Peking Opera Mask

Peking Opera has a more than 200-year history and is the national opera of China. It is popular among Chinese and people of other nationalities alike for its dramatic presentation of Chinese culture and history. Facial painting plays an important role in Peking Opera; it is used as a means to denote characters. For instance, a red face usually depicts the individual抯 valor, integrity and loyalty; a white face illustrates the figure's wickedness, deceitfulness and cunning; a green face reveals surly obstinacy, rashness and lack of self-control. In addition, the pattern of the facial painting tells a lot about the character. Our Peking Opera masks cover many important figures in Chinese history and fiction. There is a story behind each character. The beautiful facial painting and exquisite costume of each individual will add a sense of culture to your home. Painstakingly hand painted, these masks open the door of understanding of this high art form by enabling you to lean about the character that wears the mask in the opera itself.

There are four main roles in Peking Opera: Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou.

Sheng is the leading male actor and is divided into Laosheng, who wears a beard and represents an old man; Xiaosheng, who represents a young man; Wusheng, who plays as a military man and is good at doing acrobatic stunts; Wawasheng, who plays as a kid. These roles usually wear no facial painting.

Dan is a female character. Formerly, the term meant a female impersonator. It is divided into many categories. Laodan are the old ladies; Caidan, the female comedians; Wudan, military or non-military women capable of martial arts. The most important category, Qingyi, usually play as respectable and decent ladies in elegant costumes. Huadan represent lively and clever young girls, usually in short costumes.

Jing, mostly male, are the characters with facial painting who represent warriors, heroes, statesmen, adventurers and demons. Jing is generally categorized into Zhengjing, Fujing and Wujing.

Chou refers to clowns who are characterized by a white patch on the nose. Usually white patches of different shapes and sizes have dissimilar connotations about a person抯 character. Clowns are not necessarily rascals; often they embody wit, vigilance and humor. It is them who keep the audience amused and they improvise quips at the right moment to alleviate tension in some serious plays.