The Beijing Opera

Paper Summary:

This paper emphasizes that the style of China's national theater called the Beijing opera is importance to its culture. The author points out that the use of male actors to portray female characters and females portraying male actors are truly ancient in China, although the practice did not become primarily exclusive until the early 19th century. The paper relates that, although Beijing opera has been heavily influenced by royal prerogative in the past and the desires of the Chinese people more recently, the reverse gender playing the role in traditional Chinese drama has no restriction on the sex and age of its performers.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Review and Discussion
Background and Overview.
Historic Influences on the Use of Male Actors for Female Roles in Beijing Opera
Contemporary Influences on the Use of Male Actors for Female Roles in Beijing Opera
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Likewise, the distinctive Beijing opera walking styles of the dan (female roles) and sheng are clearly recognizable in other traditional forms, just as are the stylized hand and eye movements of the huadan. Although some localized forms of theater have not include certain role types (the jing being the role type most frequently excluded), the walk, posture, and gestures techniques used for every other role type traditionally included in each form and can be recognized by modern Chinese audiences without fail as belonging to that role type throughout the various forms of traditional Chinese theater."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brandon, J. R. 2006. Beijing opera. In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved November 5, 2006, from Encyclopaedia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9082159.
• Eng, D.L. Heterosexuality in the face of whiteness. Divided belief in M. Butterfly, in D.L. Eng and A.Y. Horn (Eds), Q&A. Queer in Asian America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998.
• Beijing Liyuan Zhanggu Changbian (Historical Records of the Beijing Theatre). In Qingdai Yandu Liyuan Shiliao, Vol. 3.
• Dingbo, W. and P.D. Murphy. Handbook of Chinese Ppopular Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994.
• Guy, N. (2001). "Brokering glory for the Chinese nation: Peking Opera's 1930 American tour. Comparative Drama," 35(3):377.

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