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Junru Zhou
Dr. Ladelle McWhorter
WGSS 200
March 22, 2019

2019 Arts & Sciences Individual Research Proposal

1. Title: Men or Women: The Enigma of Beijing Opera Artists

2. Aim
Beijing Opera is one of the oldest and most dominant genres of Chinese performing art,
which the majority of artists are male and the majority of female characters are performed by
male. This research project will investigate the relationship between male Beijing Opera artists
and the female characters they play on the stage in order to prove that playing female characters
generates a substantial impact on male Beijing Opera artists’ gender identity. According to the
internationally celebrated gender theorist Judith Butler, gender is a performing habit. Through
naturalizing the feminine behaviors, there might be a possibility for male Beijing Opera artists to
obscure the gender identities of their own and of the characters they play. Through personal and
scholarly analysis of Judith Butler’s theories, interviews, multi-media research, this project aims
to answer the following three questions: 1) Is it the male artist's own choice to play female
characters? 2) How do the male artists practice to perform feminine behaviors? 3) Are there any
changes in the male artist's understanding of his gender identity evoked by the transgendered
performance?

3. Background and Significance

According to Judith Butler and her book Gender Trouble, gender is socially/culturally
constructed and performative, and drag performance is a perfect example that illustrates the
performativity of gender. Butler's thesis indicates a possibility of gender transformation which
could be attained by changing the way individuals behave. One representative but frequently
neglected example of such transformation is Beijing Opera, a traditional Chinese art form which

the majority of performers are male and the majority of Dan (“旦,” the term for female roles in
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Beijing Opera) are played by men. If, according to Butler, drag performance manages to blur the
boundary between "the anatomy of the performer and the gender that is being performed" (Butler
2006, 187), then it is plausible to argue that Beijing Opera is a drag performance by its nature of
transforming male artists into female characters. During this process of transformation, would
there be some changes regarding the gender identity of male Dan artists?
For my research project, I will use Judith Butler's theories of which gender is
performative in her book Gender Trouble to analyze male Dan artists with a specific focus on the
relationship between their gender identities and professional career paths. There are three major
questions on which I would like to to concentrate: 1) Is it the male artist's own choice to play
female characters in Beijing Opera industry? 2) How do the male Beijing Opera artists learn to
perform in a so-called feminine way? 3) During the process of learning, are there any changes in
the male artist's understanding of his gender identity? Are there any changes regarding their
sexual orientation and the way of which they perform their gender in daily life?
The primary and secondary sources I have encountered so far do contain investigations
regarding topics such as gender, femininity, and transgender within the field of Beijing Opera,
which are my principal focuses. However, the majority of these sources examine Beijing Opera
through the lens of social politics, which inevitably results in utilizing such art form as an
epitome of the macroscopical gender value system in ancient and contemporary China. Rather
than analyzing the societal and functional significance of Beijing Opera, I would like to
concentrate on the performance itself and those whose lives are immediately influenced by this
transgendered art form, that is male Dan artists. How does Beijing Opera impacts their
autognosis? How does performing female characters perennially affect their gender cognition?
By unveiling the lives of male Dan artists, I hope my research could integrate the understanding
of Beijing Opera on a microcosmic aspect as well as prove that sexual orientation is merely a
manner, a preference, and one of the uncountable ways individuals choose to represent
themselves.

4. Research Plan

Action Significance to the Question Location

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Step Reread Judith Butler’s Gender Since Judith Butler and Gender (It could be
1 Trouble and carefully analyze her Trouble are fundamental to my done on
theories regarding the research project, it is unarguably campus.
performativity of gender. Then crucial for me to fully However,
research for other feminists' and understand her theories from location does
scholars' analysis of Judith both my perspective and other not matter for
Butler’s theory. professional scholars’ this step.)
perspective.

Step Research for primary sources -- Combining primary and (It could be
2 such as autobiographies and secondary sources would allow done on
photos -- and secondary sources -- me to construct a relatively campus.
such as biographies, movies, news objective image of male Dan However,
articles -- regarding male Dan artists, especially the ways of location does
artists, their habits and which they decide to present not matter for
personalities, and their lives. themselves and their genders. this step.)

Step Interview some current Beijing
3 Opera male Dan artists.
The best source for my research In China.
project is definitely the male
artists themselves. By
interviewing them, I hope to
gain a better understanding of
whether and how playing female
characters influences their
gender identity.

Step Research on gender identity and After the process of data (It could be
4 analyze the information gathered collection, the final step is to done on
from the interview. analyze them and utilize them to campus.
answer my questions. However, However,
I think I would need professional location does
supports from psychologists. not matter for
this step.)

I believe that as a result of imitating and performing women, it is highly possible for male
Dan artists to acquire both the so-called femininity and masculinity. Their gender identity might
also have a tendency of leaning toward the socially constructed idea of woman and femininity. In
other words, I suspect that there might be some artists who are in fact gender androgynous. The
ideal situation is that during the interview, the male artists would be able to answer questions --
such as “Have you ever received comments which the society traditionally uses for women?”,
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“Do you see yourself more masculine or feminine?”, and “to what extent are you able to
distinguish yourself from the female characters you play” -- straightforwardly. Yet even so, I will
still need professional psychologists who have experience with gender identity and self-cognition
to help me analyze and interpret the interview results. My anticipations, if verified after the
interview, can prove that playing female characters does affect the gender identity of the male
Beijing Opera artists. Beyond that, it further suggests that gender is a spectrum rather than a
black or white case.
About the outcome, I wish I could be able to present my research project on an academic
conference. In terms of required approval, I think the most difficult part might be the interview. I
would definitely explain my research project to the artists and guarantee the absolute anonymity
of this interview. I would also welcome the artists to wear masks, use voice changer, or write
letters -- as long as they are comfortable with sharing.

5. Literature Cited
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble. New York: Routledge Classics, 2006.

Farewell My Concubine. Directed by Chen Kaige. Produced by Hsu Feng. By Bihua Li.
Screenplay by Lu Wei. Performed by Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, and Gong Li.
China: Beijing Film Studio, 1993. DVD.

“Four Major Roles of Peking Opera.” 2016. Beijing Review 59 (22): 20.

He, Chengzhou. 2014. “Performance and the Politics of Gender: Transgender

Performance in Contemporary Chinese Films.” Gender, Place & Culture: A
Journal of Feminist Geography 21 (5): 622–36.

Huo Jianying. 2006. “Role-Defining Peking Opera Stage Makeup.” China Today 55 (1):
64–67.

Jing Shen. 2012. “Theatrical Femininities: A Comparison of Mei Lanfang’s and Ouyang
Yuqian’s Honglou Meng Plays.” Southeast Review of Asian Studies 34
(November): 60–86.

Sophia Tingting Zhao. 2016. “Reorienting the Gaze in Mei Lanfang’s Lyrical Theatre:
Performing Female Interiority.” Asian Theatre Journal 33 (2): 395–419.
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Yeh, Catherine. 2007. “Refined Beauty, New Woman, Dynamic Heroine or Fighter for
the Nation? Perceptions of China in the Programme Selection for Mei Lanfang’s
Performances in Japan (1919), the United States (1930) and the Soviet Union
(1935).” European Journal of East Asian Studies 6 (1): 75–102.

6. Related Coursework
● Living Learning Community - Women, Virtue, and Temptation in Literature
● WILL* Colloquium
● Art and Asia
● Art Theories and Methodologies
● Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

7. Additional Visual Supports

A group photo of Si Da Ming Dan (“四大名旦”, or the four most famous Dan
actors). Front row: Cheng Yanqiu; back row from left: Shang Xiaoyun, Mei
Lanfang, Xun Huisheng.

Mei Lanfang performing Gui Fei Zui Jiu (“贵妃醉酒”, or Drunken Concubine,
one of the most celebrated masterpieces of Beijing Opera) on the stage.
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A male Beijing Opera male artist performing on the stage in 2011.

A still from the film Farewell My Concubine. The front character is the
protagonist Cheng Dieyi, a male Beijing Opera artist who plays a female
character for his entire career. He is putting on stage makeup.