Chinese Opera | Facts, Makeup, Costumes & Music | Zhōngguó Xìjù
Facts about Chinese Opera
Chinese opera is an important part of traditional Chinese culture, which could be called the quintessence of Chinese culture. It is loved by the generations of Chinese people because of its rich artistic charm of performance. Moreover, it also occupies a unique position in the world theater, which is called the world’s three ancient dramas together with Greece tragic-comedy and Indian Sanskrit Opera. Through long-term development and evolution, there are five major types of traditional Chinese opera, famous and influential: Peking Opera, Yue opera, Huangmei opera, Pingju opera, and Yu opera (Henan opera).
The formation of Chinese opera can be traced back to the Qin (221–207 BC) and Han Dynasties (202 BC–8 AD). With a quite long formation process, it was formed until the Song (960–1279 AD) and Yuan Dynasties (1271–1368 AD). By the Yuan Dynasty, it was developed as a mature opera which was called the Yuan-dynasty poetic drama. After more than 800 years of prosperity, there are now more than 360 opuses of Chinese opera.
Makeup & Costumes of Chinese Opera
A distinct feature of Chinese opera is the makeup. The Chinese theatre makeup has many different styles and requires distinctive techniques of painting. Exaggerated facial patterns are painted on each performer’s face, called “a mirror of the soul” by the Chinese, to symbolize the personality, role, and fate of a character. Different facial painting colors could represent different personalities. For example, a red face represents loyalty and bravery; a black face symbolizes valor, golden and silver faces reflect mystery. Except for colors, lines are also of importance. The performer can be painted all white on the face or just around the nose. The larger white area painted, the more it works. In Huangmei and Yue operas, heavy facial makeup is seldom used, which make them seem more real and natural.
As one of the artistic ways to shape the character’s external image, costumes also play an important role in Chinese opera. It is used to reflect the identity, age, personality, nationality and occupation of the characters, and to show the specific times, customs and prescribed situations in the play. It is also called 行头 [xíng tou], outfits, in Chinese. Audiences who are familiar with opera can understand the story what they are performing by observing the facial painting as well as the costumes. Most costumes have strong Chinese characteristics. However, Yue opera usually uses elegant and plain colors costumes like 蟒袍 [mǎng páo] — a kind of embroidered robe with the python pattern).
Music of Chinese Opera
Music plays an irreplaceable role in shaping characters, expressing thoughts and feelings, and revealing the theme or style of the play. The differences in the sound cavity and the sound quality produced by different Musical Instruments constitute the different genres of Chinese opera.
Beijing Opera is mainly accompanied by jinghu (京胡 [jīng hú]), erhu (二胡 [èr hú]), yueqin (月琴 [yuè qín]), san xian (三弦 [sān xián]), the percussion block (板 [bǎn]), single-skin drum (单皮鼓 [dān pí gǔ]), and gong (锣 [luó]). Huangmei opera is famous for its natural and elegant singing style. The main accompaniment instruments are erhu, pipa (琵琶 [pí pá]), yangqin (扬琴 [yáng qín]), ban’gu (板鼓 [bǎn gǔ]), and Chinese bamboo flute (笛子 [dí zi]). Yue opera has its own unique singing style, which emphasizes the timbre and the way of singing. Its main accompaniment instruments are as similar as Huangmei opera. Yu opera is famous for its singing style with a clear rhythm and colloquial lyrics. Its main accompaniment instruments include erhu, suona (唢呐 [suǒ nà]), drum (鼓 [gǔ]), guzheng (古筝 [gǔ zhēng]), and so on. Pingju opera is good at singing, which is usually clear and easy to understand. It has similar accompaniment instruments as other operas. some western instruments such as violins, violas, and cellos can be used as well.
Facial makeup, costumes, music, plus stylized acting, has enabled the story to go beyond real life and create a strong theatrical atmosphere with obvious dramatic effects.
Chinese Opera Face Paint
Chinese opera face paint, also called Chinese opera masks (脸谱 [liǎn pǔ]) is a unique element of traditional Chinese opera. Each historical figure or a certain type of figure has a general notation, just like singing or playing music according to the music score, so it is called “facial makeup”. It is also a kind of cosmetic effect that matches the characters, with unique charm, the high value of appreciation and aesthetic significance. It is one of the important characteristics of Chinese opera art. The colors and patterns of Chinese opera masks all have symbolic meanings:
White: sinister, crafty, treacherous, and suspicious.
Green: impulsive, violent, no self-restraint.
Red: brave and loyal.
Black: fierce, valor, or impartial.
Yellow: ambitious, fierce, cool-headed.
Blue: steadfast, someone who is loyal and sticks to one side no matter what.
Gold and Silver: mystery and aloofness.
View more contents at Pandarow.
