Chinese opera has its origins
over two thousand years ago. Since its start it has been developed
into an extremely complex performing art which combines singing,
music, dialogue, acrobatics, martial arts, and pantomime.
Lovers of European opera may be surprised
to hear Chinese opera, as the two, on the
face of it, have very little in common, other than they may both
be said to be operas.
It is true to say that to the western
ear, Chinese opera often seems shrill and 'noisy'. Shrill voices
pierce the air, accompanied by loud gongs, crashing cymbals, drums
and stringed instruments. The music is not intended to be melodic,
as in the West, but rather used as punctuation to the performance.
The art is not readily appreciated by western ears, but at the same
time it is a highly developed art form. Although the sound of Chinese
opera may seem very alien, in fact the stories which the operas
tell are very familiar: heroes battle overwhelmingly powerful foes,
good defends the world against evil, lovers seek escape from domineering
and disapproving parents.
Another
area in which Chinese opera differs from European opera is in its
appeal. Chinese opera is an art of the people - enjoyed and appreciated
by people from right across the social spectrum. In a real sense
it is a folk art, comparable in many ways with Chinese Circus.
During the development of Chinese
opera, there has always been a cross fertilisation of styles and
ideas between various local variations. Although sharing a common
ancestry, Chinese opera boasts over 360 various distinct forms -
taking their names from their places of origin. These forms are
generally discernible by their use of local dialects and distinct
'melodies'. Among the best known forms are Jingju (Beijing Opera)
and Yueju (Cantonese Opera).
Beijing opera is considered by most to
be the most refined. It uses almost no scenery, but rather relies
on props and costume. It generally contains a fair amount of acrobatics
and swordplay. Beijing Opera can be traced back to 1790 when a troupe
performed for the Emperor's birthday. As such it is but an infant
in terms of Chinese opera tradition. However, it builds upon tradition
and is a highly refined style. Story lines are well  known
and are usually taken from historical epics and romantic novels
of China's past.
Cantonese opera is more 'popularist', and invariably contains a
'boy meets girl' plot. Interestingly Cantonese opera also contains
a high degree of modern and foreign references.
One of the most intriguing of Chinese operatic
forms is the Chinese revolutionary opera classics like The White-Haired
Girl and Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy (pictured right). These
operas where developed as a means of spreading revolutionary ideas
and concepts among the masses - as already noted, opera was and
is an art form popular among the masses, and the adaptation of revolutionary
ideas into Chinese operatic productions was, it has to be said,
something of a stroke of genius in lateral thinking!
In
all Chinese opera characters have painted faces and include warriors,
gods and demons, scholars, clowns and officials. Face painting leans
heavily on earlier forms of mask and make up. Facial patterns rely
on exaggeration and the symbolism of colour to suggest a character's
attributes and natures. The faces painted become what the Chinese
call 'a mirror of the soul'. Well versed members of the audience
will be able to tell instantly the nature of a character on the
stage by their face.
Although colours
sometime represent a physical attribute of a character, they are
predominantly used as indicators of a characters personality. Some
of the principle colours are listed below.
Red: loyalty, courage
Dark red: loyal, time-tested warrior
Pink: humour
Yellow: brutality
Gold and silver: supernatural (demons, Buddhas, spirits)
Green: chivalry
Blue: valour, resolution
Purple: wisdom, bravery, steadfastness
Black: loyalty, integrity
Powder white: cruelty, treachery
Off White: inflated, domineering
Grey: an old scoundrel
|
|
