Opera's and Its Types

Chinese Opera
SUBMITTED BY:
M. Ali Asif
(20192-25159)
Chinese Opera
 Chinese opera together with Greece tragic-comedy and Indian Sanskrit Opera are the three oldest
dramatic art forms in the world.
 During the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907), the Emperor Taizong established an opera school with the poetic
name Liyuan (Pear Garden). From that time on, performers of Chinese opera were referred to as
'disciples of the pear garden'.
 It evolved from folk songs, dances, talking, antimasque, and especially distinctive dialectical music.
Gradually it combined music, art and literature into one performance on the stage.
 Over the past 800 years, Chinese opera has evolved into many different regional varieties based on
local traits and accents.
Types of Chinese Opera
 The four most famous Chinese opera’s are:

1. Beijing Opera
2. Huangmei Opera
3. Yue Opera and
4. Yu Opera
Beijing Opera
 Peking opera, also referred to as Pingju or Jingxi in Chinese, is currently the most influential opera in China.
It was born when the “Four Great Anhui Troupes” brought Anhui opera, or what is now called Huiju, in 1790
to Beijing, for the eightieth birthday of the Qianlong Emperor on September 25.
 Peking opera's two main melodies, Xipi and Erhuang, Xipi literally means shadow play, referring to the
puppet show that originated in Shaanxi province. Chinese puppet shows always involve singing.
 Beijing Opera is a synthesis of stylized action, singing, dialogue, mime, acrobatic fighting and dancing.
Today, Peking opera is regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China and has also spread to other
countries. It serves as a bridge through which the traditional Chinese culture is introduced to other parts of
the world.
Roles of Beijing Opera
 Over the past hundreds of years, the roles of Peking opera have been
simplified to today’s Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou, known as the four major
roles in Peking opera.
 The Sheng is the main male role in Peking opera.
 The Dan refers to any female role in Peking opera.
 The Jing is a painted face male role. Depending on the repertoire of the
particular troupe, he will play either primary or secondary roles. This type
of role will entail a forceful character, so a Jing must have a strong voice
and be able to exaggerate gestures.
 The Chou is a male clown role. The Chou usually plays secondary roles in
a troupe. Chou has the meaning “ugly” in Chinese. This reflects the
traditional belief that the clown’s combination of ugliness and laughter
could drive away evil spirits. Chou roles can be divided into Wen Chou,
civilian roles such as merchants and jailers, and Wu Chou, minor military
roles.
Costumes of Beijing Opera
 The costumes worn by the actors fall into four main categories.
 The 'Mang' is a court robe worn only by imperial family members,
prime ministers, or generals. Imperial members, and upper-class
persons wear a 'Pei' as casual clothing.
 Warriors wear 'Kao' as a kind of armor. Middle class and ordinary
people wear 'Zhezi', as casual clothing.
 Within each of these are countless sub-categories, indicated by
variations in colors and patterns. Each specific costume includes
elaborate and colorful shoes and accessories such as crowns, helmets,
hats, caps, belts and hairstyles.
Makeup in Beijing Opera
 The actors in the 'Dan' and 'Sheng' roles wear relatively simple makeup,
regarded as beautifying makeup, in a process that takes less than an
hour. The makeup for the 'Jing' and 'Chou' roles is much more complex
and results in 'Lianpu', or mask-like makeup.
 The colors and patterns painted on their faces reveal their personalities.
 Red face paint indicates devotion, bravery and uprightness;
 Black indicates either a rough and bold character, or an impartial and
selfless personality;
 Blue represents someone who is steadfast in principle, fierce and astute;
 A character with a green face is impulsive and violent and acts with
stubbornness and a lack of self-restraint;
 A yellow face is a sign of fierceness, ambition and cool-headedness;
 White face paint suggests treacherousness, suspiciousness, and
craftiness;
 Gold and silver colors usually indicate gods or spirits.
Yu Opera
 Yu Opera, Beijing Opera, Yu Opear, Ping Opear and Huangmei Opear
are top five operas in China. Following Beijing Opera and Yue Opear, Yu
Opera is the third major opera. It is mainly epidemic in the northern area.
The number of state-owned professional Yu Opera group reached 167 in
2006 according to the statistics of National Culture Department.
 Overall the style of Yu Opera is renowned for its high-pitched singing,
fast-paced dialogue, powerful rhythms, stylised dancing, and use of
martial arts.
 As time went on, musical accompaniment was added, and eventually
developed into grand orchestras complete with gongs, drums, traditional
Chinese instruments such as the erhu[2] and the suona[3], and typical
Western instruments like the violin and cello.
 Like many other styles of Chinese opera, an actor’s persona is portrayed
through their make-up and costume, conveying stock characters like the
scholar, the beautiful woman, the soldier, or the clown.
 . In many ways, it’s said to resemble the people of Henan province, who
are known to be outspoken, straightforward, down-to-earth, and good-
humoured.
Yue Opera
 It was derived from a kind of story-singing. At first, it was performed
with a small drum and hardwood clappers for rhythm, and later choral
and orchestral accompaniment was added. It drew some musical
elements from other operas and subsequently formed its own
characteristics.
 Originally Yue opera was only performed by males and then changed
to all female performances. After 1949, males and females work
together.
 Besides, Yue opera is sung in local dialect and may not be understood
by people from other parts of the country. As a result, Yue opera still
remains as a local opera. However, it is very popular in countryside,
especially during festivals such as the Spring Festival.
 The texts of Yue opera are based on romantic love stories, and they do
not include acrobatics or fighting scenes.
 In Yue opera, stage properties and light effects are used and the
costumes imitate the light-colored clothes, fashionable at the beginning
of this century in China.
 The most famous plays performed in Shaoxing style are "Butterfly
Lovers", which is a kind of Chinese version of "Romeo and Juliet", and
the love dramas "A Dream of Red Mansions " and "The Romance of
Huangmei Opera
 The Huangmei opera was active in Anhui Province, Hubei Province
and Jiangxi Province in the 18th century. From the Revolution of
1911 to 1949, Huangmei performances gradually became
professional, from rural areas to city stages.
 They reformed the traditional chants, reducing the function words to
make the drama easy to understand with a lively rhythm.
 The melody of Huangmei Opera is a plate-like variant, with three
lumens: flower cavity, color cavity, and main tone. The flower cavity
is mainly composed of small plays, the tone is healthy and simple,
beautiful and cheerful, with a strong sense of life and the color of
the folk songs; the color cavity is very popular, and it has been
widely used in the small dramas; the main theme is the vocal used in
the traditional Chinese drama of Huangmei opera. The Huangmei
Opera is pure and fresh, exquisite and moving, with a bright and
expressive sensibility, rich in expressiveness, easy to understand,
easy to popularize, and deeply loved by people all over China
 Huangmei costumes are generally less extravagant compared to the
other Chinese opera branches. There is usually a greater emphasis on
the singing than the display. In Hong Kong there is not necessarily a

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Chinese Opera

 The four most famous Chinese opera’s are:

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