Among all kinds of operas in China, Peking Opera is relatively young, with a history of more than 200 years. It was in the fifty-fifth year of Qing Qianlong (1790) that four Huizhou classes (Sanqing, Sixi, Chuntai and Hechun) came to Beijing one after another to form and develop, and Peking Opera masks gradually improved with the formation and development of Peking Opera. ?
Peking Opera masks have absorbed the advantages of Kunqu Opera, Yi Opera, Bangzi Opera and Huiban Pihuang Opera. It has gone through the process from simple to complex, continuous innovation, development and gradual improvement, and has become a more systematic and standardized facial makeup art on the stage of Peking Opera. It can be said that Peking Opera facial makeup is a branch of China traditional opera facial makeup, and it is an inherent part of all the stage arts of traditional Peking Opera.
The stage masks of Beijing Opera have their own characteristics. Without a stage, the specific characters and masks to be shown will lose their fundamental significance.
Related introduction:
Peking Opera, formerly known as Huizhou Opera, was popular in the south of the Yangtze River in the early Qing Dynasty. It mainly sang and blew tunes, played high notes and played Huang Er. Huiban has strong mobility, frequent contact with other operas, and mutual communication and infiltration in vocal cavity, so it has also performed a lot of Kunqu opera and absorbed Luoluo cavity and other zaju during its development.
In the fifty-fifth year of Qing Qianlong (1790), the first batch of Huizhou classes (Sanqing classes), headed by Gao Langting (a famous Yueguan), went to Beijing to participate in the celebration performance of Qianlong's 80th birthday. "Yangzhou Painting Boat Record" contains: "Gaolang Pavilion entered Beijing, with Anqing Flower Department and Beijing-Qin Erqiang, and the class name was Sanqing."
Yang Maojian's Dream and Storybook, published in the 22nd year of Daoguang (1842), also said: "The three celebrations precede the four celebrations. When the emperor of Qianlong entered the governor's casting box in 55 years, he called it the' Three Celebrations Emblem', which was the originator of Huiban. " Wu Zishu pointed out more specifically in the Notes on Poems with Boundaries that "Na la Wu, Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, ordered Zhejiang salt merchants and Anqing Hui people to wish Li."
Later, many Huizhou classes went to Beijing in succession. The famous classes are Sanqing, Sixi, Chuntai and Hechun. Although He Shen was founded in the eighth year of Jiaqing (1803), which was later than the thirteenth year of Sanqing, it was still called "Huizhou Class Four went to Beijing" by later generations.
Beijing opera used to have many names. There are: Luantan, Chundiao, Huang Jing, Jing Erhuang, Pi Huang (Pi Huang), Huang Er (Huang Er), Drama, Pingju, Old Opera, National Opera, Peking Opera and Peking Opera.