Beijing Opera

Peking opera is a purely Chinese opera form which dates back to the year 1790.Chinese Jewelry,Tibet Jewelry,Tibet Collections. That year four local opera troupes of Anhui Province came to Beijing on a performance tour on the order of the imperial court. The tour was a hit and the troupes stayed. The artists absorbed the tunes of the Hubei local opera and drew on the best of Kun Qu, Qin Qiang and Bang Zi and other local operas.

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"Sheng, dan, jing, chou," for instance, are just the terms for four different types of roles. "sheng" is the positive male role, "dan" is the positive female role, "jing" is a supporting male role with striking character and "chou" is the clown. Every type has its telltale facial makeup and decoration

But actually, "piao you" means Peking opera fans, "piao fang" means the place where fans meet to amuse themselves and "xia hai" means turning professional. Chinese Jewelry,Tibet Jewelry,Tibet Collections. When you come across with a small group of Peking opera fans singing in a street corner, that corner can be considered a "street piao fang." There is no lacking of social celebrities among Peking opera fans. Emperor Guang Xu of Qing Dynasty, for example, was not only a good amateur Peking opera singer, but was also a good drummer in the Peking opera orchestra (the drummer plays the role of the director of the orchestra). The Empress Dowager was an avid Peking opera fan, too. The huge three-storey theater in the Summer Palace is a proof of her love for Peking opera.

Chinese Pi Ying Opera

Chinese Pi Ying Xi, also called leather-silhouette show or shadow play, came into existence almost a thousand years ago. It is said in Yuan Dynasty it once spread to west Asia and even as far as Europe. The paper or leather cut silhouette is reflected onto a piece of white cloth and performers behind the scene control it to walk, dance, or do various kinds of acts by the strings connected to the joints, with companion of music and songs.

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Among the many types of Pi Ying Xi, the silhouette show of donkey leather in Tangshan, Hebei Province and of ox leather in northwest China are renowned for their exquisite cutting and distinctive folk music.

About its origin there is a beautiful love story. It has it that, Liu Zhe, the Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, liked all kinds of entertainment and kept many artists in his palace. Among the musicians Li Yannian was the best. Not only was he good at playing all kinds of musical instruments, but also could he improvise songs. One year the King of Qiuzi, a tribe in the northwest, came to present tribute. On the reception banquet Li Yannian was ordered to give a performance and he sang about an exceeding beauty. All the people were fascinated and lost in the graceful scene he created. Later when someone reported to the Emperor Wu that Li's sister was such a beauty, the emperor was so pleased as to call her in. And finding she was pretty beyond description, he fell in love with her at the first sight. She received great favor and gave birth to a son the next year.

But good times did not last long for she fell ill seriously afterwards. As the emperor visited her.she covered her face with quilt and said, 'I hope your majesty can take good care of my brother and son for the sake of our past.' But she refused his request of taking a last look of her, 'A woman makes up to please her lover but I am not as good-looking as before and not dressed up. Please leave me as I am.' So finally the emperor went away disappointedly. As explained to her maid she said,'His majesty favors me because of my appearance. I'm no longer pretty with illness and he will forget all my goodness at my sight. But otherwise he'll remember me forever.'

After her death the emperor missed her so much that a necromancer was summoned to call back her spirit. Though his mind racked, the necromancer found no way to meet this expectation. In the evening when pacing up and down in his room, he saw his shadow reflected on the wall. Thus an idea was hit upon out of the predicament. He copied the concubine's picture onto a piece of leather and after coloring and cutting a lifelike silhouette was made. With all the details well prepared, Emperor Wu was invited to the room. From far away, he saw his concubine's silhouette came up slowly and gracefully, knelt down respectfully and remained there. Just as he was approaching, the necromancer stopped him and said the spirit needed a respectful distance. And hundreds of years later Pi Ying Xi was passed down from the descendants of the necromancer.