The Characteristics of Sichuan Opera

When you walk in a Sichuan Opera theater, you will see Sichuan Opera performers dressed in gorgeous costumes, putting on a show and demonstrating lovely singing and unique skills. You can take a seat, sip some tea and appreciate the artistic charm of Sichuan Opera. If you have a certain understanding of the artistic characteristics of Sichuan Opera, it can enhance your enjoyment of Sichuan Opera.

Artistic Features of Sichuan Opera

Sichuan Opera consists of four major vocal styles: Gaoqiang, Kunqiang, Huqinqiang, Tanxi and local folk lantern opera.

Gaoqiang (High-pitched Tune): Gaoqiang is the quirkiest and representative vocal form in Sichuan Opera. Its singing is free without musical accompaniment, or a pair of clappers and drumbeats are used to adjust the rhythm. Its singing is loud, resounding, graceful and sonorous.

Kunqiang (Kunshan Tune): Kunqiang features works by scholars. Its script and dialogue are elegant. When performing, performers pay more attention to clear pronunciation. Coupled with its tortuous melodies and slow rhythm, it has declined nowadays.

Huqinqiang (Two-stringed Fiddle Tune): Huqinqiang is a general term for Erhuang and Xipi tunes. Since its main accompanying instrument is the "small huqin", it is collectively called Huqinqiang.

Dengxi (Lantern Opera): Dengxi has unique features in Sichuan Opera. It came from the singing and dancing performances during the folk activities of holding sacrificial ceremonies in Sichuan. It can also be regarded as a product of the ancient lantern festivals in Bashu. The plays performed are about daily life events, and the songs are folk songs and village tunes.

Tanxi (Plucked-string Tune): Tanxi in Sichuan Opera is a kind of opera vocal form accompanied mainly by the Gaiban Huqin (a type of two-stringed fiddle). Influenced by Sichuan gongs and drums and folk music, after a long-term evolution, it has developed differences from Qinqiang in terms of melody, singing method, and vocal structure, forming its own unique artistic style with a strong Sichuan local color.

Costumes

There are many types of costumes in Sichuan Opera, such as embroidered robes, armors, official robes, and pleated robes, etc., and each has a relatively fixed corresponding role. There are strict rules about what kind of clothes each role should wear. Theatrical troupes have always had strict and detailed classifications of costumes. The costumes worn by emperors, generals, queens, concubines, cabinet ministers and other characters in Sichuan Opera include embroidered robes, official robes, blue shirts, etc.; the costumes worn by marshals, generals, cavalry and infantry soldiers and other characters in Sichuan Opera include armors, armors, robes and so on. As soon as the actor appears on the stage, the costume on his body first reveals the identity, character, mood and other characteristics of the role.

Facial Makeup

Sichuan Opera Facial Makeup

Sichuan Opera facial makeup is an important part of the Sichuan Opera performing art and a precious artistic treasure jointly created and passed down by generations of Sichuan Opera artists.

Before a performance, Sichuan Opera actors paint various patterns on their faces with different colors to display the identity, appearance, and personality traits of the characters. Historically, there were no full-time facial makeup painters in Sichuan Opera, and actors painted their own facial makeup. Under the premise of maintaining the basic characteristics of the characters in the play, actors can creatively paint their facial makeup according to their own characteristics to attract the attention of the audience. For important opera characters, there are multiple versions of facial makeup, demonstrating different actors' diverse understandings of the characters and reflecting the diversity of Sichuan Opera facial makeup art. For example, for the Three Kingdoms characters such as Cao Cao, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, their facial makeup patterns cover almost every aspect from youth to middle-age and then to old age, reflecting the growth process of the characters.

Roles

The performance system of Sichuan Opera has evolved into five main role categories: young male (xiaosheng), bearded male (xusheng), female (dan), painted-face male (hualian) and clown (chou). Each role category has its own systematic set of performance techniques. The performances of the young male, clown and female roles are particularly distinctive. There are many outstanding creations in terms of dramatic expression methods and performance techniques, which can fully embody the aesthetic features of Chinese opera.

Music

The percussion music of Sichuan Opera is special. The drums are used frequently in the Sichuan Opera performance. They make a powerful sound with all sorts of rhythms and they coordinate with the singing and action of the performers. There are numerous suona tunes and combinations of gongs and drums. The silk and bamboo music in Sichuan Opera is often played with huqin (two-stringed fiddle) and flute tunes. In terms of application, the Kunqiang style uses the qudi (a type of bamboo flute), the Huqin style uses the small huqin, the Tanxi style uses the gaiban (a type of bowed string instrument) and the Dengxi style is accompanied by the "mihuzi".

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