Beijing Opera, once called Ping Opera, is one of the five major Chinese opera genres, with the main accents of Xipi and Erhuang, accompanied by Huqin, gong and drums, etc. It is regarded as the national treasure of China and the "top" of the list of Chinese operas. “Qiemo” is a generic term for small and large props as well as a few simple devices. It is a special product of opera to solve the contradiction between performance and objects. The opera stage does not avoid being "fake", nor does it require realism.

As the old saying goes, "Sheng Dan Jing Mo Chou, Lion Tiger Dog", Sheng Dan Jing Mo Chou, is the general classification of the Peking Opera lineage; Lion Tiger Dog, is about what an actor has to act like.

Not only do Peking Opera actors have to play various characters in different trades, they also have to wear various bionic props to play various animals in order to imitate animals crawling, tumbling, attacking and fighting in fake characterisation.

Most of these bionic props are shaped from bamboo and paper and tied into various types, such as dragon heads, tigers, leopards and deer. The cloth is used to make the animal's corresponding jumpsuit, with gloves and jumping shoes, and is referred to as "a certain shape" - for dragons, it is called dragon shape, for tigers, tiger shape, and so on.

The use of bionic props is an essential element of the play, even though it is not the main character. There are many different types of bionic props, such as the dragon form in The Eighteen Lohans Fight the Wukong, the tiger form in Tears of the Desolate Mountain, the leopard form in The Thief of the Imperial Horse and the sheep form used in Su Wu Shepherd… are all examples of the use of bionic props.

The bionic props, like other props, will continue to play an important role on the Peking Opera stage after the test of the stage and the passing of time.

Translated by WANG Jingyan

Edited by LIU Yu