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Bei jing character12/20/2023 ![]() ![]() The zhengdan ¥¿¥¹ roles symbolize the upright and faithful wife or devoted daughter, requiring grace and elegance. It was not until the late eighteenth century that women were banned from the stage, allowed to return again only in the early twentieth century. Women had performed on stage in Chinese theatre since the twelfth century. To achieve this the actor has to appear more feminine than any woman, not by caricature, but by the actor's skill in conveying the essential points that typify women in the eyes of the audience. ![]() The technique of the dan must not only fulfill the requirements of stage practice, but also has to create the impression that it is a woman who is acting. The task of the male dan actor is to interpret feminine character and behavior for audiences to whom symbolism presents no difficulty. The dan actors play all of the women's roles, which, until recently, were played by men. Sheng are further divided into military roles (wu sheng ªZ¥Í), if the part requires stage fighting and acrobatics, and civil roles (wen sheng ¤å¥Í), if the part requires singing and acting only. They have no painted make-up and, with the exception of the conventional young man (xiao sheng ¤p¥Í), they wear beards. The sheng are always male characters who represent scholars, statesmen, warriors and so forth. Training of opera performers begins at a very early age and is not only physically demanding, but often quite brutal, as is powerfully depicted in Chen Kaige's film, Farewell My Concubine. Each role has its own vocabulary of gesture, walking, and vocal technique. In Beijing opera, the actor's roles are divided under four main headings, sheng, dan, jing, and zhou, or male, female, painted face, and comic. Base on what she is wearing, I guess she is Yang Guifei, known as one of the Four Beauties of ancient China, who is also famous of being the lover of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.Chinese Opera Types of Roles in Beijing Operaĭepartment of Theatre and Dance, Hamilton College ![]() Here is the one which I think is the "flower dan", normally refers a beautiful or flirtatious woman. There are five types, "blue cloth dan" (青衣), "flower dan" (花旦), laodan (old lady, 老旦 ), "wudan" (Kong Fu lady, 武旦) and "ch'ou dan" (丑旦, ugly or humorous one). In Beijing opera, the female characters are called “Tan” or “Dan” (旦). I can’t guarantee I am completely correct, but hopefully to be nearly “right” as they are usually seen in the TV. Here I just introduce some famous Beijing opera characters that I saw in that conference. Nevertheless, some traditional characters are so famous that almost known to everyone. But I can barely understood anything and hardly to appreciate the beauty of it. I only remembered when I was little, there was a show came to the town and my parents took me to watch. I don't know whether it is easy to find the Beijing opera show outside the capital city, but it is certainly shown on the TV, for almost every traditional festival, such as the national Gala for Spring Festival. If you are interested in Chinese culture, this is highly recommended to watch it when you have chance to visit Beijing. Beijing opera is a very traditional art performance which can be traced back to ancient times. ![]()
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