A Passage to China (走近中国) - Peking Opera

Peking Opera has its origin in primitive songs and dances of ancient times. The music, singing and costumes are products of its origins. The movements and techniques of the dance styles of Peking Opera today are similar to those of the Tang Dynasty. The Anhui Opera troupes were characterized by their dialects and styles of singing, but when these troupes converged on Beijing, they a style musical drama called Kunqu which developed during the Ming Dynasty, along with a more popular variety of play-acting with pieces based on legends, historical events and popular novels. Titles like “ Pilgrimage to the West”(better known in the west as “ The Monkey King”)and “A Drunken Beauty” are typical. These styles gradually merged by the late 18th and early 19th centuries into the Peking Opera we see today.

In the past, Peking Opera was performed mostly on the open-air stage in markets, streets, teahouses or temple courtyards. The orchestra had to play loudly and the performers had to develop a piercing style of singing, which could be heard over the throng. The costumes are a garish collection of sharply contrasting colors because of the fact that the stages were originally only lit by oil lamps.

Classical Peking Opera combines many forms, which are separated in western dramas. It is a harmonious combination of Grand Opera, Ballet, acrobatic display and historic play. It is an exciting panorama including the performing arts of singing, dancing, dialogue and monologue, acrobatic combat and mine. All these arts may be woven into one play, or some may be emphasized. The result is that there are song plays in which the emphasis is on singing, acting plays in which dance is predominant, or combat plays where acrobatic combat is the chief means of expression.

The different emphasis has led the Peking Opera to acquire characteristics different from other performing arts. The musicians usually sit on the stage in plain clothes and play without written scores. The erhu is a two-stringed fiddle, which is tuned to a low register, has a soft tone and generally supports the huqin, another two-stringed fiddle tuned to a high register. The yueqin, a sort of moon-shaped four-stringed guita,, has a soft tone and is used to support the erhu. Other instruments are the sheng(reed pipes) and the (lute), as well as drums, bells and cymbals. Last but not the least is the time clapper, which virtually directs the band, beats time for the actors and gives them their cues.

There are four main roles in Peking Opera: sheng, dan, jing, and chou. The sheng are tha leading male actors and they play scholars, officials, generals, etc. They are divided into laosheng who wear beards and represent old man, and the xiaosheng who represent 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, aunts and widows. The qingyi are aristocratic ladies in elegant costumes. 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, adventures 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 he right moments to ease tension in some serious plays.

White patch on the 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 mine. Few props are used, so each move, gesture of 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 tasan 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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