a middle-aged or elderly male who always wears a beard and sings aloud on stage. Xiao Sheng is a young male character without a beard, but with a beautiful and neat stage presence. This role is characterized by a mixture of real and falsetto voices. Xiao Sheng is further divided into "Lingzi Sheng" (a general or prince with pheasant tail feathers), "Wu Xiao Shneg" (a hero), "Shanzi Sheng" (a nobleman), and "Qiong Sheng" (a poor scholar) " and other categories. Wu Sheng mainly refers to martial generals and wandering warriors, and there are requirements for the beauty and difficulty of the movements.
"Dan" refers to female roles, which can be divided into four types: Zheng Dan, Hua Dan, Wu Dan and Lao Dan. Zheng Dan, also called Qing Yi, focuses on singing and plays the role of a virtuous wife and mother. Hua Dan is characterized by flamboyant costumes and mainly plays the roles of queens, princesses, noble ladies, female generals, peddlers and village girls. Wu Dan plays the role of a woman who is skilled in martial arts. Lao Dan sings with her own voice, and mostly plays middle-aged and elderly women.
"Jing" refers to the role with painted pictures on the face, and can be divided into Zheng Jing, Fu Jing and Wu Jing. Zheng Jing mainly plays the roles of decent kings and generals, with a feeling of solemnity. The makeup on their faces is black primed. Fu jing is the role of enemies, heroes, villains, etc. Fu jing is much more gentle and sings less than Zheng jing, emphasizing dialogue and action. Wu Jing is a sword-fighting role with almost no lines and no singing.
"Chou" is a character who makes people laugh, a clown with a white nose, cheeks and eyes. Chou can be divided into Wen Chou and Wu Chou. Wen Chou plays a comical character and mainly reads the dialogues. Wu Chou specializes in martial arts such as stumbling, beating, flipping and pouncing. Most of the characters are comical, but not all of them are good people.
Instruments
Peking opera instruments can be broadly divided into four types: stringed instruments, wind instruments, percussion instruments and other musical instruments. Beijing opera music is divided into " literary scene" and "martial scene". Those that use strings and wind music are called "literary scene", while those that use percussion are called "martial scene".
Stringed instruments include the Jing Hu, Yue Qin, Beijing Erhu, San Xian, Zhong Ruan and Da Ruan. The Jing Hu is an instrument that was introduced to Beijing from other provinces two hundred years ago along with the Peking Opera. It is the most important instrument in Peking Opera. Although as a stringed instrument, it is capable of producing an uninterrupted sound like a flute. In the past, the best Peking Opera performers had their own personal players.
The Yueqin is an instrument with a longer history than the Peking Opera and the Jing Hu, and is also widely used in traditional music beyond the Peking Opera. The Jing Hu and the actors' songs stretch like maltose, while the tone of the Yueqin is as crisp as that of a piano. Basically, there is only one type of Yueqin, but it can be changed in many ways depending on the player's concept, such as the number of strings (the number of windings), the position of the notes (whether they are all set to a chromatic scale or set to a whole scale), and whether there is metal, springs, or other resonant material within it. The Jing Erhu is one octave lower than the Jing Hu and has a violin-like sound. However, it is not as loud as the Jing Hu. This instrument has a long history and was introduced by the famous actor Mei Lanfang during the reform of Peking Opera. It aims to refine the previous condition of Peking Opera music, which was dominated by high notes.
The San Xian, or Okinawan San Xian, is an instrument that originated in Japan with three strings. Since it can be played with a thinner sound than Yueqin, it can emphasize the rhythm at a certain point. The Zhong Ruan produces a clear, booming bass sound, like a Western guitar. Although it is widely used in traditional music throughout China, it is a relatively new instrument in Peking Opera. The Da Ruan is a lower-pitched stringed instrument that is a larger version of the Zhong Ruan.
Wind instruments include the flute, suona, sea flute and sheng. The flute is a Chinese flute made of bamboo. The flute was first used in non-Peking opera repertoire such as Kunqu. Later, the melodies of Kunqu were used in Peking opera repertoire.
The suona is also used to play kunqu tunes. It is also used as a sound effect to depict battle scenes, geese and horses. The sheng is a valuable Chinese instrument used in Peking Opera to play kunqu tunes.
When it comes to percussion instruments, the two most important ones are the sandalwood board and the single-skin drum, both of which are called "drum board". Next are metal percussion instruments, such as the big gong, small gong and Nao Bo.
Modern Peking Opera has also begun to combine Western orchestral music with traditional Chinese instrumental music. Combining ancient traditional instruments with electronic devices is also common today.
Facial Makeup
Facial makeup is a type of makeup applied to the actor's face in classical Chinese operas such as Peking Opera. Originally derived from masks, the colors of face painting include red, white, black, yellow and green, representing characters such as heroes and clowns. Different colors indicate different characters' personalities.
The facial makeup of Peking Opera was gradually formed after the formation of Peking Opera in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In the process of formation, Peking Opera facial makeup absorbed the facial makeup of many local Chinese operas. Through generations of famous actors and traditional Chinese theater artists' continuous research and reform, it formed a distinction between superiority and inferiority. Nowadays, the Peking Opera facial makeup has formed the most diverse and complete system of traditional Chinese facial makeup to date.
