Chinese opera arts
Opera is the most ancient form of theater that still flourishes in china today .it combines acting , singing , poetry , dialogue and acrobatics . most of the foreign tourist really enjoy the exotic style , colorful costumes ,and the skillful display of martial arts .
Opera has its origin in primitive songs and dances of ancient times .in the feudal society , opera art underwent 3 major developments .the first major development of traditional Chinese opera occurred in the 13th century when the Mongols established the Yuan Dynasty .people were divided into 10 classes . scholars were in the 9th class. in face their “ under class” social status , han scholars of the yuan dy were forced to adopt new way of life to survive . some one lived as hermits , others became farmers , some made a life by selling their calligraphic works . among them , a particular group –playwrights appeared . beyong the yuan rulers expectation , their suppression of han intellectuals led to the development and popularity of the Zaju dramatic form . zuju consisted of northern and southern schools . toward the end of the 14 century , when the ming dy began , southern school of zaju maintained in dominant position . this indicates the second major development of Chinese drama . the third major development of traditional Chinese opera occurred towards the end of the Ming Dy , hundreds of new forms of opera emerged through the country . Beijng opera is usually regarded as a national form and all others are classified as “local opera.”
It is generally believed that traditional Chinese opera has taken shape as an artistically advanced from of theater . it conveys the idea of time and space to the audience through staged performance , and it features unique solo singing , refined acting , rich percussion and irresistibly funny comedians .
There are four main roles in Beijing opera : the sheng, dan , jing ,chou .the sheng are the leading male who paly scholars , officials , generals , etc. .the dang are the female roles .the jing are the painted –face roles , which represent warriors , heroes , statesmen, adventurers and demons . the term of clown in Beijing opera is called chou. Their task is to keep the audience laughing .
There is one fact is noteworthy . this traditional Chinese art has been somewhat modernized :in 1987 , a well known Beijing opera piece called “ the phoenix return to its nest “ performed in english was put on stage in the people’s theater in bj . the performances were all American artists from the university of Hawaii . the modern version of the beijing opera drew a lot of attention from both eastern and western peopole .