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Sheng Role
The is a role type in Chinese opera for dignified and respectable male characters such as Confucian scholars, nobles, or heads of households. They may be portrayed by either male actors or actresses. Subtypes The has numerous subtypes. The two major subdivisions are the (older gentlemen) and (younger gentlemen), with another important subtype being the (martial men). Peking opera troupes will always have a actor. A actor may be added to play roles fitting to his age. In addition to these main , the troupe will also have a secondary . The () is a dignified older role, usually distinguished by a long, thin, three-part beard. These characters have a gentle and cultivated disposition and typically wear long robes with water sleeves, high-soled boots, and fabric headdresses. A subcategory is (), older generals who have combat skills. They wear armors and helmets instead of robes and fabric hats. Guan Yu, the Chinese god of sworn brotherhood, loyalty and righteousness, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Opera
Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more than a thousand years, reaching its mature form in the 13th century, during the Song dynasty (960–1279). Early forms of Chinese theater are simple, but over time various art forms such as music, song and dance, martial arts, acrobatics, costume and make-up art, as well as literary art forms were incorporated to form traditional Chinese opera. Performers had to practice for many years to gain an understanding of the roles. Exaggerated features and colors made it easier for the audience to identify the roles portrayed. There are over a hundred regional branches of traditional Chinese opera today. In the 20th century the Peking opera emerged in popularity and has come to known as the "national theatre" of China, but other genres like Yue ope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song often came into conflict with the contemporaneous Liao, Western Xia and Jin dynasties in northern China. After retreating to southern China, the Song was eventually conquered by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The dynasty is divided into two periods: Northern Song and Southern Song. During the Northern Song (; 960–1127), the capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng) and the dynasty controlled most of what is now Eastern China. The Southern Song (; 1127–1279) refers to the period after the Song lost control of its northern half to the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars. At that time, the Song court retreated south of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meng Xiaodong
Meng Xiaodong () (December 9, 1908 – May 26, 1977) was a Chinese actress of Peking opera who specialized in old ''Sheng (Chinese opera), sheng'' (male) roles. Life In August 1925, Meng met Mei Lanfang and they co-starred in the film ''Yóu lóng xī fèng'' (游龙戏凤). In 1927 Meng married Mei Lanfang as his Concubinage, concubine. At that time, Mei Lanfang already had two wives, official wife Wang Minghua and concubine Fu Zhifang. In August 1930, Mei's aunt died. The Mei family did not recognize the marriage between Meng and Mei and refused to allow Meng to wear mourning clothes as their daughter-in-law. The two then broke up but reunited soon after. However, in mid-1931, they officially broke up. Under the mediation of Meng's lawyer, Tcheng Yu-hsiu, Zheng Yuxiu, and Du Yuesheng, Mei paid Meng 40,000 Yuan (currency), yuan in alimony. Two years later, in 1933, Meng announced that she had ended relations with Mei and his family on ''Ta Kung Pao''. In the spring of 1949, Men ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ping Opera
Pingju or Ping opera () is a form of Chinese opera from northern China. History Pingju originated in Tangshan, Hebei, near the city of Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ..... Among all China's regional operas, it was the most famous in the Republican period for its passionate performances and romantic plots. Movies based upon and incorporating Pingju include Zhang Shichuan's 1936 '' Red Begonia'' ''Hǎitáng Hóng''), starring Bai Yushuang. Performers Bai Yushuang was known as the "Queen of Pingju". Other famed performers include Xin Fengxia and her mentor Hua Furong. References Bibliography * Further reading * Chinese opera Culture in Hebei Tangshan {{China-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taiwanese Opera
Taiwanese opera () commonly known as Ke-Tse opera or Hokkien opera, is a form of traditional drama originating in Taiwan. Taiwanese opera uses a stylised combination of both the literary and colloquial registers of Taiwanese Hokkien. Its earliest form adopted elements of folk songs from Zhangzhou, Fujian, China. It’s plots are traditionally drawn from folk tales of the southern Fujian region, though in recent years stories are increasingly set in Taiwan itself. Taiwanese opera was later exported to other Hokkien-speaking areas, such as Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Fujian, China. Taiwanese opera is considered as the embodiment of Taiwanese history and tradition because the political identity crisis of Taiwan shaped its development. History Origin Taiwanese opera is the only form of Han traditional drama known to have originated in Taiwan, specifically in Yilan. In the early stages, most Han immigrants in Yilan were from Zhangzhou, Fujian, bringing with them the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teochew Opera
Teochew opera or Chaozhou opera, Chiuchow opera (especially in Hong Kong), is one of the many variants of Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Chaoshan region. It is popular in eastern Guangdong, southern Fujian, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia. Like all versions of Chinese opera, it is a traditional Chinese art form, involving music, singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or with ..., martial arts, acrobatics and acting. References External links * Chinese opera Teochew culture {{Chinese opera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yue Opera
Yue opera, also known as Shaoxing opera, is the Chinese opera genre. Only Peking opera is more popular nationwide. Originating in Shengzhou, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 1906, Yue opera features actresses in male roles as well as femininity in terms of singing, performing, and staging. Despite its rural origin, it has found a second home in Shanghai, China's most affluent city, where it managed to out-compete both Peking opera and the native Shanghai opera. As Yue opera uses is performed speaking in a variant of Wu, it is most popular in Wu-speaking areas including southern Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. In addition, the opera also has a sizeable following in Hong Kong due to Shanghainese migration to the city. Like its performers, Yue opera fans are mainly women, resulting in a disproportionate number of love stories in its repertoire and very little acrobatic fighting. History Pre-history Prior to 1906, the antecedent to Yue opera was story-singing. It was initiall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lingzi
(), also called (), refers to a traditional Chinese ornament which uses long pheasant tail feather appendages to decorate some headdress in , Chinese opera costumes. In Chinese opera, the not only decorative purpose but are also used express thoughts, feelings, and the drama plot. They are typically used on the helmets of warriors, where a pair of pheasant feathers extensions are the indicators that the character is a warrior figure; the length of the feathers, on the other hand, is an indicator of the warrior's rank. The are generally about five or six feet long. Most of the time, are used to represent handsome military commanders. Origins It is suggested that the use of originated from the (), a form of used by the military officials since the ancient times. Similar headgear decorated with pairs of worn the military can be seen in paintings dating to the Ming dynasty. During the Warring States period, King Wuling of Zhao adopted the policy and a -style which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Taizu Of Song
Emperor Taizu of Song (21 March 927 – 14 November 976), personal name Zhao Kuangyin, courtesy name Yuanlang, was the founder and first emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 960 until his death in 976. Formerly a distinguished military general of the Later Zhou dynasty, Emperor Taizu came to power after staging a coup d'état and forcing Emperor Gong, the last Later Zhou ruler, to abdicate the throne in his favour. During his reign, Emperor Taizu conquered the states of Southern Tang, Later Shu, Southern Han and Jingnan, thus reunifying most of China proper and effectively ending the tumultuous Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. To strengthen his control, he lessened the power of military generals and relied on civilian officials in administration. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Zhao Kuangyi (Emperor Taizong). Early life Born in Luoyang to military commander Zhao Hongyin, Zhao Kuangyin grew up excelling in mounted archery. Once, riding ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a way of life, Confucianism developed from what was later called the Hundred Schools of Thought from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BCE). Confucius considered himself a transmitter of cultural values inherited from the Xia (c. 2070–1600 BCE), Shang (c. 1600–1046 BCE) and Western Zhou dynasties (c. 1046–771 BCE). Confucianism was suppressed during the Legalist and autocratic Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE), but survived. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), Confucian approaches edged out the "proto-Taoist" Huang–Lao as the official ideology, while the emperors mixed both with the realist techniques of Legalism. A Confucian revival began during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). In the late Tang, Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guan Yu
Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on most of his early exploits. Guan Yu played a significant role in the events leading up to the end of the Han dynasty and the establishment of Liu Bei's state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. While he is remembered for his loyalty towards Liu Bei, he is also known for repaying Cao Cao's kindness by slaying Yan Liang, a general under Cao Cao's rival Yuan Shao, at the Battle of Boma. After Liu Bei gained control of Yi Province in 214, Guan Yu remained in Jing Province to govern and defend the area for about seven years. In 219, while he was away fighting Cao Cao's forces at the Battle of Fancheng, Liu Bei's ally Sun Quan broke the Sun–Liu alliance and sent his general Lü Meng to conquer Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province. B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Sleeves
Water sleeves () refer to white silk extensions to the cuff of garment sleeves used in Chinese opera. They are worn by both male and female characters of the higher social class. They are so named because performers can use them to produce movements like the ripples of water. The handling of water sleeves to express different feelings is a difficult technique which takes years to master. History Although long and wide sleeves were used by imperial Chinese politicians for centuries, water sleeves did not appear in Chinese theatre until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). They were extensions of the 1-inch cuff in regular dresses, which protected the sleeves from wear and tear. Originally water sleeves were made of cloth, but these were replaced by silk ones in later years. Techniques Water sleeves are used to express elegance and emotions, whose techniques will require years of rigorous training to master. The most common basic water sleeves skills () include the transition sleeve, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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