Introduction of Beijing Opera

Beijing opera is one of China's national treasures and has a history of 200 years. In the 55th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty(1790), the four big Huiban opera troupes entered the capital and combined with Kunqu opera, Yiyang opera, Hanju opera and Luantan in Beijing's theatrical circle of the time. Through a period of more than half a century of integrating various kinds of opera, there evolved the present Peking opera, one of the most popular opera genres in China. With its richness of repertoire and great number of actors/performers, the Beijing Opera captivates audiences and has had a profound influence on China and its people.

Beijing Opera is a synthesis of stylized action, singing, dialogue and mime, acrobatic fighting and dancing, which represent a story or depict different characters and their feelings of gladness, anger, sorrow, happiness, surprise, fear and sadness. In Beijing Opera, there are four main types of roles: sheng (young male) dan (young female), jing (elder male) and chou (clown, male or female). The characters may be either loyal or treacherous, beautiful or ugly, good or bad, with their images being vividly manifested.

The repertoire of Beijing Opera is mainly engaged in legends of ancient dynasties, important historical events, stories about emperors, ministers, generals, geniuses and great beauties from the ancient times to present.

The music of Beijing Opera is of the "plate and cavity style." Its melody of harmonious rhythms is graceful and pleasing to the ears. The melody may be classified into two groups: "Xipi" and "Erhong." The performance is accompanied by a tune played on wind instruments, percussion instruments and stringed instruments.
The costumes in Peking opera are hand-made embroidery, adopting the traditional Chinese patterns.

The Peking opera actors put on different kinds of facial make-up that are rich and various, depicting different characters and remarkable images. There are numerous fixed editions of facial make-up.

Since Mei Lanfang, the grand master of Peking opera, visited Japan in 1919, Peking opera has become more and more popular with people all over the world.

Peking Opera House of Beijing has been invited to perform in the United States, England, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Turkey, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong. The performances were highly appreciated by foreign audiences.