Types of Roles & Facial Makeup
Types of Roles
The roles in the drama are known as Hangdang (行当) in cantonese opera. Cantonese opera Hangdang is originally divided into 10 types of roles: Mo(末), Jing (净), Zhengsheng (正生), Zhengdan (正旦), Zhengchou (正丑), Yuanwai (员外), Xiao (小), Tie (贴), Fu (夫), Za (杂).
Later, it was reduced according to the liuzhu system(六柱制), which is, wen wu sheng (文武生), xiao sheng (小生), zhengyin huandan (正印花旦), erbang huandan (二帮花旦), Chou sheng (丑生), wu sheng (武生).These are all classified according to the character's age, gender, personality, appearance and so on.
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From http://www.wendangku.net/doc/08e73f73b52acfc789ebc991-2.html
Uploaded by Tang Peisen
By the large, the facial makeup of the opera is not easy to distinguish.
After seeing this part, do you have a better understanding of how to identify Cantonese Opera facial makeup?
Facial Makeup
Cantonese opera facial makeup, also known as goulian (勾脸) or kailian(开脸), is mainly used in Jing (净) or Chou (丑) roles. Goulian is a special makeup art that uses exaggerated lines, strong colors and symbolic patterns to outline character temperament and facial features. In the early days, the design of cantonese opera facial makeup was simple, with black and white colors and simple drawing methods. Cantonese opera black and white facial makeup like using xibi (洗笔), that is, adding a gray transition color layer between the black and white color in order to enhance the sense of three-dimensional.
Uploaded by Tang Peisen
