''Dan'' is the general name for female roles in
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 tha ...
, often referring to leading roles. They may be played by male or female actors. In the early years of
Peking opera, all roles were played by men, but this practice is no longer common in any Chinese opera genre.
Male ''dan'' actors
Male actors who specialize in playing ''dan'' are referred to as
''nándàn'' (男旦); the
practice
Practice or practise may refer to:
Education and learning
* Practice (learning method), a method of learning by repetition
* Phantom practice, phenomenon in which a person's abilities continue to improve, even without practicing
* Practice-based ...
arose during the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
due to imperial prohibitions against women performing on stage, considered detrimental to public morality. This practice of female impersonation by male actors was led by
Mei Lanfang, one of the most famous dan performer.
In the early years of
Peking opera, all roles were played by men. Wei Changsheng, a male performer in the Qing court, developed the , or "false foot" technique, to simulate the
bound feet of women and the characteristic gait that resulted from the practice.
In the late Qing dynasty and the early republic, the performance of actresses became popular.
As a result, women were playing increasingly important roles on stage.
But
Peking opera has been characterized by female impersonation for years, male dan actors were viewed as irreplaceable by female actors.
In
Peking opera, the famous Dans are
Mei Lanfang,
Cheng Yanqiu
Cheng Yanqiu (1 January 1904 – 9 March 1958) was a Chinese Peking opera singer. He is remembered as one of the 20th-century's great female impersonators, having specialized in Peking opera's female roles (''dan'').
Life
Cheng was born in Be ...
,
Shang Xiaoyun
Shang Xiaoyun () (1900 – April 19, 1976) was one of the four great twentieth century performers of the Dan role type in Peking opera with Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, and Xun Huisheng
__NOTOC__
Xun Huisheng (5 January 1900 - 26 Decem ...
, and
Xun Huisheng, all men.
In
Pingju, the "Four Big Famous Dans" ''Sì Dàmíng Dàn'') are
Ai Lianjun,
Bai Yushuang,
Liu Cuixia, and
Xi Cailian. There were also "Four Small Famous Dans" (四小名旦) Li Shifang, Mao Shilai,
Zhang Junqiu
Zhang Junqiu (October 14, 1920 – May 27, 1997) was a singer of Peking Opera. He played a female, or ''dan'' role. His hometown was Dantu, Jiangsu, and he was born in Beijing. His vocal style is called "Zhang ''pai''." It became popular in the 197 ...
, and
Song Dezhu.
Subtypes
There are a few different kinds of ''dan'' in Chinese opera. The commonly seen ones are 'Guimen Dan', 'Zheng Dan', 'Hua Dan', 'Daoma Dan', 'Wu Dan', 'Lao Dan' and 'Cai Dan'. Each different kind of dan has its own unique characteristics.
Guimen Dan
The Guimen Dan (, "
boudoir
A boudoir (; ) is a woman's private sitting room or salon in a furnished residence, usually between the dining room and the bedroom, but can also refer to a woman's private bedroom. The term derives from the French verb ''bouder'' (to sulk ...
-door role") is the role of the virtuous lady. They are usually young and unmarried women that have high social status.
Guimen Dan focus more on singing and they have little movement. They sing in a very high pitched and piercing voice. Opera schools in China have difficulty recruiting students for this kind of role, since it requires a good voice, good looks, and a good height. The most famous Guimen Dan of the last century was
Mei Lanfang. Examples of Guimen roles are
Du Liniang
Du Liniang () is a fictional character from Tang Xianzu's play ''The Peony Pavilion''. "Du" () is her surname; "Li" () means "beautiful", and "Niang" (), "young lady". Only sixteen years old, she encounters a dream lover Liu Mengmei when she fall ...
(杜丽娘) from ''
The Peony Pavilion'' (牡丹亭) and
Wang Baochuan (王宝钏)from ''Wujiapo'' (武家坡).
Zheng Dan
Zheng Dan (, "straight role"), also known as Qingyi (, "verdant-clad"), is the role of middle-aged women.
The characters are mostly married, dignified and elegant women and are mainly the roles of wives and mothers.
Similar to Guimen Dan, Qingyi's performance is characterized by singing and speeches, and the range of motion is relatively small.
They are also required not to show their teeth and not move their dresses when they perform.
Hua Dan
A Hua Dan (, "flowery role") is a lively, vivacious young
female
Female ( symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Fema ...
character.
They normally wear short blouses with pants or
skirts. Unlike the Guimen Dan, the Hua Dan focuses more on movements and speech. They must be able to speak quickly and clearly. They also need to project an image of cuteness and innocence as Hua Dan always represent
girls of around 12–16 years old. Often, a Guimen Dan is accompanied by a Hua Dan maid.
Hongniang of the ''
Romance of the Western Chamber'' and
Yan Xijiao (阎惜姣) of ''Wulongyuan'' (乌龙院) have involved the role of Hua Dan.
Daoma Dan
A Daoma Dan (, "sword-and-horse role") is a young female warrior. The style of performance usually involves horseriding with a spear. This category is superficially similar to Wu Dan, but there is a difference. Daoma Dan does not fight as much as Wu Dan. They do more stunts and dancing with the spear or whatever weapons they have. Daoma Dan needs to sing, which is performed while dancing or doing stunts and requires great stamina. Daoma Dan usually wears female warrior costumes with the flags behind. Examples of Daoma Dan are
Liang Hongyu
Liang Hongyu (1102–1135) was a Chinese general of the Song Dynasty. She became famous during the Jin–Song wars against the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty. Her real given name was lost in time. She was simply referenced in the official Chines ...
and
Mu Guiying. ''Daoma Dan'' is also the original Chinese title of the 1986 Hong Kong film ''
Peking Opera Blues'', directed by
Tsui Hark.
Wu Dan
The Wu Dan (, "martial role") specializes in
fighting with all kinds of
weapons. The Wu Dan engages in fighting with opponents besides just doing stunts. In the past, the Wu Dan needed to perform cai qiao (踩跷), which the Daoma Dan did not do. Cai qiao is a very difficult skill requiring the actress to stand on tip toe throughout the whole show. The actress will wear something akin to high heels shoes, but the heels of this special kind of shoe are so high that the actress is practically standing on tip toe. Fake small shoes are then attached underneath so that it appears that the actress has very small feet. It is an imitation of the
foot binding practice. Wu Dan must master many acrobatic movements. They specialize only in fighting hence they seldom sing or speak. Examples of Wu Dan are Zhizhu Jing (蜘蛛精) of ''Pansidong'' (盘丝洞) and
Hu Sanniang.
Lao Dan
The Lao Dan (, "old role") are older women. They have their own set of movements and gestures and singing styles, distinguished against the Guimen Dan. The Guimen roles sing in high pitched and piercing voices while the Lao Dan sing in a lower pitched voice. Lao Dan costumes are also less vibrant compared to other female roles and they have much simpler hair styles. An example is
Dowager She of ''
Yang Men Nu Jiang'' (杨门女将).
Cai Dan
The Cai Dan (, "colorful role") is a
clown
A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms.
History
The most ancient clowns have been found in ...
ish woman. Cai Dan do not act like normal Dan and they do clownish gestures. Their movements resemble normal daily movements and they speak in normal voices. Clownish dans are now normally performed by men; hence they are physically unattractive, which is exaggerated by their hideous make up.
Huashan
One of Mei Lanfang's most important contributions to Peking opera was in pioneering another type of role, the . This role type integrates the artistic characteristics of Zheng Dan, Hua Dan, and Daoma Dan, and creates a more versatile ''dan'' role.
See also
*
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 tha ...
*
Guzhuang (costume)
Notes
References
Citations
Bibliography
* .
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dan, Opera, Chinese
Chinese opera role types
Female stock characters