A male role in Peking Opera is called sheng. There are xiaosheng (younger male roles), laosheng (older male roles) and wusheng (martial arts male roles). In 2005, 11-year-old Chao was sent off to study martial arts. After a one-year training, his coach recommended him to participate in the tryouts for actors of Peking Opera, and ever since, wusheng has become part of Chao's life.
At the mere mention of Peking Opera, this traditional Chinese opera with a history of over 200 years, different things spring to different minds, ranging from face makeup, dramatic costumes or unique tunes. Yet, truthfully speaking, the word opera limits its definition.
Peking Opera is more than just another opera. It is a comprehensive performing art that rolls music, singing, dialogue, pantomime, acrobatics, and martial arts into one thespian aesthetic. At a deeper level, it mirrors the essence of traditional Chinese philosophy and values.
Mentioning Peking Opera, a similar image might float into most Chinese people's minds, usually that of a grandpa with a cup of tea, enjoying the relaxed pace of life while listening to the rhythm of Peking Opera. However, traditional Chinese opera, including Peking Opera, is not only a thing for the elderly today. More and more young people are attracted by the charm of this traditional performing art, as they take increasing pride in traditional culture along with China's development, and have a growing sense of responsibility to inherit this performing art.
Body of inheritance
"A desk is a desk when leaning on it and can also become a bed when lying on it. And when I wave a horsewhip, it means I am riding a horse," Chao told Beijing Review. Peking Opera follows other traditional Chinese arts in emphasizing meaning, rather than accuracy. Therefore, its performers need to express emotions and plots through sophisticated body language. Moreover, the performance style requires audiences to use more of their own imagination based on the story background, lines, music, and the actors' interpretations.
Peking Opera actors and actresses must meet more requirements than those active in other types of performing art. "The art of the 'living body' makes sense!" Shu Tong, Director of National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts (NACTA) told Beijing Review, "Peking Opera is a culture that needs to develop and continue through people's performances and the communication between performers and audiences."
After graduating from NACTA in 2016, Chao officially began his career with the China National Peking Opera Co., where he started out as a supporting role.
"It is a growth process for all performers," Chao said.
Most Peking Opera pieces are adaptations from old Chinese folk tales and historic events. The art form does not just fit a great stage performance or presence but constitutes an art that comprises traditional Chinese virtues and values. "These pieces have been polished generation after generation. Therein lie the roots of its allure," Chao said.
Performers need to understand the story and further interpret it based on that understanding, according to Chao. Even for the same role, performers of different ages or in different contexts would offer different insights, making them present it differently every single time.
"I have no qualifications to comment much on the development of Peking Opera, because I am always a learner," Chao concluded. "I only want to say that Peking Opera is what was handed to us by our ancestors, and we have the responsibility to protect it and pass it onto future generations."
The inheritance of this traditional Chinese opera requires not only young performers, but also young audiences. Bao Anqi, a girl who works for a Beijing-based media agency told Beijing Review, "Peking Opera wowed me and gave me the ability to experience a number of art forms from one stage."
Bao's first encounter with Peking Opera was in January 2018 and left her stunned by its diversity, as well as its cultural appeal. After that, she attended nearly 50 performances in 2018 and about 100 in 2019. "The more I watch it, the more I love it," she said.
Every gesture, every movement all have their own special connotation, and although only little elements in the bigger picture, they are all indispensable to the art that is Peking Opera, she continued. "Some of the most famous pieces are truly wonderful and I can only image how much time the playwrights have devoted to completing them," Bao said.
Road of young performers
However, the growth of performers does come with its own limitations. "They need to start training from an early age. Ideally before the age of 12 as this is around the time they will begin to develop physically," Shu said, adding that commencing their training before growing bigger could help maintain a better voice or physique.
Furthermore, China's education system requires students to enter a vocational secondary school after finishing their primary school studies around the age of 12. Bringing about yet another set of challenges.
Different from the mainstream education system, a vocational secondary school homes in on special skills, but still requires students take the compulsory classes for China's gaokao, the university entrance examination. Currently, China only features four to six vocational schools that can prepare prospective Peking Opera students for university, according to Shu.
Chao, for example, entered a vocational secondary school in Hebei Province and later enrolled into NACTA, the top university of Chinese opera education, also known as the cradle of Chinese opera artists. In the field of Chinese opera education this school boasts the most complete curriculum as well as the maximum social impact.
During Chao's six years of studying at the vocational secondary school, several of his classmates had to leave behind their pursuit of Peking Opera, many due to bodily changes, such as height and voice, as well as their inability to pass the gaokao.
Xu Boyang, a student at NACTA who has been studying Peking Opera for one decade and plays the female role (dan), told Beijing Review, "some of my classmates just cannot pass the university entrance examination and have to leave the industry."
This year marks an important one for Xu. She will graduate this summer and thus is pondering her future. "I am wondering whether I should pursue a master's degree or find a job with an opera troupe," Xu said. Nonetheless, no matter the outcome, Peking Opera will accompany her along the journey.
Beijing Review reporter Li Qing (left) studies traditional Chinese opera with Xu Boyang, a student at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, while filming a video program on April 8 (DING YING)
Testing the waters
Today, Peking Opera faces the impacts from other art forms, such as ballet, Western opera, as well as movies. In addition, even for standard Chinese speakers, it might be difficult to understand the art form's content if they have not had much experience with Peking Opera.
To pique the nation's younger generations' interest in traditional culture, including Peking Opera, the Chinese Government has undertaken a series of efforts. In recent years, Peking Opera and other traditional cultural endeavors have found their way into campus classrooms as a means of preserving the art. Furthermore, theaters and opera troupes alike have uncovered new methods of promoting Peking Opera, for example, through applying digital technology and taking to social media.
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic in early 2020, many Peking Opera shows got canceled, resulting in financial pressure for both performers and Peking Opera companies. In a bid to make up for losses suffered, during this year's Spring Festival, the China National Peking Opera Co. launched an online performance season using 5G and digital technology.
Whereas it can usually prove difficult to obtain a ticket to a famous artist's show, this time around, audiences could enjoy the show from the comfort of their own homes through online platforms and social media. According to China Culture Daily, across a period of 15 days, the company sold 30,000 tickets and earned 300,000 yuan ($45,700), with the related promotional video receiving some 18 million views on social media.
Shu said that digital technology is an indispensable method to rouse people's awareness of Peking Opera and other traditional cultural pivots. "We can select several superb performance segments and put these on social media, so that audiences can discover the beauty of Peking Opera for themselves."
In 1930, Peking Opera Master Mei Lanfang embarked on a 72-day tour of the U.S., presenting the world with the charm of Chinese opera. However, details tended to be overlooked. Before Mei's visit, his professional group spent nearly seven years talking to local theaters and introducing Peking Opera to U.S. audiences, by creating booklets explaining Peking Opera, translating their musical scores, and so on.
Now, Peking Opera has become an important image of Chinese culture on the world stage, while its process of reaching out and performing still comes with hurdles. In some cases, opera troupes need to find and negotiate performance opportunities by and for themselves.
"A professional platform is essential. A related cultural and performance company could take responsibility in the field of public relations and presenting Peking Opera to the world, and then the troupes could focus on improving their skills," Shu said.
Western art forms such as opera and ballet come with grand stage settings. Peking Opera has dabbled in the creation of such a more "dramatic" backdrop, but that topic to this day deserves more consideration.
Scenic effects, including stage lighting and background, might help audiences better grasp the plot. For example, in a performance about naval battles, the stage decor could present a setting that allows for the onlookers to fully immerse themselves in the storyline. However, this kind of production would cost more and might result in a decrease in the performers' revenue. It might also negatively affect Peking Opera's unique beauty of imagery.
Besides, not all Peking Opera fans welcome the innovation. "Peking Opera performances should lend imaginary space to both performer and audience. Sometimes, stage lighting can become restrictive to the actual performance," Shu said. "However, this is not to say we should outright reject it, but perhaps we should seek to balance tradition and innovation."
Bao, although appreciating these modern tactics, added, "I prefer to go into a theater as the presence, the feeling is special; audiences can cheer on the actors and applaud them when watching."
Bao said she would love to see some innovation on the stage, because the combination of Peking Opera and modern art might attract more youth to the theaters. "People who reproduce Peking Opera must understand Peking Opera, it is important that the creator understands and respects the essence of Peking Opera." BR
(Print Edition Title: A Tale of Continuity and Creativity)
