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Beijing
Opera - Roles in Chinese Opera
There are mainly four different kinds of roles, namely sheng, dan, jing, and chou.
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Beijing Opera -
Roles in Chinese Opera |
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| There are mainly four
different kinds of roles, namely sheng, dan, jing, and chou
. There used to be another role called mo , which has merged
into sheng. |
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Sheng is the male role in
Beijing Opera. Sheng, according to the age, personality
and status of the characters, is subdivided into laosheng,
xiaosheng, wensheng and wusheng. Laosheng, also known
as xusheng, is a bearded middle-aged or old man who
is in most cases a positive character. Xiaosheng is
a handsome young man, who can either be a scholar or
a military general. Those who specialize in singing
and reciting are termed wensheng, while those who are
skilled in stage-fighting, are called wusheng. |
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| Dan is a general term in
Beijing Opera for all female roles. In the feudal society
of old China , as men and women were forbidden to perform
on the same stage, all the female roles were played
by men. Today, however, there are very few female impersonators.
According to the age, status, personality of the character
and the style in acting, dan is further divided into
zhengdan , huadan , caidan , wudan and laodan . Zhengdan
is also called qingyi because she always wears a qingyi
(black costume) . Zhengdan is the type representing
the gentle and virtuous young and middle-aged woman.
In this type of roles much stress is given in singing.
Huadan is the role for a maiden or a young woman, who
is either vivacious or shrewdish in character. Emphasis
is placed on acting and recitation in this type. Caidan,
also called choudan, is the role for a woman of comical
or crafty character. A caidan uses heavy make-up of
rouge with a patch of white powder covering her nose
while her acting is basically the same as that of a
chou (clown) . Wudan is the role for a woman of the
military type who excels in riding and archery as well
as in martial arts. Like wusheng, a wudan does a lot
of stage-fighting. Laodan is the role for an old woman.
In singing laodan uses the natural voice which is similar
to laosheng. In both singing and acting the performer
must try to indicate the special characteristics of
an old woman. |
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| Jing is also
known as hualian, a role with a painted face, who is
a man of special character, features and personality.
Jing is further divided into wenjing (civilian type)
and wujing (warrior type) . Wenjing must lay particular
emphasis on singing and wujing on acrobatic fighting.
The face of a jing role is painted with a variety of
coloured patterns which are not only an artistic exaggeration
but also an indication of the personality of the character. |
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| Chou (clown) is also
called xiaohualian , or sanhualian . A chou may be a kind-hearted,
humorous and funny fellow. However, he may also be very wicked
or treacherous . Chou is also divided into wenchou ( civilian
type ) , and wuchou ( a clown with martial arts ) . A female
chou is normally called caidan or choudan. A chou always
paints his nose powder-white and wears an upturned moustache
so as to give a comic effect. |
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