First, the history of Peking Opera

(A) Before and after the formation of Peking Opera

Before the formation of Peking Opera, there were many popular operas in Beijing, including Kunqu Opera, which originated in Kunshan, Jiangsu, and Yiyang Opera, which originated in Yiyang, Jiangxi, and so on. Among them, Kunqu opera was favored by the ruling class and boarded the elegant hall. Because the drama only developed to elegance, it became a kind of drama monopolized by the court and gradually separated from the general public. After the middle period of Qianlong, Yiyang Opera (also known as Beijing Opera and Gaoqiang Opera) leapt above Kunqu Opera, which was very popular with the public and formed a powerful force. It was outstanding in popularity, understandability and easy learning, which was beyond Kunqu Opera's reach. Later (about 1779), Wei Changsheng, a famous actor, brought Shaanxi Opera, which was popular in northwest China, to Beijing from Sichuan, and it was a blockbuster because of its lively and delicate performance, popular lyrics and beautiful singing. After several years' prosperity, Wei Changsheng was forced to leave Yangzhou because of the prohibition of the Qing government.

In the fifty-fifth year of Qianlong (1790), the Huizhou Opera Troupe, which was popular in Anhui, came to Beijing with the Sanqing class led by Gao Langting. The main aria of the play is Erhuang, with Kunqu Opera, Siping Tune, Gaoqiang Opera, Chuiqiang Opera and Qinqiang Opera. The vocals are quite rich, and Gao Langting is good at learning from others. When he performed in Beijing, he merged a lot of Beijing vocabulary, which made the performance of the play more abundant. At this time, Huiban took the first place in Beijing opera circle. Subsequently, there were three classes of Sixi, Hechun and Chuntai in Anhui Opera, which were called "Four Huizhou Classes".

In the eighth year of Daoguang (1828), famous actors Mi Yingxian, Li Liu, Wang Honggui, Yu Sansheng, Tan Zhidao and others brought their classes to Beijing. The main melody of the play is Xipi tune, which cooperates with Erhuang of Huizhou Opera and performs on the same stage, forming a situation in which Xipi and Erhuang sang together, so Pihuang Opera appeared. At this time, it can be said that Beijing opera has taken shape. In the period of Tan Xinpei, there was the title of Beijing Tune. Beijing Opera is the predecessor of Beijing Opera.

Generally speaking, from the 55th year of Qianlong (1790) when Huiban entered Beijing to the 15th year of Jiaqing (18 10), it was the gestation period of Peking Opera. From 18 10 to 1845 (twenty-five years of Daoguang), Chu Opera came to Beijing, and cooperated with Huiban to form Pihuang Opera (later called Beijing Opera). From 1845 to 1894, it was a period when Peking Opera was from embryonic form to perfect improvement. At this time, many typical and representative actors appeared. According to 13 actors who were popular with the masses at that time, the painter Shen Rongfu in Qing Dynasty drew a picture of "Thirteen Masterpieces of Celebrities with the Same Light". This 13 person is Zhang Changsheng, Liu Gansan, Cheng Changgeng, Shi Xiaofu, Lu Shengkui, Tan Xinpei, Hao Lantian, Mei Qiaoling, Yu Ziyun, Xu Xiaoxiang, Yang Mingyu, Zhu Lianfen and Yang Yuelou. They represented various roles at that time and were the founders of Beijing Opera.

Second, the business of Peking Opera

Each drama is divided into categories according to the characters in the play, that is, "trades". The development of Peking Opera also develops with the history of Peking Opera. In the early days of Peking Opera's formation, due to the influence of various operas, the business was divided into fine lines, and it was called "ten roles", namely, life, Dan, end, foreign, clean, ugly, miscellaneous, easy to use, easy to start and popular. Later, the ownership melted with each other and simplified into four lines: life, Dan, net and ugliness.

(a) health line

Sheng Xing is an important line in Peking Opera, including Xu Sheng, Hong Sheng, Xiao Sheng and Wu Sheng.

1 Laosheng

Old people, that is, people who are over middle age, all wear "beards", that is, beards. Because of their different personalities and identities, they can be divided into three types: an old worker or a singer (playing literati, emperors, bureaucrats, etc.), an old worker (playing military commanders), an old loser or an old worker (playing people who are poor or mentally stimulated).

2 hongsheng

Hongsheng is a beard with a red face. In Peking Opera, Hongsheng plays generally refer only to the plays of Guan Yu and Zhao Kuangyin. At first, there were not many Guan Yu plays in Beijing Opera, and it was no different from the old ones. However, after Wang Hongshou (third pockmarked) reformed Guan Yu's acting method, it made Hongsheng Opera a hit. He made great efforts to arrange new plays, and almost all the plots of Guan Yu in "Three Kingdoms" were put on the stage of Peking Opera.

3 Xiaosheng

Xiaosheng is a young man in the play, including Lingzi (a general with a pheasant, a prince, etc.), Shamao (an official), Fan (a scholar), and Research (a down-and-out scholar).

4 wusheng

Wusheng is the role of martial arts in the play, which can be divided into two parts: chopping wusheng (who wears thick-soled boots), also called relying on wusheng for a long time, and skimming wusheng (who wears thin-soled boots) also called bunting wusheng.

(2) Danhang

Danhang, also called Zhanhang, is divided into Tsing Yi, Huashi, Wudan, peking opera blues and Laodan.

1 tsing yi

Tsing Yi, also known as Zhengdan, is a good wife and mother, mainly singing.

2 flower shirt

The flower shirt, also called Hua Dan, is different from Tsing Yi in its colorful clothes. The identities of the people in the play are more complicated, including queens, princesses, female generals, village girls, vendors and so on. Generally speaking, the characters played by Tsing Yi are older, while those played by Hua Shirt are younger. There are also boudoir Dan, joke Dan and so on. The difference is that the former are mostly girls and the latter are mostly young women. There is also an informal and provocative Dan.

3 Wu Dan, peking opera blues

Both of them are good at martial arts, and the division of labor is not obvious.

4 Lao Dan

Lao Dan, the old woman in the play, sings in her own voice, which is different from the fine voice singing used by ordinary Dan roles. Although Lao Dan uses his own voice, he is different from the old one, because his melody is delicate and varied, and he can still show the characteristics of women.

(3) Clear line

Net is also called painted face, which is divided into several types: copper hammer painted face, mainly singing; Black-headed face, also mainly singing; The shelf is painted, mainly with a work frame. The identities of the people in the play are complicated, including generals, outlaws and monks. And Wu Hualian and bashing. Wu Hualian relies mainly on long-term support, and it is laid hands on him to beat the painted face.

(4) Ugly behavior

The ugliness in Beijing opera is also ugly, but it is relatively simple, also known as three-faced.

1 Wen Chou

Wen Chou is divided into square towel ugliness (literati, Confucian scholars), Su ugliness (Suzhou White), robe ugliness (official ugliness, tea ugliness [blue cloth jacket]) and so on.

2 Wu Chou

There are many kinds of clothes, including official clothes, eunuch clothes, palace clothes and tea clothes, which are the main clothes in Beijing opera. There are also some clothes in the martial arts box.

The second box, also known as the second suitcase, is mainly used for men's and women's clothing in martial arts, including: relying on, that is, armor, which is worn by military commanders, and there are hard and soft leaning. Those who have flags planted on their backs are hard backs.

Arrow clothes, with small collar, big waist, narrow sleeves and horseshoe-shaped cuffs, are made of flowers, vegetables and dragon three.

Mandarin jacket: jacket, double-breasted, open-minded, and floral. White cloth waist skirt, hero clothes, etc., are also in the box.

The third box is the boot bag box.

The fourth box is a box for helmet head and mouth.

The fifth and sixth boxes are for props, that is, scattered objects such as bricks and stones.

These boxes are managed by special personnel, called "on the box", and they all know the drama. Before entering the stage, he is responsible for "dressing up" the actors, and after leaving the stage, he is responsible for taking them back, sorting them out and packing them in an orderly way. There is a saying in Beijing opera that "it is better to wear out than to wear it wrong", which shows that there are strict differences between boxes of objects and they cannot be confused.

(2) Makeup modeling

The makeup of Peking Opera is unique. Although Shengdan's face is not crooked, it is not easy to make up. Both men and women must be hanging eyebrow, and then raw horns are painted and wrapped in net towels, hair is tossed, and the mouth is twisted; Powder-patting, smudging, eyebrow eye painting, Baotou, film pasting, headdress and so on. Painted faces need special makeup, including big painted faces (clean), two painted faces (deputy clean) and three painted faces (small painted faces and ugly faces). The most complicated facial makeup is big painted faces.

It is said that the origin of Facebook can be traced back to the "generation face" of Warrior Lanling in Northern Qi Dynasty. Later, masks appeared on the stage. The mask affected the performance and gradually changed to hook the face. The facial makeup in Peking Opera is an exaggeration of skin color, eyebrows, eyes, nose and mouth, highlighting the texture of bones and muscles, thus achieving the effect of "commending and criticizing good and evil". In a word, the clear angle and hook face are the representatives of the characters in the play.

The colors commonly used in Peking Opera facial makeup are red (for loyalty), pink (for honesty and old age), purple (for prudence and steady training), black (for fortitude and honest and frank), white (for cunning and resourcefulness), yellow (for skill and fierceness), blue (for bravery and arrogance) and green (for stubbornness and cruelty). Formally, there are "three tiles" or "three nests" faces (forehead and cheeks). "Spend three tiles" is to add some patterns symbolizing texture on the basis of three tiles. The third tile is the face of an old hero. "Six-point face" is a facial mask representing the elderly, and it is named after four-tenths of the forehead and six-tenths of the face. "Cross frontispiece" is born out of the form of three tiles, and it is named after the cross between the eye socket and the tongtian nose column. In addition, there are "magpie eye" face, "butterfly" face, "flower broken wrinkle" face, "unparalleled" face, "pictographic" face and so on.

A variety of facial makeup, with appropriate clothing and props, any role is a beautiful shape.

(3) Accompaniment

Beijing opera accompaniment is an important part of the whole drama performance, and it is the link that connects the plot from beginning to end. It plays the role of rendering the atmosphere, setting off the characters and mastering the rhythm in the drama. The band that accompanies Beijing Opera is called "Scene", which can be divided into literary field and martial field.

1 Wuchang

The instruments in the martial arts field are mainly percussion, which is used not only in martial arts but also in literary drama.

Musical instruments are

Single skin: it's a single-sided skin drum, and the drummer is called a drum guy. He is the conductor of the whole scene, and the speed and rhythm are all controlled by him.

Gong: According to timbre and tone, it can be divided into "Three Lights (Tiger Tone Gong)", "Two Lights (Feng Gong)" and "Great Lights (Su Gong)". There is also a big sieve gong with strong bass.

Xiao Gong: The tone contrast with the big Gong is very sharp. A strong rhythmic effect can be obtained by alternating blows with big gongs and small gongs. Xiao Gong singles have a sense of leisure and tranquility.

Cymbals are musical instruments sandwiched between gongs, which cooperate with gongs to express various emotions and atmosphere.

Daguan: The voice is low, which sets off the prestige of the general.

Tanggu: Also called Tanggu, it is used when the two armies meet to strengthen the fighting atmosphere, and it is also a symbol of the army and men.

Others include drums that sound like thunder, hall gongs, cymbals and clouds gongs that show joy, and wooden fish and bells used in special environments. The playing program of the above percussion instruments includes a set of gongs and drums, and there are about 60 kinds of commonly used fixed playing methods, such as sudden wind, four-hitting head, punch, silk edge, and the inverted head, crying head, anti-long hammer and so on.

2 Wenchang

The literary field is "orchestral music". When Peking Opera was first formed, the accompaniment instruments were very simple, including Jinghu and Yueqin. As art becomes more and more perfect, it is gradually enriched.

Jinghu: This is the main musical instrument in the Beijing Opera field. It was introduced to the Central Plains from the Western Regions, and its timbre is crisp and expressive.

Beijing Erhu: Accompanied by Erhu for Peking Opera, it began in Mei Lanfang's rehearsal of "Xi Shi" 1923, which enriched the bass area.

Yueqin: This is one of the main instruments that accompany the old students. It has a bright rhythm and supplements the midrange.

Sanxian: Before the yueqin was highlighted, Sanxian was very important, and it was one of the three major pieces in the literary field. Flute: It is the main instrument in wind music. Some Kunqu operas are accompanied by flutes.

Suona and Haidi: Because of their different sound quality and timbre, Suona is generally used as a backup singer, while Haidi is generally used for music. The crowing of chickens, the singing of birds and the sound of Ma Si in Beijing Opera are all imitated by these two instruments. After the founding of New China, Peking Opera was reformed, and Da Ruan and zhongruan were added to the band, which enriched the expressive force of music.

(D) Singing and chanting

The scene serves the performance, and the chanting and singing in the performance are the crystallization of music and language.

1 singing

Singing plays an important role in Beijing opera. In the past, actors were called "singers", and the vocals in Beijing opera were mainly Xipi and Erhuang. Generally speaking, Xipi is good at expressing liveliness and joy, while Erhuang mainly expresses sadness and chants. There are many plates in both singing modes, which form a beautiful singing. Xipi: On the Hu Qin, the tone of the outer string is "3" and the tone of the inner string is "6". There are reverse board, swing board, loose board, adagio, three eyes, original board, 26, running water, allegro and so on. Erhuang: Huqin's outer chord tone is "2" and the inner chord tone is "5". In addition to the above-mentioned xipi plates, there are also four-level tones. Others: In addition to Xipi and Erhuang, there are also Gaopaizi, Nanbangzi, Suona Opera, Blowing Opera and so on, which are used in the specified repertoire. The lyrics of Beijing opera all have rhyme, and the sentence patterns vary in length, including three words, five words, seven words, ten words and so on. The lyrics of Beijing opera are exquisite and fixed after long-term tempering. However, because the actors are bound by the rules and abide by the teacher's training, some unreasonable lyrics are also inherited in the same strain and dare not change.

2 Nianbai

The status of chanting in Beijing opera is also very important. Some people compare the importance of chanting, saying that "singing in four pairs with a thousand pounds of chanting". The implication is that chanting is more difficult to learn than singing, and the singing is accompanied by musical instruments, while chanting depends entirely on the actor's own breath. There are many wonderful scenes in Beijing opera, such as the play of Ten Books, the arguments in court of Four Scholars, and the reading of Famen Temple. Beijing Opera pays attention to the distinct "sharp" and "group", the four tones are accurate, and it is catchy to say, mastering the mouth and rhythm, and the cadence is just right, and it is forbidden to "have the same soup" and "follow one side". There are three kinds of chanting in Beijing Opera: Beijing White, Rhyme White and Dialect White. Jing Bai speaks Mandarin, which is crisp and pleasant, and can't be ambiguous. One kind of rhyme is close-to-metrical ode, such as introduction, fixed-field poem and ending equivalence; The other is the speech of a person with status. There are often Huguang sounds and Zhongzhou sounds in rhyme and white, which are the traces influenced by Hui and Han dramas. Dialect Bai is common in Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Jiangsu, Sichuan and other local dialects on the stage of Peking Opera. If used properly, it will increase the comedy atmosphere. The language of Peking Opera is extremely concise, and sometimes a few words can make the finishing point and serve as epigrams in poetry.

(5) A stage that is not constrained by time and space.

The performing arts of Peking Opera and the way of using stage space are perfect, which is the result of absorbing the long-term creation of predecessors. On a limited stage, you can show infinite time and space. This method of expression has been praised by foreign artists.

1 Action exaggeration comes from life

Just a stage, can show up and down for thousands of years, vertical and horizontal Wan Li. Through the actors' actions derived from life and refined processing, they are expressed in exaggerated ways. For example, in "Fishing and Killing Families", there are rivers on one side and land on the other, and a fishing boat is moored under the Liu Yin on the shore. This environment is felt by the audience through the performances of the actors. In the play, people get on the boat, get off the boat, drink at the bow, row and sail, etc. The audience is as if they were there, but there is nothing on the stage. Through the performance of the actors' hands, eyes, body, movements and steps, the audience can appreciate the people in the play going upstairs, downstairs, opening doors, entering houses, going up mountains, crossing rivers, walking, crossing streams, riding horses, letting chickens and ducks go, digging vegetables, embroidering, sewing clothes and so on. Some movements have been artistically processed, although they are contrary to the reality of life, such as killing thousands of troops by one person, but the audience does not feel unreasonable.

2 martial arts combining dance and martial arts

The performance of Beijing opera pays attention to singing, reading, doing and fighting, which shows the position of martial arts on the stage of Beijing opera. There are many plays in Beijing Opera that belong to the category of martial arts. There are certain sets and rules of martial arts in Beijing Opera, such as small five sets, small fast guns, gun racks, aiming guns, etc. in marksmanship; Knife methods include moving flowers, carrying flowers on the back, hooking knives, aligning knives and grabbing knives. There are also performances of special weapons such as fists, sticks, whips and hammers. Martial arts in Beijing Opera is neither martial arts nor dancing, but a combination of the two, with acrobatic skills.

Fourth, Peking Opera repertoire

The number of Beijing opera plays is increasing with the development of Beijing opera art. According to records, there were 87 performances of Pihuang Opera in the 25th year of Qing Daoguang (1845), and the number increased by 130 in the 3rd year of Tongzhi (1864), 8 in the 2nd year of Guangxu (1876) and 6 years of Guangxu (/kloc)

These plays are copied from the performance list, and they are definitely incomplete. Someone has done statistical work on Peking Opera repertoire, and there are more than 700 repertoires whose names can be found. According to the content, it can be roughly divided into the following categories.

(1) Plays that promote national integrity and patriotism, such as Golden Beach, Broken Hongzhou, Pulling a Block, War for Peace, Wen Tianxiang, Mother-in-law Tattoo, and so on.

(2) Peking Opera plays with the theme of anti-feudalism and abolishing the old ethics include Qin Xianglian, Mu Kezhai, Picking up Jade Bracelet, Thinking of Fan, Qiu Jiang, and Anti-Marriage between Britain and Taiwan.

(3) Plays praising pure love include The Story of Liu Yin, Peach Blossom with Face, The West Chamber and so on.

(4) Plays that praise the uprising and rebellion, and eliminate violence and tranquility, such as Outline of Birth, Happy Forest, Sanda Zhujiazhuang, Sanchakou, Tong Tianxi, Ying Jielie and so on.

(5) Plays that reflect historical themes, such as Return to Zhao in a Perfect Way, Make Peace with Generals, Lost in Space, Killing Zhao's Revenge, and so on. (6) Beautiful myths and legends, such as The Journey to the West, Tianhe Match, Houyi Chang 'e and so on. There are so many Peking Opera plays with different levels. Influenced by feudal society, the essence and dross of the plays coexist. As Chaplin commented, "Old Peking Opera is a mixture of pearls and jade and sand." Therefore, some plays are not easy to classify, which seems to be absurd and supernatural plays, and may also be fairy plays. Some people say it's a "ghost" play, while others say it's a progressive play with a rebellious spirit ... There are many such controversial plays, such as Red Plum Pavilion, Exploring the Shade Mountain, Capturing Saburo alive, and Shiro Visiting Mother.

Five, Beijing Opera genre

The emergence of different schools in a drama is the inevitable product of artistic development. Actors have different methods of natural teaching and performance because of different tutors. Over time, whatever is recognized by peers and praised by the audience will form a genre.

(A) the formation of a variety of schools is a reflection of artistic prosperity.

There are many people who study a drama. During the performance, in order to win the audience, they will each exert their own unique skills. Over time, different performances of the same play will be formed. Different acting methods have their own advantages and coexist on the stage, thus forming a genre. The more schools, the more talents engaged in this art, and the more prosperous this art is.

The development of genre and art complement each other. The formation of schools contributes to the development of art. Take the schools of Peking Opera as an example. Among the schools of life, poetry, purity and ugliness, one school is formed, which will inevitably affect other industries. Although the industries are different, it is necessary to achieve artistic mastery through performing on the same stage.

In the history of Peking Opera for more than 100 years, there have been many schools in all walks of life, such as Tan (Xinpei), Wang (Guifen), Yu (Shuyan), Gao (Qingkui), Ma (Lianliang), Yan (Ju Peng), Qi (Lin Tong) and Yang (Bao Sen). There are Mei (Lanfang) School, Cheng (Yanqiu) School, Shang (Xiaoyun) School, Xun (Huisheng) School and so on. There are Jin (Shaoshan) school, Qiu (Shengrong) school and so on in the net line. Although the formation of schools in ugliness is not obvious due to conditions, Xiao (Changhua) School in Wen Chou and Ye (Shengzhang) School in Wu Chou are also recognized by the audience.

As far as genre is concerned, the art of Peking Opera is quite magnificent in history. Later, some people had some different views on the genre, thinking that actors should have their own characteristics and should not blindly imitate others; Or we should not be confined to the genre and hinder the development of art and so on. These views are not comprehensive.

(B) Inheriting schools is to better explore the future.

An actor must be a student first. In the process of learning, he should learn according to the teacher's way, and learn well. After learning, he should learn from others and further study to form his own artistic style and add his own understanding and creation to art. At the same time, this is also the process of re-creation and improvement of art. Art is spread and developed in this way, and so is the development trend of schools. Advocating learning genre is by no means binding yourself with genre. In fact, the artistic essence of any genre is not the copy of the teacher model, but the result of re-creation. It can be seen that the school of inheritance lays the foundation for the development and prosperity of art. Only in this way can we live up to the hard work of the originator of this school. In other words, only by learning from others with an open mind can we contribute to the artistic development of Beijing Opera. The recent Beijing-Kunming children's performance not only shows that there are many descendants of various schools in Beijing and Kunming, but also shows a bright future for the cause of Beijing and Kunming.

Beijing opera facial makeup is very particular about color, but it seems that colorful facial makeup comes in great detail for a reason, not just to look good. Colors with different meanings are drawn in different patterns, and the characters are personalized.

The general color meaning of Facebook is:

Red: General: brave and chivalrous, mostly positive roles.

Others: ironic, indicating a false good man.

Special case: the old man shows that the young red light is still there; The bad guys did something good.

Black: general: straightforward and resolute, brave and intelligent.

Other: indicates yin in yin and yang. Used of ghosts. Dark skin or ugly face.

White: general: sinister and treacherous; Headstrong.

Others: He Ga, eunuch mask; Indicates that the elderly are old,

Purple: general: upright and mighty, not flattering powerful people.

Others: bad complexion, ugly.

Yellow: brave and impetuous.

Gold: general: immortal and superior.

Other: valiant soldier.

Silver: immortal, monster.

Green: general: brave and reckless.

Others: outlaws.

Blue: strong and insidious

Life, denier, cleanliness and ugliness. What is "life, denier, cleanliness and ugliness"? Actually, it's just role classification. "Sheng" is a male positive role, "Dan" is a female positive role, "Jing" is a male supporting role with distinctive personality, and "Ugly" is a humorous or negative role.

Each role also has a face, appearance, etc., which shows identity. As long as the actor enters the stage, you can know it at a glance. There are many famous people among the "ticket lovers" of "Beijing Opera", including Zai Tian, Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. He can not only sing operas, but also play drums, and he is a versatile expert in Beijing, Kunming and Hunan.

The famous Empress Dowager Cixi is a big opera fan. In today's Summer Palace, there is still the largest theater in China, which is 2 1 m high and has three floors. It can be seen that she has spent a lot of time on Peking Opera.

Facial patterns are very rich, which are generally divided into forehead, eyebrow, orbit, nasal fossa, mouth fork and mouth bottom.

The patterns of each part are varied, regular and inconclusive. For example, there is a white crescent on Bao Zheng's black forehead, which means honesty; Meng Liang has a red gourd on his forehead, indicating that this person likes drinking; Wen Zhong and Yang Jian painted three eyes, which originated from classical legends. Djinn, Sha Shen and Leopard have many faces, highlighting their characteristics of ghosts and monsters; Yang Qilang has a traditional word "tiger" on his forehead, which shows that he is brave and invincible; Zhao Kuangyin's dragon eyebrows are expressed as the true dragon emperor; There is a lightning pattern in Lei Gong's face; Jiang Wei's forehead is painted with a picture of yin and yang, which means that it is ingenious; Xiahou Dun's eye socket was injured by an arrow, so he painted a red dot. Douerdun, Dian Wei and others have their best weapon patterns on their faces; Wang Yanzhang painted a toad, indicating that it was the reincarnation of the water beast; Zhao Gongming painted money to show that he was the God of Wealth. The Big Dipper drew a picture of seven stars on his forehead.