Chinese Opera——Kunqu Opera

Chinese Opera——Kunqu Opera

IN May 2001, UNESCO for the first time awarded the title of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" to 19 outstanding cultural forms of expression from different regions of the world.

Kunqu Opera, a school of traditional Chinese opera, was among them. It is the only Chinese art form listed, and is now a facet of the common cultural heritage of humankind.

Kunqu is one of the earliest forms of traditional Chinese drama, having a history of more than 600 years. Its operatic melodies originate from Kunshan in Jaingsu Province.

After extensive exploration and reworking by its performers, it gradually developed into today's Kunqu.In the performance of Kunqu, refinement and rigor are emphasized.

A standard Kunqu scenario is very intricate. A Kunqu program not only details the arrangements of acts, verses, and the names of tunes to which verses are set, but also defines the roles, stage settings, costumes, props, and performers' movements, even going so far as to explain the significance of the position performers take on stage.

The roles of Kunqu are broadly divided into seven categories, including sheng (male roles), dan (female roles), jing (painted face), mo (middle-aged male roles), chou (clowns), wai, and tie, and each category has further subdivisions. For instance, the sheng roles have laosheng (aged male roles), wusheng (male warriors), and xiaosheng (young male roles), each of which are further divided according to the characters' prominence within the play. The xiaosheng -- young male role -- is divided into daguansheng (big hat role), xiaoguansheng (small hat role), jinsheng (kerchief role), qiongsheng (pauper role) and zhiweisheng (a warrior whose helmet decorated by a pheasant tail feather). The dan roles are divided into six sub-categories.

The Kunqu style of stage makeup is mainly used for jing and chou roles, and occasionally for sheng and dan roles. The three predominant colors being red, white and black. The shades of blue, green, purple and gold are used to portray forest brigands, or ghosts and demons. As in Peking Opera, the color red represents loyalty and justice, black conveys uprightness and straightforwardness, white signifies cunning and shrewdness, and yellow indicates a fierce, tough character. Most of the patterns and techniques of Peking Opera facial makeup evolved from Kunqu, and some were just copied from it.In the performance of Kunqu, refinement and rigor are emphasized.

A standard Kunqu scenario is very intricate. A Kunqu program not only details the arrangements of acts, verses, and the names of tunes to which verses are set, but also defines the roles, stage settings, costumes, props, and performers' movements, even going so far as to explain the significance of the position performers take on stage.

The roles of Kunqu are broadly divided into seven categories, including sheng (male roles), dan (female roles), jing (painted face), mo (middle-aged male roles), chou (clowns), wai, and tie, and each category has further subdivisions. For instance, the sheng roles have laosheng (aged male roles), wusheng (male warriors), and xiaosheng (young male roles), each of which are further divided according to the characters' prominence within the play. The xiaosheng -- young male role -- is divided into daguansheng (big hat role), xiaoguansheng (small hat role), jinsheng (kerchief role), qiongsheng (pauper role) and zhiweisheng (a warrior whose helmet decorated by a pheasant tail feather). The dan roles are divided into six sub-categories.

The Kunqu style of stage makeup is mainly used for jing and chou roles, and occasionally for sheng and dan roles. The three predominant colors being red, white and black. The shades of blue, green, purple and gold are used to portray forest brigands, or ghosts and demons. As in Peking Opera, the color red represents loyalty and justice, black conveys uprightness and straightforwardness, white signifies cunning and shrewdness, and yellow indicates a fierce, tough character. Most of the patterns and techniques of Peking Opera facial makeup evolved from Kunqu, and some were just copied from it.

The most prominent characteristic of Kunqu performance is its lyricism, where the posture of each role is in a dancing mode. Almost all traditional Chinese drama has elements of dance, and in some plays dances have been added, but these are unlike Kunqu, where every physical movement from beginning to end is in the mode of dance, thus creating a complete scope of performance technique.