In Beijing Opera acting, attention is paid to both symbolism and the conversion of movements into graceful dancing.

Imitation brings out symbolism. A performer imitates and beautifies lifes actions. For example, he opens and closes a door here there is no door at all. !his is true of mounting or dismounting a horse, going upstairs or coming do nstairs, going on board a ship or leaving a ship. At the same time, movements on the Beijing Opera stage should be dance"li#e, have a rhythm and are pleasant to loo# at. !his necessitates exaggeration and pantomimic variations. A combination of symbolism and movement"to graceful"dancing conversion has resulted in conventionali$ed acting that is uni%ue to Beijing Opera. !hat is to say, many human actions have gradually been adapted for the theatrical stage and fallen into fixed patterns to become intricate conventions people are familiar ith. hich generations of performers have conformed ith and hich

&onventionali$ed acting in Beijing Opera does not come into existence overnight. It is accumulated by a succession of performers and passed do n from generatioin to generation. 'hile standards are to be follo ed, a brea# develop in the process of being inherited. In a theatrical company, performers abide by the rule of ( earing ragged clothes rather than the rong costume). A performer certainly #no s a play. 'earing hat costume ear hen he plays a certain role in rong costume does not accord ith the plot, not is it acceptable to the ith accepted routine is allo ed. Acting conventions

audience. &ostuming conventions are a spin"off of acting styli$ation* and , in turn, it reinforces acting styli$ation in Beijing Opera. As most Beijing Operas tell historical stories, the forms of costume are fixed and categori$ed. +enerally, theatrical costume is divided into five categories, mang - the ceremonial rove embroidered pei - mantle ith patters of four"toed dragon and sea" aves ears a yello orn robe by emperors or high"ran#ing officials., #ao - the ith python patterns is an emperor* and characters identity is easily #no n by hoever hat he arriors suit of armor., $he - the casual coat., ears a blue go n and a blac# hat a scholar. A as based on clothes people

orn by male or female. and yi - other costumes.. 'hoever ears.

Beijing Opera costume too# shape during the /ing 0ynasty but 'ear,

ore during the 1ing 0ynasty. the palace museum in Beijing #eeps a boo# titled An Outline of hich lists the costume of characters in close to 2,333 Beijing Operas. Facial ma#eup in Beijing Operas aims to exaggerate characters facial color and features according to re%uirements of portrayals. Face coloring for the sheng role, the delineation of eyebro s, the eye soc#ets and the mouth for the dan role, and face painting for the jing and chou roles all have such an effect. !he most characteristic are tie pian $i - pian $i is the short hair pasted on the forehead and sideburns. for the dan role and face painting for the jing and chou roles. !he greated benefit of tie pian $i is to chage the natural loo# of the players face. In the case of a male actor playing a dan role, this ma#es the face more feminie. 4sing colors to create facial images is a tradition in the history of the &hinese theater. !his applies mostly to jing and chou role types.

In the long process of development, every character in each opera has ac%uired a uni%ue ma#eup image, and such ma#eup conventions have and costume, %uestion.
!56 !6&57I/46 OF A&!I7+ I7 B68I7+ O96:A Beijing Opera, li#e other Asian theatrical styles such as #atha#ali and #abu#i, rely heavily on body gestures to convey meaning and emotion. Although singing is the more important aspect to Beijing Opera -hence, the name ;opera;., physicality and movement are just as vital to the sho . All movements have their o n symbolism and conventional meanings to them. !he movements are different for every body part. Hsiu, or sleeve movements are most important ith tan characters. !hese movements highlight the elegance of the costumes, and produce a beautficul aesthetic effect hen seen onstage. 5siu movements are to demostrate grace and beauty in &hinese drama. 0ifferent gestures are posed ith these flo ing costumes, such as upon entrance, hile sitting, standing up and exiting the stage. Although mainly seen ith tan actors, hsiu movements can be seen ith the ching, sheng and ch<ou characters as ell but ith added emotion that is according to their character -rage, brave, comic.. Shou, or hand movements, are precise adjustments ith the fingers to symboli$e different feelings. !here are many of these for each character, though just a fe are listed here. For example, the movement for embarassment in &hinese Opera is called chang shou and is performed by turning the palms up and folding over the thumb. Also, tu chih is an angry, hateful gesture that is performed by pointing at another character<s face, then the aist, then bac# to the face again. Foot movements, or chiao, are different for every character as ell. For tan actors, t'ao pu indictates grace and poise, but for a more manly al#, hsiao sheng is used. =i#e ise, the Ti'ui gestures -leg movements. display the different postures of the various actors but also emphasi$es that the body must be relaxed but in control the entire time hile onstage. Finally, the hand movements - ke po) are performed usually in conjuction ith the hands but there are many that are performed alone. For example, the pao ke po gesture indicates being cold onstage. Also, the ch'ui ke po indicates standing ith hanging arms, played usually by supernatural characters such as ghosts. !56 '4 5A7+ A&:OBA!> Besides artful gestures to convey emotion, Beijing Opera is a place of entertainment, hich reaches its climax ith the spectacle of the wu hang acrobats. >ince they do not spea#, these actors are not really actors at all but are simply a means to provide the audience ith more fun. !hey essentially are just an interlude, but a very talented interlude. &art heels, bac#flips and dives across the stage bring a hirl of excitement to the theatre hen they come on. It is a uni%ue and slightly strange addition that the 'esterner ould probably not understand at first. !he acrobats have nothing to do ith the sho but confide in the &hinese idea that the theatre is a place of general entertainment

on recognition from the audience. As soon

as a character comes onto the stage, the audience, on the basis of the characters facial ma#eup ould immediately #n hether the character is a #ind"hearted, evil, loyal, treacherous, good"loo#ing or ugly person. And this has an impact on the stage effect of a play in

Visual performance elements[edit]

Peking-opera performers utilize 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. All

of these skills are expected to be performed effortlessly, in keeping with the spirit of the art form.[ !"

Aesthetic aims and principles of movement[edit]

Peking opera follows other traditional #hinese arts in emphasizing meaning, rather than accuracy. The highest aim of performers is to put beauty into e$ery motion. %ndeed, performers are strictly criticized for lacking beauty during training.[ !" Additionally, performers are taught to create a synthesis between the different aspects of Peking opera. The four skills of Peking opera are not separate, but rather should be combined in a single performance. &ne skill may take precedence at certain moments during a play, but this does not mean that other actions should cease.[ '" (uch attention is paid to tradition in the art form, and gestures, settings, music, and character types are determined by long held con$ention. This includes con$entions of mo$ement, which are used to signal particular actions to the audience. )or example, walking in a large circle always symbolizes tra$eling a long distance, and a character straightening his or her costume and headdress symbolizes that an important character is about to speak. *ome con$entions, such as the pantomimic opening and closing of doors and mounting and descending of stairs, are more readily apparent.[ +"[,-" (any performances deal with beha$iors that occur in daily life. .owe$er, in accordance with the o$erriding principle of beauty, such beha$iors are stylized to be presented on stage. Peking opera does not aim to accurately represent reality. /xperts of the art form contrast the principles of Peking opera with the principle of Mo, mimes or imitation, that is found in western dramas. Peking opera should be suggesti$e, not imitati$e. The literal aspects of scenes are remo$ed or stylized to better represent intangible emotions and characters.[,0" The most common stylization method in Peking opera is roundness. /$ery motion and pose is carefully manipulated to a$oid sharp angles and straight lines. A character looking upon an ob1ect abo$e them will sweep their eyes in a circular motion from low to high before landing on the ob1ect. *imilarly, a character will sweep their hand in an arc from left to right in order to indicate an ob1ect on the right. This a$oidance of sharp angles extends to three dimensional mo$ement as well2 re$ersals of orientation often take the form of a smooth, *-shaped cur$e.[,3" All of these general principles of aesthetics are present within other performance elements as well. /4/ /5P6/**%&7 http899www.youtube.com9watch:$;<=lcfAs>yko

Another secret lies in good eyesight. 1ei reminds us that 9e#ing Opera performances re%uire excellent eyesight, as eye"expression is one of the most important body languages in the art. In order to maintain his eyes in good condition, 1ei raises pigeons and follo s their ;dances; in the s#y ith the na#ed eye. !his advice is indeed of a bit of Buddhism yet easy to understand, for eyes are the indo s of our soul and thus need to be sharpened by daily or#outs, not by atching !?, that<s for sure. >ay you are motivated by such a lifestyle@ then ta#e up a hobby, be it 9e#ing Opera or &hinese painting, because they are themselves excellent carriers of culture and effective tools for self"

cultivation as ell. In &hinese tradition, a ell"cultivated and disciplined person have good eyesight. 0on<t as# for physical evidence, it<s just ;/i; at or#. 5A70+6>!4:6>

ould certainly

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