The Change of Faces

Feb 15th, 2007
Posted by handicraft

The change of faces is a stunt in traditional Chinese theatre that is designed to capture the dramatic changes of mood of a character on stage.When a character's heart is going from panic to rage,he changes his face in a split second;the stunt,though somewhat exaggerating,never fails to surprise the audience and enhance the appeal of the show.The change of faces is most often used in Chuanju Opera.In the opera Severing the Bridge,for instance,when the female protagonist Xiao Qing catches sight of the weak-hearted and unfaithful Xu Xian,she burst into a rage,and in her sudden transition of mode from anger to hatred,her fair face experiences a rapid succession of changes from white to red to green and black.The performer is so agile in her movement that each change is made by turning her body.This skill is acquired through special training.In some cases multiple layers of masks are used,to be torn away with each change of facial expression.

Traditional Chinese Musical Instruments

Historical records indicate that there used to be 1,000 or so musical instruments in use in ancient times.Today,some 500 of them are are extant.The earliest of them date back to more than 8,000 years ...

more...

Pipa

The pipa,known in ancient times aspipa with a curving neck,is a major plucked instrument introduced from mesopotamia in west Asia to China towards the end of the Eastern han(25-220),and from Xinjiang ...

more...