Each different role type has a style and rules of its own. Peking opera roles are further classified according to the age and personality of the characters. Male characters who are frank and open-minded but rough or those who are crafty and dangerous are known as jing or hualian (painted faces). A chou, depicted by a patch of white on the face, is a humorous character. Female roles are generally known as dan and male roles as sheng, but male clowns are known as chou. The character roles in Peking opera are finely and strictly differentiated into fixed types. In addition, Peking opera assimilates the tunes of the much older kunqu opera of the south and some folk arias popular in the north. The vocal music consists mainly of erhuang (adapted from folk tunes of Anhui and Hubei) and xipi (from Shaanxi tunes). Spoken dialogue is divided into yunbai (recitative) and jingbai (Beijing colloquial speech), the former employed by serious characters and the latter by young females and clowns. The vocal part of Peking opera is both spoken and sung.
The orchestra is led by a drummer, who uses bamboo sticks to create very powerful sounds - sometimes loud, sometimes soft, sometimes strong and exciting, sometimes faint and sentimental - and bring out the emotions of the characters in coordination with the acting of the performers. Occasionally, suona horn and Chinese flute are also used. Plucked stringed instruments include yueqin (moonshaped mandolin), pipa (four-stringed lute) and xianzi (three-stringed lute). The main stringed instrument is jinghu (Beijing fiddle), supported by erhu (second fiddle). There are also clappers made of hardwood or bamboo. The main percussion instruments are gongs and drums of various sizes and shapes. The music of Peking opera is mainly orchestral music and percussion instruments that provide a strongly rhythmical accompaniment. Peking opera is the most representative of all Chinese traditional dramatic art forms. It is considered a superb art form, famous for its great artistic skill in singing, dancing and martial arts. It was developed and improved by masters of the performing arts for many generations before it reached maturity and perfection. Since, however, Peking opera assumed its present form about two hundred years ago in Beijing, then the capital of the Qing Dynasty, it is usually regarded as a national art form. While they may differ only slightly in costume and makeup, all traditional opera forms, including Peking opera ( 京剧), are, strictly speaking, "regional," in that each is based on the music and dialect of a specific area.
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