What is the role of the Chou in Peking opera?
The Chou (丑) is a male clown role. The Chou usually plays secondary roles in a troupe. Indeed, most studies of Peking opera classify the Chou as a minor role. Chou roles can be divided into Wen Chou, civilian roles such as merchants and jailers, and Wu Chou, minor military roles.
What are the Chou roles?
Chou roles can be divided into Wen Chou, civilian roles such as merchants and jailers, and Wu Chou, minor military roles. The Wu Chou combines comic acting and acrobatics. Chou characters are generally amusing and likable, if a bit foolish.
Where is Peking Opera from?
The art form is also preserved in Taiwan, where it is also known as Guójù ( Chinese: 國劇; lit. 'National opera'). It has also spread to other regions such as the United States and Japan. Peking opera features four main role types, sheng (gentlemen), dan (women), jing (rough men), and chou (clowns).
What does Chou mean in Chinese clowns?
The Chou is a male clown role. The actor's nose is always painted with white powder, making him easily recognizable. In Chinese, 'chou' means "ugly", and the idea is that a combination of the clown's ugliness and laughter can drive away evil spirits.
How can you identify a Chou in Peking opera?
Chou (the Comedy Role) 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.
What are the characters of Peking opera?
The roles in Peking opera are differentiated into fixed character types: sheng (male role), dan (female role), jing (painted faces), and chou (male clowns). Different singing and acting techniques gave birth to various schools. Each type of character has its own set of performance conventions.
What is sheng in Peking opera?
The sheng is a role type in Chinese opera for dignified and respectable male characters such as Confucian scholars, nobles, or heads of households. They may be portrayed by either male actors or actresses.
What do the Chou use for his solo performance?
The Chou actor often uses the guban in solo performance, especially when performing Shu Ban, light-hearted verses spoken for comedic effect. The clown is also connected to the small gong and cymbals, percussion instruments that symbolize the lower classes and the raucous atmosphere inspired by the role.
Who is the main male role in the Peking opera?
The four basic roles, each of which has a number of subtypes, are Sheng (male), Dan (female), Jing (painted face), and Chou (male clown).
How many roles are there in Peking opera?
four typesHangdang is the general term for role types in Peking opera. As we all know, there are four types of role in Peking opera today – namely, the sheng (male role), dan (female role), jing (painted face) and chou (clown).
What is Qingyi?
Qingyi is the main woman roles in traditional Chinese drama. Qingyi is the most important role in Peking Opera and plays dignified, serious, and decent characters, which are mostly wives or mothers. The roles dress in yellow clothes and feature a small range of motion, and singingwith a pure and high-pitched quality.
What is 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 head-dress and military weapons.
What is Wenchang in Peking Opera?
The instrumental resources used in the popular Chinese theater form known as Beijing Opera can be divided into two groups: melodic or lyrical instruments, collectively referred to as the 'wenchang' ('civil section'); and percussive or military instruments, collectively referred to as the 'wuchang' ('martial section').
What is Chou Theatre?
The Chou is the clown role in Chinese opera. The Chou usually plays secondary roles in a troupe.
Which of the following face paintings refers to the clown or Chou in Chinese opera?
Jiang Gan - The clown or chou in Chinese Opera has special makeup patterns called xiaohualian (the petty painted face).
What costume is used in Peking Opera?
xueziThe costume worn most widely by ordinary roles of both genders in Peking Opera as casual clothes is called the “xuezi.” It is made in various colors.
Who plays the role and character of a vivacious and unmarried woman?
15. Huadan An unmarried, vivacious woman. 16. Jing Jing is a painted face male role who plays either primary or secondary roles.
What is the costume of Peking opera?
Known in Chinese as “xingtou” (costumes of actors) or “juzhuang” (Peking Opera costumes), these general terms describe the clothing worn by various characters in Peking Opera. With exquisite embroidery, exaggerated patterns and bright colors, the costumes give the audience a sense of luxury and beauty.
Sheng 生
Sheng is the main male role. The senior male role is Laosheng, a dignified, older bearded man with a gentle and cultivated disposition, acting with decency. Laosheng roles include generals and high-ranking military officers with a more cultivated disposition than their real life counterparts.
Dan 旦
Any female role is referred to as Dan, for which there are several subtypes. Old women are played by Laodan; martial, acrobatic women are Wudan; young female warriors are Daomadan; virtuous and elite women are Zhengdan (Qingyi); vivacious , unmarried women are Huadan.
Jing 净
The Jing is a male role with a painted face, who may play either a primary or a secondary role. The performer needs to be a forceful character with a strong voice, and able to exaggerate gestures. There are 15 basic facial patterns, but over 1000 specific variations of these, with each one being unique to a particular character.
Chou 丑
The Chou is a male clown role. The actor's nose is always painted with white powder, making him easily recognizable. In Chinese, 'chou' means "ugly", and the idea is that a combination of the clown's ugliness and laughter can drive away evil spirits.
Jing (Painted Face Male Role)
A Jing role is a prominent male character with striking looks and high social position. Both positive and negative characters can be played in this 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.
Sheng Role
Sheng has some sub-categories, including Senior, Junior, Acrobatic, Junior Acrobatic, Child, Red-face, Poor, Official, etc. These are classified according to the role's characteristics. Male roles are either civil or military.
Dan Role
The Dan (Tan) or female role can be divided into six main parts which principally indicate character; Qing Yi (Ch'ing I), modest and virtuous; Hua dan (Hua tan) flirtatious; Gui Men Dan (Kuei Men Tan), a young, married girl; Dao Ma Dan (Tao Ma Tan), a stronger, more forceful character, usually a woman general; Wu Dan (Wu Tan), the female acrobat; and Lao Dan (Lao Tan), an old woman..
Jing Role
To see a Jing (ching) actor for the first time is a startling experience for the spectator. This part is more noted for courage and resourcefulness than for scholarly intelligence. Often playing the part of a high-ranking army general, the Jing actor with his painted face can also be seen as a warrior or official .
Chou Role
Lastly there is the Chou or comedy actor who generally plays the role of a dim but likeable and amusing character with blinking eyes and all the appropriate gestures. Sometimes the Chou can be a rascal, with a slightly wicked nature.
Etymology
"Peking opera" is the English term for the art form; the term entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1953. "Beijing opera" is a more recent equivalent.
History
Peking opera was born when the 'Four Great Anhui Troupes' brought Hui opera, or what is now called Huiju, in 1790 to Beijing, for the eightieth birthday of the Qianlong Emperor on 25 September. It was originally staged for the court and only made available to the public later.
Performers and roles
The Sheng ( 生) is the main male role in Beijing opera. This role has numerous subtypes. The laosheng is a dignified older role. These characters have a gentle and cultivated disposition and wear sensible costumes. One type of laosheng role is the hongsheng, a red-faced older male.
Training
An actor doing a backflip to show that his character is destroyed in battle by the hero Li Cunxiao.
Visual performance elements
Peking-opera performers use four main skills. The first two are song and speech. The third is dance-acting. This includes pure dance, pantomime, and all other types of dance. The final skill is combat, which includes both acrobatics and fighting with all manner of weaponry.
Aural performance elements
Vocal production in Peking opera is conceived of as being composed of "four levels of song": songs with music, verse recitation, prose dialogue, and non-verbal vocalizations. The conception of a sliding scale of vocalization creates a sense of smooth continuity between songs and speech.
Repertoire
The repertoire of Peking opera includes nearly 1,400 works. The plays are mostly taken from historical novels or traditional stories about civil, political and military struggles. Early plays were often adaptations from earlier Chinese theatre styles, such as kunqu. Nearly half of 272 plays listed in 1824 were derived from earlier styles.
