Chinese Opera

Mates:
Lam Chi To Toman
Woo Hon Kwan
Joey Ho
Lam Pang Fai
Albert Wan
Zhong Ka Yu
A Brief History
 Prologue
The rise of the Chinese opera had to be traced back to the Zhou
dynasty. When Zhou first adopted the Fēngjiàn system (Feudalism)

3 Sovereigns & 5 Emperors

Spring and Autumn
Shang Dynasty Eastern Zhou

Timeline

Western Zhou Warring states

Xia Dynasty Zhou
 The Rise of Chinese Opera (1)
During Zhou, an
emperor, after taking
advice from Mèng Zǐ
(Mencius) decided
that some “popular
music” would be more
suitable for the
country
 Mencius
• 372-289 BC
• A Chinese philosopher
• Established
Confucianism
 The rise of Chinese Opera (2)
Then, during the Qin
Dynasty, The Imperial
Bureau is established.
During Han, the
bureau was greatly
expanded by emperor
Han Wu Di. From then
on, the bureau was
charged with
supervising powers
 The Rise of Chinese Opera (3)
• At that time and
afterwards, the
Chinese music is
greatly influenced by
foreign countries
especially the Central
Asia
• The music then
become the “today’s
Chinese Opera”
The Branches

Northern Branches
Southern Branches
Others
 The Northern Branches
• Henan Opera (Henan Bangzi)
• Qin Opera
• Beijing Opera
Henan Opera
 Beijing (Peking) Opera
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 The Southern Branches
• Suzhou Opera( 蘇州 )
• Ballad-sing
• Yue Opera
• Hù Opera
• Hunanese Opera
• Gaojia Opera
• Liyuan Opera
• Puppet Opera
• PuTian Opera
• Min Opera( 福州戲 )
 Others
• Cantonese Opera ( 粵劇 )
• Sichuan Opera ( 川劇 )
• Huangmeixi ( 黃梅調 )
Four Great Characteristic Melodies

• Bangziqiang ( 梆子腔 )
• Huangpiqiang ( 黄皮腔 )
• Kunqiang ( 崑腔 )
• Gaoqiang ( 高腔 )
Cantonese Opera
 The 4 Elements

http://www.novelhall.org.tw/arthur/chineseopera/flash/index.swf
Princess Chang Ping
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 The Story
The story of Princess Chang Ping ( 帝女花 )
is a Chinese legend about a princess and
her lover at late Ming Dynasty. It has been
made into a Cantonese Opera by Tang Ti-
sheng, a very prolific Cantonese opera
adaptor of the early to mid-1900s. The
premiere was featured in the Lee Theatre
on 7 June 1957 and has achieved amazing
box office results since then.
Another typical example
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Does Peking Opera equals to Chinese
Opera?
 Roles of Play
There’re 4 roles in Chinese Opera:
• Sheng (male)
• Tan (female)
• Ching
• Chou
Sheng (Male)

Idea: Sheng refers to male characters with face painted lightly

comparing to other characters

It can be further divide into 3 types:

Lao Sheng (mature/old men)

Hsiao Sheng (youngsters)
Wu Sheng (military men)
Lao Sheng
Hsiao Sheng
Wu Sheng
Tan (Female)

Idea: They’re female characters with different occupations

It can be further divided into 5 types:

Lao Tan (old women)

Hua Tan (young lady)
Chin Yi (young maids)
Tao Ma Tan (female warriors/fighters)
Wu Tan (young maids)
Lao Tan
Hua Tan
Chin Yi
Tao Ma Tan
Wu Tan
Ching

Idea: It refers to characters with heavily painted

face

It can be further divided into 2 sub-types:

Wen Ching
Wu Ching
Wen Ching

Wen Ching can be further divided into 2

more types:
Cheng Ching (heroic characters)
Fu Ching (characters neither good nor bad)
Wen Ching (2)
Wu Ching
Chou

Idea: It refers to clownish and funny personnel

It can be further divided into 3 sub-types:

Wen Chou (folk men)
Wu Chou (military clown)
Chou Po Tze (women crown)
Wen Chou
Wu Chou
Chou Po Tze
The Make Up
 Sheng
Lao Sheng

Hsiao Sheng

Wu Sheng
 Tan
Tan

Hua Tan
Ching
 Chou
Wen Chou

Wu Chou
The Costumes

Costumes play an important

role on telling the audience the
status of a specific character
 Hats

This is the most

common
accessories
amongst the
costume series
Different characters
wear different
hats:
 Fake beards
Sheng, Chou and
Ching wear
“beards” to
associate with
facial expressions
and body gestures
 Shoes

Again, they tell the

audience the status of
the characters
The musical instruments

Bowed String Instruments

Wind Instruments
Plucked String Instruments
 Bowed String Instruments
Major components:
• bamboo bow
• horse tail hair

Characteristics:
• Elegant sound
• Clear local image
 Wind Instruments
Types:
• Without reeds
(aloe)
• With double-reeds
(aloe)
• With single-reed
(aloe)
 Plucked String Instruments
Types:
• Seven stringed
zithers
• Pipa
Video Clip Introduction
Acknowledgement