ARTS-CHINA: The Many Faces of Peking Opera

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Pushpa Adhikari

BEIJING, Jan 18 2000 (IPS) - It is but one facet of one of China’s enduring art forms, but the face painting done on the performers of the famous Peking Opera is fascinating in itself.

And although face painting is also popular in Japanese theatre and in some Western stage forms — think circus clown, for example — that on display in the Peking Opera offers a range so wide that it can take some time for a beginner to figure out which colours and strokes are supposed to go with which character and mood.

But Denise Henry, who has spent the last two years studying the Peking Opera, says the effort is well worth it.

Henry, an American national who has also studied the Japanese ‘kabuki’ and Korean traditional dance, also says that although “anyone can appreciate the spectacular beauty of the Peking Opera”, taking time to understand things like the characters, and the colours they put on, only makes the experience more enjoyable.

The origins of Chinese opera can be traced back to China’s earliest folk songs and dances. But Peking Opera itself made its first appearance only in the 11th century, reaching its peak sometime in the mid-1800s.

The stories are usually taken from either traditional Chinese or Buddhist tales, with four main character types: a hero, a heroine, a male antagonist and a clown. The background helps cue the audience regarding the mood of the scene and is adjusted to suit the dominant character onstage.

But aside from these and the elaborate costumes donned by the performers, the colours and patterns on the actors’ faces also help the audience distinguish one from the other.

The Peking Opera face palette includes red, pink, purple, white, yellow, gold, silver, green, brown, black and blue. The different patterns are created either by rubbing or spreading, or by special strokes.

A face that is basically red indicates a character who is warm, loyal and good-hearted. Pink also reflects an honest character, but one who is elderly. Black symbolises straightforwardness as well as honesty, while a male character with a predominantly yellow face is fierce and ambitious — yet also cool-headed.

Purple is reserved for sophisticated, morally upright characters. Blue-faced characters, meanwhile, are staunch, calculating and often quite ferocious. Those with green faces are headstrong and impetuous while gold and silver often indicate god characters or other supernatural beings.

White make-up in the Peking Opera actually comes in two types: oil-based, which signifies a solemn but arrogant person, and water- based, powdered white, indicating a sinister, treacherous man.

Chinese theatre experts say the art of face painting goes back some 2,400 years, when people of the warring states of Wu and Yue dyed their faces and even their teeth with various colours as their prepared for battle, apparently to make them look ferocious.

But such ritual colouring and decorating of the face was later used in more peaceful pursuits, notably in the performance arts.

By the time of the Han dynasty (206-220 AD), dancers and actors were wearing decorative masks in performances that were the forerunners of today’s operas. But facial painting remained rudimentary until the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

Examples preserved from the era indicate that the designs then were largely limited to eyebrows and eyes. Gradually, though, painting was extended to other parts of the face, and the make-up used in major operas became standardised to a certain extent.

At the time, relatively few colours were used — red, purple, black, blue and yellow — but each had its own symbolic significance. Black, for example, indicated an honest, serious character, while yellow expressed a scheming, calculating individual.

Multicoloured patterns were also employed occasionally, but the ornate designs seen today were not really developed until well into the Qing dynasty.

Henry points out that while Western theatre is largely based on the attempt to portray reality onstage, Chinese traditional theatre is based on a diametrically opposite concept. This means, she says, that reality is discarded in favour of symbols that reveal the inner meaning of every word and gesture.

These symbols must not only present the genuine meaning and emotions of a story, she stresses, but must also be aesthetically pleasing.

The Peking Opera was declared feudal, reactionary and degenerate by China’s Communist leaders decades ago. In the last several years, though, the Opera has been making a comeback as the country underwent reforms. The dress and make-up are the same as those employed 200 years ago, and the staging and orchestral accompaniment go back even further.

The Peking Opera has also been well preserved in Taiwan, where it remains one of the most popular forms of entertainment.