Chinese Opera

Chinese Opera, term used either to describe any of the nearly 300 regional types of traditional Chinese drama with music, or more specifically to refer to the Peking opera, which has become the dominant and best-known type.

The first references to such dramas can be found in the records of the Tang dynasty (618-907), but the earliest dramas that have survived date from the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1206-1368). Little is known of them beyond the few surviving texts, however, and the history of the precursors of Peking opera proper begins in the early 16th century. The main forms that evolved around this time included gaoqiang, a folk style based in the south involving local dialects and musical improvisation; the clapper opera (so called because of the prominent part played by wooden clappers, or more usually a woodblock), a similar folk style from the north; kunchu, a more refined, aristocratic style based on the Yuan literary traditions; and pihuang, derived partly from the clapper opera and other folk-based traditions, which became the direct forerunner of Peking opera (jingzhu). The beginnings of Peking opera are usually dated to 1790, when pihuang performers came to Beijing (Peking) to perform for the 80th birthday of the Qing dynasty Emperor Qianlong (Ch'ien Lung). For the first half of the 19th century it was considered a vulgar entertainment, but towards the end of the century it received notable patronage from the Empress Dowager Cixi (Tz'u-Hsi), and began to be considered more worthy of serious artistic consideration. It flourished in the first half of the 20th century, becoming one of the most commercially successful forms of Chinese music, and since 1949 has undergone profound changes in Communist China: it has largely turned away from its traditional subject matter in favour of revolutionary stories; casts have been of mixed sex for the first time; and Western instruments have been introduced.

Traditional Peking opera stories were taken from Yuan and Ming dynasty (1368-1644) dramas, the main subjects being courtly love and military exploits. The use of the stage, props and scenery, and the actors' gestures and speech are conventionalized rather than realistic in the Western manner. A chair may represent a throne, a bench, or a tower, depending on how it is used; different coloured flags represent the wind or water; and specific gestures are used to represent emotions, or to give information about the context of the scene (night or day, indoors or out). Actors specialize in one of four main character types: sheng, the leading male characters; dan, the female characters (played by male actors); jing, subsidiary male characters, characterized by painted faces; and chou, clownish characters who provide the main humour of a performance. Older sheng roles sing in a natural, fairly deep range, while both younger sheng (playing scholars and lovers) and dan roles sing in falsetto; the dan falsetto is particularly nasal and the vocal delivery of all the singers, like that of the spoken dialogue, is highly stylized—only the chou's delivery is in a normal speaking voice.

The orchestra for the Peking opera includes percussion, string, and wind groups. The percussion, featuring gongs, cymbals, drums, and wooden clappers, is particularly prominent in scenes of fighting, but the small xiaogu drum is used to direct the tempo of the music throughout. The main melody lines are carried by the two-stringed bowed instruments, the jinghu (which usually accompanies the male characters), and the larger, lower-pitched erhu (which accompanies the dan roles). This group also includes the pipa, the yueqin, and the sanxian, which are all plucked. The wind instruments, such as the double reed suona and the bamboo flute dizu, play the least prominent role, mainly being reserved for specific types of scene such as a wedding. In recent times, Western instruments have also been used in this way, supplementing the main orchestra in the loudest sections.