A Passage to China (走近中国) - Acrobatic Art

Chinese acrobatics has a long history and rich national flavor. It is one of the art form most popular most popular among the Chinese people.

Acrobatic art has been in existence in China for more than two thousand years. As early as the Warring States Period, present young men. The wensheng are the scholars and the civil servants. The wusheng play soldiers and other fighters, and because of this, they are specially trained in acrobatics.

The dan are the female roles. Formerly, the term meant female impersonator. In feudal China, men and women were forbidden to play on the same stage to maintain strict segregation. The laodan are the elderly, dignified ladies such as mothers. The huadan are the ladies, maids, usually in brightly colored costumes. The daomadan are the warrior women. The caidan are the female comedians.

The jing are the face-painted roles, and they represent warriors, heroes, statesmen, adventurers and demons. Their counterpart is the fujing, ridiculous figures who are anything but heroic.

The term for clowns in Peking Opera is chou. Their task is the same as that of the western clown- to keep the audience laughing and to improvise quips at the right moments to ease tension in some serious plays.

White patch on the nose frequently indicate a villain. The villain is always known at the beginning of a show. The caidan is sometimes the female counterpart of this male role.

Apart from the singing and music, the opera also uses acrobatics and mime. Few props are used, so each move, gesture or facial expression is symbolic. Everything the actor does- entrances, exits, hand gestures and movements- is done according to a stylized routine. A whip with silk tassels indicates that an actor is riding a horse; riding a carriage is represented by an attendant holding flags painted with a wheel design on either side of the performer; walking in a circle indicates a long journey. Lifting a foot may mean going through a doorway.

The language is hard to understand, often archaic Chinese, but the costume and make-up are magnificent. The action that really catches the Western eye is a swift battle sequence –the woman warriors involved are trained acrobats who leap, twirl and somersault into attack. Peking Opera had a hard time during the 10-year “ Cultural Revolution”, when performances of Peking Opera with traditional themes were prohibited. Only the Eight Model Operatic Plays based on China’s recent revolutionary experiences were offered. For nearly ten years, these were the sole performances on Chinese stage and in movie theatres. Fortunately, great changes have taken place since 1977. With enormous popular support, old traditional stories began to take their place again on a revived stage.

Nowadays , Peking Opera is still very popular with elderly people. Also noteworthy is the fact that this traditional Chinese art has been somewhat modernized. Anyhow, Peking Opera is looked upon as an art of China and draws a lot of attention from both Chinese and people of other countries.

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