Beijing Opera
Yr 11 Term 4
Beijing Opera Seminar
Beijing Opera or Peking Opera has a history of over 200years and is believed to of begun in 1790 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. During his 55th reign the four largest Huiban opera troupes, consisting of 360 individual types of operas, combined. After a century of evolving the Beijing Opera was formed as an opera that best represented all of the operas in China. Beijing Opera became a blend of music, art, acrobatics, dance and martial arts. With many astonishing characteristics including beautiful paintings, graceful gestures, exquisite costumes and then the support of an imperial follower, Beijing Opera rapidly became one of the most popular forms of theatre for its time. The years 1917 to 1937 was a time of rapid blooming for the newborn opera. However the following decade saw a sad decline in the Opera’s popularity as the People’s Republic of China began. Later on in the 1980's, Beijing Opera managed to resurrect itself once again to become even more vigorous and entertaining than before. To the people, Beijing Opera is a national treasure, with the significant richness of repertoire, a great number of artists and a committed audience, I found it easy to understand the deep influence and honor that it holds in the Chinese culture, with one of the world’s most oldest and complex cultures. On my arrival I found China’s lifestyle to be very simple and modest, with the country side mostly rural oriented to accommodate for the 1.2billion population.
The Dramatic Meaning in many traditional theatre groups is a theme, message or idea being represented in a performance. The dramatic meaning of Beijing Opera is to present the audience with an “encyclopedia of Chinese culture,” (Anonymous) all of which it thoroughly displays. The dramatic languages, in Beijing Opera consist of, skills of performance, elements of drama and styles and their conventions which are used in combination with diverse
Beijing Opera Seminar
Beijing Opera or Peking Opera has a history of over 200years and is believed to of begun in 1790 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. During his 55th reign the four largest Huiban opera troupes, consisting of 360 individual types of operas, combined. After a century of evolving the Beijing Opera was formed as an opera that best represented all of the operas in China. Beijing Opera became a blend of music, art, acrobatics, dance and martial arts. With many astonishing characteristics including beautiful paintings, graceful gestures, exquisite costumes and then the support of an imperial follower, Beijing Opera rapidly became one of the most popular forms of theatre for its time. The years 1917 to 1937 was a time of rapid blooming for the newborn opera. However the following decade saw a sad decline in the Opera’s popularity as the People’s Republic of China began. Later on in the 1980's, Beijing Opera managed to resurrect itself once again to become even more vigorous and entertaining than before. To the people, Beijing Opera is a national treasure, with the significant richness of repertoire, a great number of artists and a committed audience, I found it easy to understand the deep influence and honor that it holds in the Chinese culture, with one of the world’s most oldest and complex cultures. On my arrival I found China’s lifestyle to be very simple and modest, with the country side mostly rural oriented to accommodate for the 1.2billion population.
The Dramatic Meaning in many traditional theatre groups is a theme, message or idea being represented in a performance. The dramatic meaning of Beijing Opera is to present the audience with an “encyclopedia of Chinese culture,” (Anonymous) all of which it thoroughly displays. The dramatic languages, in Beijing Opera consist of, skills of performance, elements of drama and styles and their conventions which are used in combination with diverse