Five Major Types of Opera

Chinese opera is mainly composed of three different art forms: folk song and dance, rap and comedy.

It originated from primitive singing and dancing and is a comprehensive stage art style with a long history.

Chinese opera, Greek tragedy and comedy, and Indian Sanskrit opera are also known as the world's three oldest drama cultures. After a long period of development and evolution, they have gradually formed "Peking Opera, Yue Opera, Huangmei Opera, Ping Opera, "Henan Opera?" Baihua Garden of Chinese Opera with five major types of opera as its core.

Kun Opera: the ancestor of all operas. Also known as "Kun Opera" and "Kun Opera", it is an ancient type of opera. It originated from Kunshan, Jiangsu Province and became popular after the mid-Ming Dynasty. At that time, most of the legendary plays were sung with Kun opera. His representative works include "The Peony Pavilion" and "The Palace of Eternal Life".

Peking Opera: the quintessence of China, also known as "Pi Huang". It was formed in Beijing around 1840, became popular in the 1930s and 1940s, and was sometimes known as "national drama". It is mainly popular in the Beijing-Tianjin-Shanghai area. Currently, there are Peking Opera troupes all over the country. His representative works include "The Drunken Concubine", "Farewell My Concubine", model opera "Shajiabang", etc.

Ping Opera: In the late Qing Dynasty, it was formed on the basis of the ditty "Counterpart Lotus Falls" in Luanxian County, Hebei Province. It was first popular in rural areas of Hebei Province, and then entered Tangshan, where it was called "Tangshan Luozi". After 1950, plays such as "Liu Qiaoer", "Flower as Matchmaker", "Third Sister Yang Complains" and "Qin Xianglian" had a great impact across the country, and famous actors such as Xin Fengxia, Xiaobai Yushuang and Wei Rongyuan appeared. Ping Opera is still popular in Hebei and Beijing. ?

Yue Opera: Mainly popular in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas. Since the roles in the play are all played by women, it is also called a women's play. It originated from "De Du Ban" in Shengxian County, Zhejiang Province, and entered Shanghai around 1916. After 1938, the name "Yue Opera" was used. His representative works include "A Dream of Red Mansions", "Butterfly Lovers", "The Romance of the West Chamber", "Five Daughters on Birthday", etc.

Henan Opera: also known as "Henan Bangzi". At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was developed from the Shanshan Bangzi introduced to Henan, combined with Henan dialect and folk tunes, and is now popular in Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and other provinces. His representative works include "Mulan" and "Mu Guiying Takes Command".

Huangmei Opera: A type of opera that originated in Anhui and is popular in Anhui, Jiangxi and Hubei. Its predecessor is the tea-picking tune in Huangmei area. It formed a folk opera after the middle of the Qing Dynasty, called "Huangmei tune", and is sung in Anqing dialect. His representative works include "The Consort" and "The Fairy Match".

Sheng Dan Jing Mo Chou?

Sheng: male character. According to the different roles of the characters, they are divided into various roles such as Laosheng (such as Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei, Xue Rengui, etc.), Xiaosheng (such as Xu Xian, Zhang Sheng, etc.), Wusheng (such as Zhao Yun), and Wansheng.

Dan: female character. According to the needs of the characters, it can be divided into Zhengdan, also known as Qingyi. Generally refers to more dignified characters who mainly focus on singing (such as Wang Baochuan, Qin Xianglian, etc.), Lao Dan (such as She Taijun), Huadan refers to young and lively young girls (such as matchmaker), Wu Dan, Daoma Dan, Caidan (matchmaker), Hua Shan (First created by Master Mei Lanfang, it combines the expertise of Tsing Yi Hua Dan, singing and dancing like Yu Ji) etc.

Jing: Male character, commonly known as "Hua Lian" or "Hua Mian". Such as Bao Zheng, Cao Cao, etc. According to the character, identity and artistic characteristics of the characters, it is divided into many specialties, such as Zhengjing, Fujing, Wujing, etc. in Peking Opera.

End: traditional opera roles. He often pretends to be a middle-aged man or above who has a lower social status than the person he is pretending to be, and who puts equal emphasis on both singing and acting. In modern times, most operas have been merged into Laoshengxing.

Chou: Harlequin, such as Jiupin Zhimaguan, etc. According to the identity, personality and technical characteristics of the characters, it is divided into two branches: Wen Chou and Wu Chou.

Singing, chanting and doing beats

Singing: singing skills.

Nian: musical recitation.

Doing: doing work, that is, performing.

Fight: martial arts.

Extended information:

Facial makeup of opera characters

Red face: represents loyalty and bravery. Such as Guan Yu.

Black face: represents intelligence, integrity and neutrality. Such as Bao Zheng and Zhang Fei.

White face: represents insidiousness and cunning. Such as Wang Mang and Cao Cao.

Blue and green faces: represent the heroes of the green forest. Such as Doulton.

Gold and silver faces: represent mystery. Such as Sun Wukong.