1. Beijing Opera
Peking Opera

2. Beijing Opera

3. Four main roles
l Sheng (male)
l Dan (female)
l Jing (painted face)
l Chou (Clown)

4. Sheng (male)
l Lao Sheng (middle-aged or elderly
gentleman with black or white beard)
l Hsiao Sheng (young man)
l Wu Sheng (military man or martial art
expert)

5. Dan (female)
l Lao dan (elderly noble woman)
l Qing yi (good and virtuous woman)
l Hua dan (charming and open girl)
l Wu dan (young, strong female, good at
fighting and riding)

6. Mei Lanfang

7. Mei lan fang

8. Jing (painted face)
l Nine colours, each representing a difficult
personality
l Mixed colors indicates complex personality

10. Chou (clown)
l Person of low social standard; talks in a
joking manner
l Wen chou : emphasizes on funny speech
l Wu chou : breaks the tension in serious
plays

11. Principle techniques
l ‘Chang’ (singing)
l ‘Nian’ (speaking)
l ‘Zuo’ (acting)
l ‘Da’ (fighting)

12. ‘Chang’ (singing)
l Different vocal techniques for different
roles
l Tempo changes according to the emotions
conveyed by the lyrics and the plot

13. ‘Nian’ (speaking)
l Speak in ‘jing bai’ instead of natural
dialogue
l Jing = currently used modern Mandarin
l Bai = the stage version of the dialogue,
spoken with an unnatural voice

14. ‘Zuo’ (acting)
l Simple stage set
l Performers use
symbolic techniques
to present the story
l Body movement
represents personality

15. ‘Da’ (fighting)
l Martial arts are widely
used
l Only show acrobatic
skills; not allowed to
make contact with
their weapons

16. Orchestra
l Is usually located at the right corner of the
stage
l Size is quite small, contains 4-8 players
l ‘Wu Chang’ (martial section)
l ‘Wei Chang’ (civil section)

17. ‘Wu Chang’
(martial art section)
l Consists of percussion
l ‘Danpigu’ plays the main role
l Others: a small gong, a large gong, and a pair of
cymbals
l Provides sound effects by punctuating the
performers’ speech and movements
l Other function: structural divisions

18. ‘Wei Chang’
(Civil section)
l Consists of strings and winds
l Main instruments: jinghu, jingerhu, and
yueqin

19. Peking Opera