Beijing (Peking) Opera

Beijing’s culture is today a complex reflection of China’s history and its position in a rapidly changing world. Full of contradictions and spectacular exclamations, it’s a city partially frozen in time as well as light-years ahead. As culture is everything, not just the art and grandiosity of its heyday, there is much to see, and enjoy.

Peking Opera

All kinds of performances are staged in Beijing throughout the year. Peking Opera, musicals and acrobatics, ballet and other kinds of opera, afford Beijingers many opportunities for entertainment. 

Peking Opera is a pure form of Chinese opera, dating to 1790 when four local opera troupes from Anhui Province came to Beijing to perform at the imperial court. The tour was successful and the artists stayed. They brought with them the essence of local Hubei opera and drew on the best of Kun Qu, Qin Qiang, Bangzi and other local operatic forms. Over 200 years of development, Peking Opera became more assimilated and developed into a pure form of Beijing or Peking Opera. Musical instruments from other nationalities, like the erhu and jing hu were incorporated. It is called ‘opera’ because it includes singing, dancing, martial arts, musical arts and literature, similar to Western opera.

The four main roles in Peking Opera are sheng, dan, jing, chou. They are denoted by different markings in face make-up. Apart from sheng and dan, the different colors of the face are be used for other roles, representing various characters and personalities. Therefore, the ability to read the face markings is a key to understanding the stories.