Beijing Opera
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Beijing Opera
Written by Matteo Updated Nov. 15, 2025
Peking Opera is also called Ping Opera or Jingxi. The characters are divided into Sheng, Dan, Jing, and Chou. The stories are mostly from history. Actors perform by singing, speaking, acting, and fighting.
How to Perform Beijing Operas
Peking opera is a synthesis of stylized action, singing, dialogue, and mime, acrobatic fighting, and dancing to represent a story or depict different characters and their feelings of gladness, anger, sorrow, happiness, surprise, fear, and sadness.
In Peking opera, there are four main types of roles: sheng (male), dan (young female), jing (painted face, male), and chou (clown, male or female). The characters may be loyal or treacherous, beautiful or ugly, good or bad, their images being vividly manifested.
The repertoire of Peking opera is mainly engaged in fairy tales of preceding dynasties, important historical events, emperors, ministers and generals, geniuses and great beauties, from the ancient times to Yao, Shun, Yu, the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period and the dynasties of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing.
The music of Peking opera is that of the "plate and cavity style".Its melody with harmonious rhythms is graceful and pleasing to the ears. The melody may be classified into two groups: "Xipi" and "erhong", guiding pattern, original pattern, slow pattern, quick pattern, and desultory pattern being their chief patterns.
The performance is accompanied by a tune played on wind instruments, percussion instruments, and stringed instruments, the chief musical instruments being jinghu (a two-stringed bowed instrument with a high register), yueqin (a four-stringed plucked instrument with a full-moon-shaped sound box), Sanxian (a three-stringed plucked instrument), Suona horn, flute, drum, big gong, cymbals, and small gong.
The costumes in Peking opera are graceful, magnificent, elegant, and brilliant, and are mostly made in handicraft embroidery. As the traditional Chinese patterns are adopted, the costumes are of a high aesthetic value.
The types of facial make-up in Peking opera are rich and various, depicting different characters and remarkable images; therefore, they are highly appreciated. Moreover, there are numerous fixed editions of facial make-up.
Roles in Beijing Opera
The roles in Beijing Opera (Peking Opera) had seven categories during its early age, divided according to characters in the opera. They were Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mou, Chou, Wuhang, and Longtao. With the development of Beijing opera, it was divided into four main roles. They were Sheng, Dan, Jing, and Chou, based on the gender, age, evil or kind-hearted nature, handsomeness or ugliness of the characters played.
Sheng - Male Role
Sheng is the male role in Peking Opera. This role has several subtypes according to the character's age, personality, and status, which include Laosheng (Senior Male Role), Hongsheng (Middle-aged male), Xiaosheng (handsome young male role specializing in song and recitation), Wusheng (Acrobatic Male Role), and Wawasheng (a child role).
Laosheng
Laosheng actors are required to attain the dignity of bearing and gentle, polished manners of the middle-aged mandarin official or scholar. Laosheng's roles included generals or high-ranking officers of the military, but they had a more cultivated disposition than those of real life.
Laosheng characters had a black or white beard, depending on the role's age. They wore a black hat with two fins on both sides, which varied in shape based on the role's status. The costumes had a quieter and more uniform color than those of warriors, who had a painted face. The voice of a Laosheng character had to be gentle and firm. Officials and landowners were included in this category.
The most famous performer of the Laosheng role was Tan Xinpei. He opened a new world of opera performance for Laosheng roles. Many Laosheng actors imitated his way of performing. Yan Jupeng, Ma Lianliang, and Zhou Xinfang were also well-known performers of the Laosheng role after Tan Xinpei.
Hongsheng
Hongsheng meant the character had a red face, a sub-category of Laosheng.
There are only two roles known as Hongsheng. One is Guan Gong and the other is Zhao Kuangyin. Guan Gong is one of the important roles in the Chinese classical novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. A Hongsheng's voice is vigorous and high-pitched.
Xiaosheng
Xiaosheng is a handsome young male with no beard in Peking Opera roles. The role sings in a high-pitched and shrill voice, with sudden breaks from his high-pitched voice to represent the voice changing period of adolescence.
Xiaosheng can be divided into Wen Xiaosheng (a young scholar) and Wu Xiaosheng (a young warrior). Depending on the position in society, the costume of the Xiaosheng may be either elaborate or simple. The feature of a young warrior is his long pheasant feathers, which rise in sweeping curves from his hat.
Wusheng
Wusheng actors must be good at martial arts roles. The actor performs with swords and spears wielded deftly and quickly without the attacker touching his opponent. There are Changkao Wusheng and Duanda Wusheng. The features of Changkao Wusheng are wearing a helmet, heavy-bottomed boots, and the use of long-handled weapons.
The features of Duanda Wusheng are wearing short and simple clothes and the use of short-handled weapons. Although Wusheng roles require a high standard of acrobatics, they must also have a natural voice when singing.
Dan - Female Roles
Dan is the term for female roles in Peking Opera. The roles can be divided into six subtypes based on the characters played. There is Zhengdan (Qingyi), Gui mendan, Wudan (acrobat), Laodan (old woman), Huadan, and Daomadan (a stronger, more forceful character). Four examples of famous Dan are Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, and Xun Huisheng.
Zhengdan(Qingyi)
Qingyi is the main woman's role in traditional Chinese drama. Qingyi plays the most important role in Peking Opera and plays dignified, serious, and decent characters, who are mostly wives or mothers. The roles dress in yellow clothes and feature a small range of motion, and singing with a pure and high-pitched quality.
Mei Langfang played an important role in shaping Peking Opera and created a new role called Huashan, which combines the status of the Qingyi with the sensuality of Huadan.
Guimendan
Guimendan is an unmarried and young girl role. Her immaturity is clearly shown in her reactions. Though naughty and slightly mischievous. The characteristics of the role are mostly introverted and shy.
Daomadan
Daomadan is a female warrior role in Peking Opera. Like the male role of Wusheng, Daomadan actors train mainly for action, singing, and performing skillfully. The features of the role are the headdress and military weapons. The most famous Daomadan role is Mu Guiying, who is a heroine in Chinese history, famed for her military prowess.
Huadan
Huadan is the vivacious and unmarried woman role in Peking Opera. Compared to a Qingyi, a Huadan is not of such a high social class, and she will take the attention of the audience with her coy, coquettish, and quicker movements. Her costume is vivid in design and color, consisting of a jacket and trousers, and she usually carries a red handkerchief in her hand. The voice of Huadan has a gayer and stronger quality.
Laodan
A Laodan plays an old and clever woman. Unlike other female roles, a Laodan wears no make-up, and her costume is more subdued in color and design. Her voice is natural and not high-pitched.
Wudan
Wudan is a female acrobatic role, and requires a high standard of acrobatics. The costume of the role is simple, and the clothing is convenient for her movements.
Jing (Painted Face Male Role)
A Jing role is a prominent male character with striking looks and a high social position. Both positive and negative characters can be played in this role. His robust, gruff, bass voice and grotesquely painted face, together with his swaggering self-assertive manner, all combine to make him the most forceful personality in most scenes in which he appears.
People can know the role, the character based on his face color: red for good, black for brave, upright or reckless, white for treacherous and cunning, yellow for brutal, blue for wild.
The three main types of Jing are Tongchui, good at singing and usually a loyal general; Jiazi, good at acting with less emphasis on singing; and Wujing, a martial arts and acrobatics role.
Chou (the Comedy Role)
Chou is a comedy role in Peking Opera. It can be divided into two types: Wenchou, a civilian role such as a merchant or jailer; and Wuchou, a military role, skilled in acrobatics. The characteristic of this type of painted face role is a small patch of white chalk around the nose.
One of the famous roles in Peking opera is the Monkey King, who has a special position in the hearts of all who are interested in Chinese opera. With his quick, agile movements of his lithe body and his blinking eyes, the Monkey King holds every minute of the audience's attention.
Beijing Opera Famous Performers
Historically, Beijing Opera's male actors played female roles. This can be traced back to the folk performing arts, which spread along the Yellow River and Yangtze River a thousand years ago. These were refined and developed in practice until they reached the present level of artistic interpretation.
Peking Opera's development has encompassed the meticulous division of roles, as well as a high level of specialization and detail.
In modern times, the most famous male Beijing Opera actors are normally born into an opera family with a deep cultural background. They learn from their parents when they are young, and by participating in different roles, they develop their careers through many years of hard work. Below is an introduction to the most important opera performers in China.
Mei Lanfang (1894-1961)
Mei Lanfang was born in the late Qing Dynasty in 1894. His last name was Lan, though he was also known as Heming. His stage name was Lanfang. A native of Jiangsu province, the Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang was born in a Pear Garden family (the name refers to an opera community circle).
His grandfather, Mei Qiaoling, was a famous female role actor in the late Qing Dynasty. His father, Mingrui, played Xiaosheng roles, and later changed to Dan roles. His mother, Changyu, was the eldest daughter of Yang Longshou, a famous Sheng role actor.
He started to learn opera when he was 8 years old, and had Zhu Xiaoxia, a well-known Xiaosheng actor, as his master.
Mei Lanfang first performed on stage when he was 11 years old. He assiduously and continuously practiced his career, and learned and contributed to the heritage and traditional culture of opera. His singing, voice-overs, dance, music, and makeup, finally created his unique style called Mei Pai, and a school of this name.
He became the best of the four famous Dan actors. In his early years, his performances became popular in China and abroad, but he didn't use the stage name of Mei Lanfang until he was 16 years old.
Mei Lanfang achieved great success on the stage and attracted the attention of Westerners. He was invited many times to perform in Japan, the United States, and the Soviet Union. He got a doctorate in literature from the University of Southern California.
Mr Mei was a great patriot. He kept a long beard to demonstrate his position during the anti-Japanese war, and refused to put on any performances, making a living by selling paintings.
After the Chinese liberation in 1949, he became President of the Chinese Academy of Beijing Opera, Chinese Opera Research Institute, and Vice President of the Chinese Dramatists Association. He joined the Communist Party of China. In 1959, his last masterpiece, "Recommending the Army," was considered a classic and was shot on color film.
Mei Lanfang was good at playing Dan roles, i.e., female roles. According to the character's age, the character can be divided into a number of roles. Mei Lanfang played the woman role commonly known as "Qingyi, a young or middle-aged female character in Chinese opera, often wearing a blue gown.
The performance of Qingyi characters requires a demonstration of calm and elegance, and is dominated by singing. Generally speaking, the singing of Qingyi roles has the most beautiful melodies.
Tan Xinpei (1847 - 1917)
Tan Xinpei, the Beijing Opera master, was born in 1847 in the Qing Dynasty. He mainly played Laosheng roles (senior male roles). Laosheng actors are required to attain dignity of bearing and gentleness.
In his father's company in Beijing, when he was 10 years old, he began to learn opera. After many years of hard work and practice, he got his chance to put on his first show in 1863.
Tan Xinpei created a large number of artistic images in his life. He carefully observed characters' identity and temperament, so that each play closely resembled the original.
Tan Xinpei not only paid attention to appearance, but also created unique features in singing and performing when shaping the character. He opened a new world of opera performance for Laosheng roles.
His way of performing became popular, and after more than half a century, many Laosheng actors imitated him. The "Tanpai style and school take after his name.
Ma Lianliang (1901 - 1966)
Ma Lianliang was born in the late Qing Dynasty in Beijing on February 28, 1901. He is well-known for playing Laosheng (senior male) roles.
He grew up in an opera actor's family, so deeply influenced by his family, he studied at Xiliancheng Opera School when he was 9 years old.
After 14 years of study, he taught his first class and finally developed a unique performing school, known as Ma School. His performances reached their peak period between the 1920s and the 1960s.
The singing style of Ma Lianliang is based on the style of Tan Xinpei, and combined with his features, he broke out of the traditional way of singing and developed his own style. It was quite different from other Laosheng actors.
When he was 27 years old, he started to record many albums and published many of them. His singing style is fluent and smooth, firm and tender. His unique style of singing created a new era in Beijing opera and became popular among the locals.
He performed frequently, his words sometimes sophisticated, sometimes vigorous, and sometimes humorous. In this way, he expressed the different personalities of the characters and their emotions. He was good at handling words, singing with a strong artistic feel.
Zhou Xinfang (1895 - 1975)