The gem -- Beijing Opera
❖ Chinese traditional opera is considered one of the world's three ancient operas, together with Greek tragedy and comedy, and Indian Sanskrit opera. Among the more than 360 ancient local operas in China, Peking Opera is known as China’s national opera, despite its comparatively young 200-year history.
The development
❖ In addition to more formal reform measures, Beijing opera troupes also adopted more unofficial changes. Some of those seen in traditional works have been called "technique for technique's sake".
❖ This has been attributed both to a decrease in performance quality and an inability of the traditional opera form to capture modern life.
❖ The influence of Western culture has also left the younger generations impatient with the slow pacing of Beijing opera.
❖ The artists of Hubei and Anhui troupes often jointly performed on the stage and absorbed repertoires, music, arias and performing techniques of each other and from other operas like Kun Qu, Qin Qiang and Bang Zi, as well as the local dialect and customs of Beijing. Its repertoires mainly depict fairy tales of preceding dynasties and important historical events.
Origin
❖ Although it is called Peking Opera, the origins of Peking Opera are not in Beijing but in the provinces of Anhui (East China) and Hubei (South-central China). Its rise is due in great part to the favorable eyes and patronage of the imperial royalties.
❖ It was after 1840 that Peking Opera formally took shape, growing even faster during the reign of the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908), who was an opera aficionado. Classic Peking Opera repertoires and the names of the firstgeneration masters were on the lips of the people in Beijing, and eventually prevalent around the country.
❖ Peking Opera is a purely Chinese opera form dating back to the year 1790, when the famous Four Anhui Opera Troupes first came to Beijing in celebration of the 80th birthday of Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The tour was a hit and the troupes stayed. In 1828, some famous Hubei Opera Troupe players came to Beijing.
生 Sheng: main male role
旦 Dan: young and beautiful female
净
Jing: painted faced male
பைடு நூலகம்
丑
❖ Chou: clown, male or female
The status of Beijing Opera
❖ During the second half of the 20th century, Beijing opera witnessed a steady decline in audience numbers.
❖ In response, Beijing opera began to see reform starting in the 1990s.
❖ Such reforms have taken the form of creating a school of performance theory to increase performance quality, utilizing modern elements to attract new audiences, and performing new plays outside of the traditional canon.