General Introduction of Beijing Opera

BeijingOpera,alsocalled"EasternOpera,"isaprincipletraditioninChineseculture.ItiscalledBeijingOperabecauseitisformedinBeijing.

BeijingOperahasahistoryof200yearsinwhichitsfountainheadcanbedatedbacktooldlocaloperas,especiallyAnhuiOpera,whichwasverypopularinnorthernChinainthe18thcentury.In1790,thefirstAnhuiOperaperformancewasheldinBeijingtocelebratetheEmperor'sbirthday.Later,someotherAnhuiOperatroupeswentontoperforminBeijing.AnhuiOperawaseasytomoveandgoodatabsorbingtheactingstylesofothertypesofoperas.Beijingaccumulatedmanylocaloperas,whichmadeAnhuiOperaimprovequickly.

Attheendofthe19thcenturyandthebeginningofthe20thcentury,aftermergingfor10years,BeijingOperafinallyformed,andbecamethebiggestofalloperasinChina.

BeijingOperahasarichlistofplays,artists,troupes,audiences,andwideinfluences,makingittheforemostoperainChina.

BeijingOperaisacomprehensiveactingart.Itblendssinging,reading,acting,fighting,anddancingtogetherbyusingactingmethodstonarratestoriesanddepictcharacters.TherolesinBeijingOperaincludethemale,female,painted-face,andcomedicroles.Besides,thereareothersupportingrolesaswell.Inaddition,thetypesoffacialmake-up,especiallyconcerningthecolor,arethemostparticularartinBeijingOpera,becausetheycansymbolizethepersonalities,characteristics,andfatesoftheroles.

Itiswidelyacknowledgedthattheendofthe18thcenturywasthemostflourishingperiodinthedevelopmentofBeijingOpera.Duringthistime,therewerelotsofperformancesnotonlyinfolkplaces,butalsointhepalace.ThenobleclasslovedBeijingOpera;thesuperiorelementsinthepalaceplayedapositiveroleintheperformances,make-up,andstagesetting.Themutualinfluencebetweenpalaceandnon-governmentplacespromotedBeijingOpera'sdevelopment.

Fromthe1920'stothe1940'soflastcenturywasthesecondflourishingperiodofBeijingOpera.Thesymbolofthisperiodwastheemergenceoflotsofsectsoftheopera.Thefourmostfamouswere"Mei"(MeiLanfang1884-1961),"Shang"(ShangXiaoyun1900-1976),"Cheng"(ChengYanqiu1904-1958),and"Xun"(XunHuisheng1900-1968).Everysecthaditsgroupsofactorsandactresses.Furthermore,theywereextremelyactiveonthestageinBeijing,Shanghai,andsoon.TheartofBeijingOperawasverypopularatthattime.

MeiLanfangwasoneofthemostprominentBeijingOperaartistsintheinternationalworld.Hestudiedoperawhenhewas8,andbegantoperformonthestagewhenhewas11.Inhismorethan50yearsofperforming,Meicreatedanddevelopedmanyactingphases,suchasdancing,singing,make-up,andcostumes,allofwhichhelpedhimformhisownstyle.In1919,MeiledtheoperatroupetoJapan,whichwasthefirsttimethatChinabegantospreadtheartofBeijingoperaoverseas.In1930,MeiLanfangledatroupetotheUnitedStatesandgainedgreatsuccessandsignificantrecognition.In1934,hewasinvitedtovisitEurope,andwasgivenmuchattentionbytheEuropeanoperaworld.Later,otherplacesintheworldconsideredBeijingOperaastheperformingsectofChina.

Afterthereformandopening-uppolicy,BeijingOperahadnewdevelopment.EspeciallyasthetraditionalquintessenceofChina,BeijingOperagotgreatsupportfromthegovernment.Today,theBeijingChang'anOperaHouseholdsinternationalcompetitionseveryyearthatattractmanypeoplefromvariouscountries.BeijingOperaisalsothereservedprogramforthecommunicationbetweenChineseandmanyforeigncultures.