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Unlike European operas, which concentrate on usually one kind of
performance in one stage representation, Peking
Opera integrates music, singing, dance, costume art, makeup, acting and acrobatics
into a unique whole.
 Peking Opera roles
Peking Opera Roles include sheng (male role), dan (female role), jing
(painted-face male role), and chou (comedic male role), distinguished on the
basis of sex, age, and personality.
 Sheng (male role) is divided into lao sheng, xiao sheng
and wu sheng, respectively representing a decent middle-aged man, a young man,
and a male role who can fight.
Dan
(female role) is divided into qing yi, wu dan, hua dan and lao dan,
respectively representing a middle-aged woman who always acts as a Mrs. or Miss
from a noble family, a woman who can fight, a young girl maid, and an aged
woman.
Jing (painted-face role) refers to the male roles with
all kinds of painted-faces and acts to show a particular personality.
Chou (comic role which means clown), a wise and funny
man usually with low social status, is divided into wen chou and wu chou. The
former can read and write well, and the latter can fight.
Peking
Opera costumes
Peking Opera
costumes, generally referring to what an actor or actress wears on the
stage, are technically termed xingtou
or, more popularly, Xifu in Chinese. The origins of Peking Opera
costumes can be traced back to the mid-14th century, when operatic precursors
first began to experiment with large, ornate articles of clothing.
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