Five Facts about the Peking Opera 关于京剧的五个事实

Last week, Year 5 students were visited by experienced Peking Opera actor Miss Chen Xiaoyan 陈肖燕, who led a brilliant workshop on the history, costumes and production of Peking Opera. Students tried on costumes and makeup and learned to move like opera characters. We ask Primary Chinese teacher Ms Lunar Hu 胡月 to share five facts about this quintessential part of Chinese culture.

上周，经验丰富的京剧演员陈晓燕老师到校访问了5年级，她主持了一个关于京剧历史、戏服和剧目的精彩工作坊。学生们化了妆试穿戏服，并学着像京剧人物一样走台步。我们请小学中文老师胡月女士分享关于国粹京剧的五个事实。

1.

Peking Opera is believed to have originated in 1790, when four opera troupes from Anhui province came to Beijing to perform at the 80th birthday of the Emperor.

京剧起源于1790年，四个来自安徽省的戏剧团来到北京，在皇帝的80岁寿辰庆典献上了一场演出。

2.

In the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE), the Emperor Ming of Tang founded the “Pear Garden”, the first academy of music to train musicians, dancers and actors in China. To this day, actors of the Peking Opera are referred to as “Children of the Pear Garden”, líyuán zǐdì.

在唐朝（公元618—907年），唐明皇创立了“梨园”，在中国这是第一所培养音乐家、

舞蹈家和演员的音乐学院。直到今天，“梨园”仍是戏曲行的代名词，戏曲演员也被称为“梨园子弟”。

3.

The Peking Opera has four major roles – Shēng (male role), Dàn (female role), Jìng (painted faces), and Chǒu (male clowns). It is traditional that the female Dan roles are played by men. 

京剧舞台上的角色划分为—生（男性角色）、旦（女性角色）、净（花脸）和丑（小花脸）四种类型。传统上，女性旦的角色由男演员扮演。

4.

In Peking Opera, the audience claps and calls out their approval to the performers. This is known as jiàohǎo – a bit like shouting “bravo!” 

在观看京剧时，观众会热烈的鼓掌大声“叫好”来表达对表演者的称赞。这有点像“bravo!”

5.

It takes many hours to complete the makeup of an opera character and, except for famous and respected performers who have a makeup assistant, actors usually paint their face by themselves.

为一个戏剧角色化妆通常需要好几个小时，除了少数著名或令人尊敬的演员有化妆师外，演员们通常自己画脸。

To read more about the brilliant workshop, click “Read more” below.

想要了解有关本次工作坊的更多信息，请点击下面的“阅读原文”。

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