The Characteristics of Pingju Opera

Pingju Opera is distinctive in its singing style, clear pronunciation and easy-to-understand lyrics. The mode of performance is catchy and quite unbounded, and it is especially adept at presenting real-life stories, so it is highly favored by the audience.

These days, Pingju Opera is widely performed not only in the provinces of Northern and Northeastern China, but also in the urban centers in Central and Southern China. It enjoys equal popularity among audiences from cities to rural areas, becoming more vigorous and influential.

With films based on its pivotal operatic performances, such as Qin Xianglian, Liu Qiao'er and Yang Sanjie's Complaint, made accessible, Pingju Opera has become even closer to the national audiences.

Singing

Pingju Opera singing style is formed on the basis of folk music such as Tangshan folk songs and Lianhualuo, and absorbs various musical forms such as Northeast Errenzhuan and Peking Opera. The male and female voices of Pingju were formed on the basis of the music of Lianhualuo and Bengbeng Opera, gradually absorbing and drawing on the singing methods of Bangzi and Peking Opera. The female singing form in Pingju was mainly created by Yue Mingzhu, and the male singing form was mainly created by Ni Junsheng.

Pingju Opera came into existence when Yue Mingzhu made great strides in creating female singing forms for Pingju Opera on all musical forms. This set the framework for the development of female singing in Pingju Opera later.

In the same vein, Ni Junsheng was the prime figure in crafting the male singing form of Pingju Opera. He drew from other schools of singing while concurrently utilizing the extraordinary characteristics of Pingju Opera to create a male singing form, robust and rich enough to portray men with varying characteristics. Such factors allowed for the maturity and development of the male vocal style in Pingju Opera.

Roles

In the early days, Pingju Opera only had male and female roles, and then gradually developed three types of roles: Sheng, Dan and Chou. Influenced by Bangzi and Peking Opera, more roles were added, including Qingyi, Huadan, Laodan, Xiaosheng, Laosheng and Jing. It eventually developed into a large drama with complete roles such as Qingyi, Huadan, Laodan, Caidan, Xiaosheng, Laosheng, Hualian, and Xiaohualian, but it still retains the characteristics of the lively and free folk drama with a strong sense of life.

Music

The accompaniment instruments are divided into Wenchang and Wuchang. Wuchang has bangu, Bangzi, gong, cymbals, etc.; Wenchang has banhu, erhu, zhonghu, dihu, pipa, flute, sheng, etc. Later, Dapiaohu, bass, brass, cello, violin, etc. were added. The band of Xilu Pingju Opera is equipped with big strings, flute, drums, cymbals, hand gongs, Bangzi, etc.

Costumes

In Pingju Opera, costumes are a very important part. The design and production of Pingju Opera costumes have high artistic value and are one of the important representatives of Chinese traditional culture. The characteristics of Pingju Opera costumes reflect these in colors and structure as well. Its colors, mainly in warm tones such as red, green and yellow, reflect traditional Chinese culture's charm and style. In terms of structure, Pingju Opera costumes focus on integrity and symmetry, showing the overall harmonious beauty of Pingju Opera costumes.

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