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The history of Chinese Peking Opera
Peking Opera was originally a form of local drama performance. Because it is spread all over China, it is deeply welcomed and loved by the masses, and gradually evolved into a national drama representing the artistic characteristics of China.

About 200 years ago, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty took a keen interest in local drama when he visited the south. Therefore, on his 80th birthday, many local troupes were called to Beijing to celebrate his birthday. After the performance, some dramatic actors stayed in Beijing. These performers from Anhui and Hubei combined Kunqu opera with court drama, and gradually evolved and developed into a famous "Peking Opera" in China.

Beijing opera performance combines singing, reading, writing, playing and other artistic expressions, supplemented by colorful costume props and makeup. In Beijing opera

In Chinese, the female character is called "Dan", the male character is called "Sheng" and the clown is called "Ugly". Each character will draw different faces according to their gender, age and personality, so that the audience can easily distinguish what kind of personality these actors play. Makeup, costumes, costumes-these are amazing works of art.

In the past, roles in Beijing opera could only be played by men, but now, both men and women can perform on stage. You must go to see a Peking Opera when you come to China, just as you must go to see an opera when you come to Italy. Of course, there are many other plays in China, such as Kunqu Opera, Pingju Opera and Hebei Bangzi.

Chinese Peking Opera, known as "Oriental Opera", is the quintessence of China, named after its formation in Beijing. Beijing opera has a history of more than 200 years. Its origin can be traced back to several ancient local dramas, especially18th century local drama "Huiban" which was popular in southern China. 1790, the first Huizhou class went to Beijing to attend the emperor's birthday performance. Later, many Huizhou classes performed in Beijing one after another. Huizhou class is inherently mobile and good at absorbing the repertoire and performance methods of other operas. Many local operas have gathered in Beijing, which has rapidly improved the artistic level of Huiban.

19 At the end of the 20th century, after decades of integration, Peking Opera was formed and became the largest drama in China. Peking Opera has a rich repertoire, many performing artists, many troupes, many audiences and wide influence, ranking first in the country. Beijing opera is a comprehensive performing art, which integrates "singing (singing), reciting (reciting), doing (acting), fighting (martial arts) and dancing (dancing)", and tells stories and depicts characters through programmed performance means. The role of Peking Opera can be divided into four main lines: life (male), Dan (female), quietness (male) and ugliness (male and female), and there are also some supporting lines. Facial makeup is the most distinctive art in Beijing Opera. Characters' loyalty, ugliness, beauty, goodness, evil, respect and inferiority can all be expressed through Facebook. For example, red depicts the absolute loyalty of characters, purple symbolizes wisdom, courage and justice, black reflects the noble character of loyalty, integrity and integrity of characters, white symbolizes the treacherous nature and vicious means of characters, blue symbolizes the strength and courage of characters, and yellow symbolizes the cruelty, gold and silver of characters, which are mostly used by gods, buddhas and ghosts to show their golden faces and bodies and symbolize the sense of illusion. It is generally believed that the end of 18 is the first peak of the development of Peking Opera. At that time, not only folk operas flourished, but also many operas were performed in the palace. Because the royal nobles love Beijing opera, the superior material conditions in the court provide favorable help for the performance, dress, facial makeup and stage scenery of Beijing opera. The interaction between the court and folk opera has made Beijing opera develop unprecedentedly. From the 1920s to the 1940s, it was the second heyday of Peking Opera. The prosperity of Peking Opera in this period is marked by the emergence of many schools, the most famous of which are Mei (Mei Lanfang 1894- 19 1) and Shang (Shang Xiaoyun 1900- 1975). There are a large number of famous actors in various schools of Peking Opera, who are active on the stage of Shanghai, Beijing and other big cities, and the artistic stage of Peking Opera is extremely prosperous. Mei Lanfang is one of the most famous Peking Opera performers in the world. At the age of 8, he studied Chinese opera and performed on stage at the age of1/kloc-0. Mei Lanfang has created and developed Dandan's singing, chanting, dancing, music, clothing, makeup and other aspects in his stage career for more than 50 years, forming a unique artistic style. 19 19, Mei Lanfang led a troupe to perform in Japan, and Peking Opera first spread overseas. From 65438 to 0930, Mei Lanfang led a delegation to visit and perform in the United States, which was a great success. 1934 was invited to visit Europe, which attracted the attention of European drama circles. Since then, Peking Opera has been regarded as a school of drama in China all over the world.

Since the reform and opening up, Beijing opera has made new progress. Especially as the essence of traditional art, it has been strongly supported by the government of China. Today, Beijing Chang 'an Grand Theatre has staged Peking Opera plays for many years in succession, and the annual International Peking Opera Fans Competition has attracted Peking Opera lovers from all over the world. Beijing opera is also a reserved project in cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

Four famous artists: Mei Lanfang, Cheng, Xun Huisheng and Shang Xiaoyun.