By Rose Oliver, 2007
Having lived in China for some time and being interested in all aspects of Chinese culture, I have been researching Peking Opera, to discover some of the meanings behind the gestures and mannerisms seen by the performers.
To some westerners, Peking Opera seems a completely alien art form and to many just a consortium of loud screeches and strange carryings-on.
But, once you start to understand what some of the gestures and movements signify and the stories behind the plays, the entire spectacle begins to take on a whole new meaning, becoming a fascinating insight into China and Chinese history itself.
Before coming to Shanghai in 2000, I had seen some TV clips of Peking Opera, but had never felt any real interest to know more, but after living here for sometime, I was invited by some friends to watch a performance, plus be introduced to one of the principle characters, a “Wu Dan” role, played by the very talented Ms. Yang Ya Nan.
Ms. Yang, who recently graduated from the Shanghai First Academy of Peking Opera and Performing Arts, plays the wu dan role, which means the acrobatic, martial arts female role. (武Wu, meaning martial arts and 旦Dan, representing female).
In the opera that I saw, Ms. Yang played a “Fox Demon”, where she was a malignant female spirit that beguiled and bewitched the hero, the son of a king, making him a “slave” to her commands and machinations, despite the vigorous resistance of his man-servant and father.
The story unfolds with the hero’s father sending out his troops to try and rescue his son from the villainous clutches of the fox demon, who can disguise herself as a beautiful mortal woman, making people her minions by the wave of her hand or nod of the head.
The ensuing acrobatic battle, between Ms. Yang and the soldiers was an amazing feat of timing, precision and skill, with Ms. Yang wearing the traditional battledress or Kao; which in itself is a feat of endurance to wear, being extremely heavy and cumbersome to move in.
The Kao is fitted with “flags”, made from thin wooden poles, which stand upright and carry the wearer’s emblems. On these flags, the wu dan will “catch” the opponent’s swords or maces, (specially modified for performances) and spin them around the flags before sending them flying back to the opponents. At this point the soldiers were surrounding Ms. Yang and took it in turns to throw their maces, which she also bounced back with a variety of kicking techniques, either by striking them off her feet with backward overhead kicks or sometimes by leaning backwards into a gymnastic “arched back” posture and striking them, upside-down, with her own spear.
The whole spectacle was outstanding to say the least and having practiced ballet, gymnastics and martial arts myself, I could really appreciate the skills involved, plus the hard work that had gone into achieving this level of proficiency and flexibility!
At the end of the opera, however, the unfortunate fox demon is vanquished and carried off by the conquering army, presumably to an unhappy end!
The same programme also included several of Ms. Yang’s fellow graduates from the academy, performing in the opera, “The Three Crossroads” or also known as “The Wicked Innkeeper”.
Mr. Qiao Yu and Mr. Yang Yi Fan performed an exciting section from the opera, which consists of a sword battle carried out in pitch darkness in a room in the inn, with the two combatants fumbling around trying to find each other in the dark and after “stumbling” across one another, having a pitched battle, until they again “lose” sight of one another.
The opera is a comic pantomime that again calls for expert timing and sensitivity on the parts of both performers, as obviously both can see each other in real life, but must put across the idea that they are searching for the other at night in darkness, with near-misses aimed at each other’s heads and torsos as they try to locate the other and dispatch him with their swords.
The sword swishes and swipes have to be timed extremely carefully and accurately, as although the weapons are not sharp, to be cracked across the ankles or head in the middle of a performance, would not be a welcome experience!
Having watched their wonderful performance, I also invited the three performers to assist me at a seminar on Peking Opera to a group of middle school students from the UK, and I got to have an even deeper appreciation for the performers’ love for their art, diligence and expertise.
The level of time and commitment put in by the three young performers was also an inspiration for the UK students, who, their teacher said often complained about the amount of time it took to do their homework and how hard they worked etc.
Once they saw the effortless skills of the Peking Opera performers, they realized that to achieve this level, they would have needed to have already put in many hours everyday over many years, in addition to studying the other compulsory subjects of science, maths, language etc, at college. It was certainly an eye-opener for everyone attending!
After the performance, some members of the audience, who ranged between 15 – 16 years of age, got to act out a short section of the play, trying out some of the movements themselves.
The UK students also got to experience face painting, being made up as various characters from Peking Opera, including the Monkey King (Sun Wu Kong), a jester, and a hero and heroine. They also tried several of the traditional costumes and footwear that characters would wear, including the martial art heroine’s battledress, complete with headdress and armour, which Ella from the UK stated was so heavy and cumbersome, she couldn’t imagine how the performers could breathe, let alone dance or perform acrobatics!
The UK students also tried out some of the singing and dancing techniques, as demonstrated by Yang Ya Nan, and although they appeared easy when performed by Ms. Yang, everyone found them to be very complex and required a great deal of practice to get right.
A couple of students and some teachers were also game to try “riding a horse” in Peking Opera, which requires a special horse-whip instrument, with which the performer executes certain specific movements, representing the action of getting on and off, and of riding a horse.
Understanding more about Peking Opera and its history, I think also helps to understand the adopted culture that many expats, including myself live in. To really be a part of this fascinating culture, we need to embrace many aspects that at first sight may seem to make little sense, but with time and understanding, become a normal part of our own lives.
As in Peking Opera for example, with the unveiling of some of its inner meanings, not only does it begin to be thoroughly comprehensible, but also becomes something to which even the most hardened opera-hating buff will succumb!
With the younger generations growing up in China now busy embracing all that the West has to offer in terms of culture, sport and fashion, I’m sure that in the future, Peking Opera, like other aspects of Chinese culture, including Taiji Quan and Acupuncture, as well as many customs and traditions; will soon find itself welcomed by a brand new western audience, eager to explore an ancient and fascinating art form, too often forgotten or dismissed in present day China.