Beijing Opera has four main roles - Sheng, Dan, Jing, and Chou. Sheng are male roles like warriors or gentlemen, while Dan are female like noblewomen or charming girls. Jing roles have painted facial makeup indicating complex personalities, and Chou are clowns. Key techniques include singing, speaking, acting, and fighting. The orchestra accompanies with percussion for action and strings/winds for emotion. Famous performer Mei Lanfang mastered vocal and physical skills across different roles.

1. Beijing Opera
Peking Opera

2. Beijing Opera

3. Four main roles
l Sheng (male)
l Dan (female)
l Jing (painted face)
l Chou (Clown)

4. Sheng (male)
l Lao Sheng (middle-aged or elderly
gentleman with black or white beard)
l Hsiao Sheng (young man)
l Wu Sheng (military man or martial art
expert)

5. Dan (female)
l Lao dan (elderly noble woman)
l Qing yi (good and virtuous woman)
l Hua dan (charming and open girl)
l Wu dan (young, strong female, good at
fighting and riding)

6. Mei Lanfang

7. Mei lan fang

8. Jing (painted face)
l Nine colours, each representing a difficult
personality
l Mixed colors indicates complex personality

10. Chou (clown)
l Person of low social standard; talks in a
joking manner
l Wen chou : emphasizes on funny speech
l Wu chou : breaks the tension in serious
plays

11. Principle techniques
l ‘Chang’ (singing)
l ‘Nian’ (speaking)
l ‘Zuo’ (acting)
l ‘Da’ (fighting)

12. ‘Chang’ (singing)
l Different vocal techniques for different
roles
l Tempo changes according to the emotions
conveyed by the lyrics and the plot

13. ‘Nian’ (speaking)
l Speak in ‘jing bai’ instead of natural
dialogue
l Jing = currently used modern Mandarin
l Bai = the stage version of the dialogue,
spoken with an unnatural voice

14. ‘Zuo’ (acting)
l Simple stage set
l Performers use
symbolic techniques
to present the story
l Body movement
represents personality

15. ‘Da’ (fighting)
l Martial arts are widely
used
l Only show acrobatic
skills; not allowed to
make contact with
their weapons

16. Orchestra
l Is usually located at the right corner of the
stage
l Size is quite small, contains 4-8 players
l ‘Wu Chang’ (martial section)
l ‘Wei Chang’ (civil section)

17. ‘Wu Chang’
(martial art section)
l Consists of percussion
l ‘Danpigu’ plays the main role
l Others: a small gong, a large gong, and a pair of
cymbals
l Provides sound effects by punctuating the
performers’ speech and movements
l Other function: structural divisions

18. ‘Wei Chang’
(Civil section)
l Consists of strings and winds
l Main instruments: jinghu, jingerhu, and
yueqin

19. Peking Opera