According to legend, one day an actor who played the comedy role suddenly fell ill right before the scheduled performance. After that people used “Pear Garden” to refer to Chinese opera. In the palace, there was even a special place for practicing singing and dancing opera called the Pear Garden. This emperor and his concubine Yang Yuhuan were both fond of performance art comprising of song and dance. Still yet another theory is that they originated with Emperor Li Longji (685-762) in the Tang Dynasty.
Later the masks evolved into colored masks, which were the predecessors of facial makeup used in Peking Opera. During the performance, the dancers wore masks. In order to praise his outstanding military achievements, people wrote a song about him. The result worked wonders in greatly intimidating his enemy troops, much to his advantage. So, in order to enhance his image as a mighty general, he made himself a mask with the image of an evil ghost. This inevitably brought down the morale of his troops. The Prince of Lanling (541-573) had a beautiful face, and every time he led his troops into battle, he was always looked down upon as an inexperienced youth, all because of his pale looking face. Peking Opera facial makeup has some similarities with some of the markings found on oracle bones of dancers wearing masks, and the bronze masks of indigenous cultures.Īnother theory says that facial makeup originated in song and dance drama.
One theory is that facial makeup began in ancient times as part of people’s devotion to primitive totem beliefs, from which people formed traditions of tattoos and facial makeup. When it comes to the origins of dramatic facial makeup, there are many theories. In other words, facial makeup is the portrait of each actor’s character.Īctually, many local operas around China have their own facial painting traditions. In addition to the color of the makeup, the characteristics, personality, moral character, and the like are displayed through the symbolic and exaggerated artistic designs on their faces.
Audiences that are old hands of Peking opera can differentiate at first glance the heroes from the thugs, the intelligent from the foolish, liked from the despised, and so on just from the facial makeup painted on the actors’ faces. Over time, these designs have become a set stereotype. In traditional Peking Opera, each of the historical characters portrayed in the performance has its own unique design painted on the face of the actor. A Peking Opera actor is painting his face before going on stage.
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