The arts world can be difficult to navigate. But newbies and those who want to brush up their knowledge, our new performing arts series has got you covered with its breakdown of technical terms and concepts. The first one looks at the most famous theatre art form in China
There’s a whole centre in Hong Kong dedicated to xiqu or Chinese opera. But how much do you know about this art form?
For starter, the word is a combination of xi (drama in Mandarin) and qu (songs in Mandarin). While xiqu is widely translated as Chinese opera in the English-speaking world, the subjects, methods of singing and forms of performance vary radically from western style of opera. For instance, Chinese opera actors are known to produce non-vibrato and nasal sounds, whereas in western opera, the performers produce long, drawn-out syllables, sometimes in extreme high-pitch voice.
The four key elements of xiqu are singing, reciting, acting and martial arts. The storytelling is also aided by symbolic movements, costumes and make-up. For instance, walking in small, consistent steps means the character is travelling a long distance. Clowns are indicated with a white dot in the middle of a face, whereas red and black colours—usually seen on those who play heroes or generals—symbolise the character’s loyalty or bravery. The actor playing the emperor is typically adorned in a yellow gown with patterns of dragons with five claws—in ancient China, actors playing the role of the emperor were only allowed to wear gowns with snake patterns to avoid clashing with the actual emperor.
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Folk songs and dances played a major part in religious rituals in ancient China, which later took the form of xiqu. The Tang dynasty (618-907 AD), which was known for its prosperity, cultural developments and some of China’s most famous poets such as Li Bai and Du Fu, saw to the formalisation of theatre performances, which featured songs with poetic lyrics and dances. Xiqu expanded its role from a performance related to worship to become a source of entertainment for the public, and gradually matured in its storytelling and structure in the centuries that followed.
Over time, each dynasty and region has had its own take on xiqu—from influencing its language to its storytelling. Among the 300 styles of xiqu that still survive, Peking opera and Cantonese opera are two of the most known and performed types today. Peking opera is sung primarily in the Beijing’s Mandarin dialect and its librettos follow a strict set of rules regarding form and rhyme scheme. Cantonese opera, on the other hand, is performed in Cantonese and occasionally in the archaic court dialect known as guanhua. Both tell stories of love, social conditions, history and Chinese legends.
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