Beijing Opera is the
national opera in China. It has a history of
about 200 years as far back as the Qing Dynasty.
Beijing Opera combines four
artistic methods to present a story: singing,
dialogue, acting and acrobatic martial arts.
There are four main roles in the
Beijing Opera performance:
Sheng (生), Dan (旦), Jing (净), and Chou (丑).
Sheng is the male role, Dan is the female role, Jing
is the painted face male and Chou is the comedy
role.
Peking Opera uses variety of colors in facial makeup to
depict and exaggerate a performers' features. Each role
has its own facial makeup style.
