Dan is the general name for female roles in Chinese opera , often referring to leading roles. They may be played by male or female actors. In the early years of Peking opera , all dan roles were played by men, but this practice is no longer common in any Chinese opera genre.
25-782: (Redirected from Qingyi River ) Qingyi may refer to: Qingyi (Chinese opera) (青衣), a type of female role in Chinese opera Qingyi, Sichuan (青义), a town in Mianyang, Sichuan, China Qingyi Expressway, a common name for the G3016 Qingshuihe–Yining Expressway in Xinjiang, China Qingyi Movement , a faction of conservative officials in late 19th century China Hexing qingyi , an extinct species of ornithomimosaur Rivers of China [ edit ] Qingyi River (Anhui) (青弋江),
50-464: A few different kinds of dan in Chinese opera. The commonly seen ones are 'Guimen Dan', 'Zheng Dan', 'Hua Dan', 'Daoma Dan', 'Wu Dan', 'Lao Dan' and 'Cai Dan'. Each different kind of dan has its own unique characteristics. The Guimen Dan ( 闺 门 旦 , " boudoir -door role") is the role of the virtuous lady. They are usually young and unmarried women that have high social status. Guimen Dan focus more on singing and they have little movement. They sing in
75-574: A red dudou and tight white clothes under some long scarves, and was expelled from Beiping by its mayor for performing "obscene lyrics". The Chinese periodical Women's Lives reported icily that "thousands of square miles of Chinese territory have been occupied by the Japanese without any resistance, but if a woman offends public decency, she must be expelled." Relocating to Shanghai in 1935, Li Guizhen performed pingju alongside Ai Lianjun , Yu Lingzhi , and Zhao Ruquan to large audiences at
100-640: A tributary of lower Yangtze River in Anhui Qingyi River (Henan) (清潩河), a tributary of the Ying River in Henan Qingyi River (Sichuan) (青衣江), a tributary of the Dadu River in western Sichuan Hong Kong [ edit ] Tsing Yi (青衣), an island of Hong Kong Tsing Yi Town , a town on the eastern coast of the island Tsing Yi Hui , a former town on the island Topics referred to by
125-521: A very high pitched and piercing voice. Opera schools in China have difficulty recruiting students for this kind of role, since it requires a good voice, good looks, and a good height. The most famous Guimen Dan of the last century was Mei Lanfang . Examples of Guimen roles are Du Liniang (杜丽娘) from The Peony Pavilion (牡丹亭) and Wang Baochuan (王宝钏)from Wujiapo (武家坡). The Zheng Dan ( 正 旦 , "straight role"), also known as Qingyi ( 青衣 , "verdant-clad")
150-523: Is a lively, vivacious young female character. They normally wear short blouses with pants or skirts . Unlike the Guimen Dan, the Hua Dan focuses more on movements and speech. They must be able to speak quickly and clearly. They also need to project an image of cuteness and innocence as Hua Dan always represent girls of around 12–16 years old. Often, a Guimen Dan is accompanied by a Hua Dan maid. Hongniang of
175-467: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Qingyi (Chinese opera) Male actors who specialize in playing dan are referred to as nándàn (男旦) ; the practice arose during the Qing dynasty due to imperial prohibitions against women performing on stage, considered detrimental to public morality. This practice of female impersonation by male actors
200-535: Is exaggerated by their hideous make up. One of Mei Lanfang's most important contributions to Peking opera was in pioneering another type of role, the huashan . This role type integrates the artistic characteristics of Zheng Dan, Hua Dan, and Daoma Dan, and creates a more versatile dan role. Bai Yushuang Li Guizhen ( Chinese : 李 桂 珍 , p Lǐ Guìzhēn ; 1907–1942), better known by her stage name Bai Yushuang ( 白 玉 霜 , p Bái Yùshuāng , lit "White Jade Frost"),
225-406: Is the role of middle-aged women. The characters are mostly married, dignified and elegant women and are mainly the roles of wives and mothers. Similar to Guimen Dan, Qingyi's performance is characterized by singing and speeches, and the range of motion is relatively small. They are also required to not show their teeth or move their dresses when they perform. A Hua Dan ( 花 旦 , "flowery role")
250-621: The Romance of the Western Chamber and Yan Xijiao (阎惜姣) of Wulongyuan (乌龙院) have involved the role of Hua Dan. A Daoma Dan ( 刀 马 旦 , "sword-and-horse role") is a young female warrior. The style of performance usually involves horseriding with a spear. This category is superficially similar to the Wu Dan, but the Daoma Dan does not fight as much as the Wu Dan. They do more stunts and dancing with
275-488: The erhu . Upon Li Jingchun's death, his widow Mrs Bian purchased more girls from poor families. The 4-year-old Xiaodezi was renamed Fuzi and instructed to refer to Li Guizhen as her mother. Bai Yushuang began to perform lead roles for the Yushun Opera Troupe. This company was owned by Mrs Bian, managed by her brother, and accompanied by her son on the erhu , a situation which led to its being generally known as
SECTION 10
#1732854924175300-515: The Enpaiya Theater and on tour through Suzhou , Wuxi , and Nanjing . The repertoire included Pan Jinlian , Spring in the Jade Hall ( 玉 堂 春 , Yù Táng Chūn ), The Little Matchmaker ( t 紅娘 , s 红娘 , Hóngniáng ), Yan Poxi , and The Lioness's Roar ( t 河東獅吼 , s 河东狮吼 , Hédōng Shīhǒu ). She was arrested and accused of murder but Mrs Bian
325-652: The Guimen Dan. The Guimen roles sing in high pitched and piercing voices while the Lao Dan sing in a lower pitched voice. Lao Dan costumes are also less vibrant compared to other female roles and they have much simpler hair styles. An example is Dowager She of Yang Men Nu Jiang (杨门女将). The Cai Dan ( 彩 旦 , "colorful role") is a clownish woman. Cai Dan do not act like normal Dan and they do clownish gestures. Their movements resemble normal daily movements and they speak in normal voices. Clownish dans are now normally performed by men; hence they are physically unattractive, which
350-538: The Li Troupe ( Lijia Ban ). Bai Yushuang eventually changed its name to the North China Opera Troupe ( t 華北 戯 社 , s 华北 戏 社 , Huáběi Xìshè ). She became notorious as a "slutty performer" ( 淫 伶 , yínlíng ) and "contaminant" following her performance as a fly spirit in the 1933 Catching Flies ( t 捉 蒼蠅 , s 捉 苍蝇 , Zhuō Cāngying ), when her costume consisted of
375-423: The actress has very small feet. It is an imitation of the foot binding practice. Wu Dan must master many acrobatic movements. They specialize only in fighting hence they seldom sing or speak. Examples of Wu Dan are Zhizhu Jing (蜘蛛精) of Pansidong (盘丝洞) and Hu Sanniang . The Lao Dan ( 老 旦 , "old role") are older women. They have their own set of movements and gestures and singing styles, distinguished against
400-501: The family was reduced when Mrs Bian gave birth to a son, Li Guozhang. She was then forced to earn money on the street by singing stories accompanied by a small drum or other instrument. At fourteen, she began learning pingju from Dong Faliang , taking supporting roles under the stage name "Bai Yushuang". She became celebrated in Beiping (now Beijing ) and Tianjin for her extreme range , from very high notes to lower than lowest note of
425-426: The past, the Wu Dan needed to perform cai qiao (踩跷), which the Daoma Dan did not do. Cai qiao is a very difficult skill requiring the actress to stand on tip toe throughout the whole show. The actress will wear something akin to high-heeled shoes, but the heels of this special kind of shoe are so high that the actress is practically standing on tip toe. Fake small shoes are then attached underneath so that it appears that
450-639: The performance of actresses became popular. As a result, women were playing increasingly important roles on stage. But Peking opera has been characterized by female impersonation for years, male dan actors were viewed as irreplaceable by female actors. In Peking opera , the famous Dans are Mei Lanfang , Cheng Yanqiu , Shang Xiaoyun , and Xun Huisheng , all men. In Pingju , the "Four Big Famous Dans" ( 四 大名 旦 , Sì Dàmíng Dàn ) are Ai Lianjun , Bai Yushuang , Liu Cuixia , and Xi Cailian . There were also "Four Small Famous Dans" (四小名旦) Li Shifang, Mao Shilai, Zhang Junqiu , and Song Dezhu . There are
475-409: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Qingyi . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Qingyi&oldid=1061918623 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
500-572: The spear or whatever weapons they have. The Daoma Dan needs to sing, which is performed while dancing or doing stunts and requires great stamina. The Daoma Dan usually wears female warrior costumes with flags behind. Examples of Daoma Dan are Liang Hongyu and Mu Guiying . Daoma Dan is also the original Chinese title of the 1986 Hong Kong film Peking Opera Blues , directed by Tsui Hark . The Wu Dan ( 武 旦 , "martial role") specializes in fighting with all kinds of weapons . The Wu Dan engages in fighting with opponents besides just doing stunts. In
525-539: The troupe's return to Tianjin and Beiping. Around the time of the Japanese occupation of the city , Bai Yushuang was diagnosed with uterine cancer . She received treatment at Beiping's German hospital and her understudy Fuzi—under the name Little Bai Yushuang ( 小 白 玉 霜 , p Xiao Bái Yùshuāng )—only replaced her once she was too ill to take the stage. In Spring of 1942, Li Guizhen returned to Tianjin to find that her bank accounts and property had been transferred to Mrs Bian's son. She collapsed on stage during
SECTION 20
#1732854924175550-515: Was a Chinese Ping Opera singer and actress . She was one of "The Four Famous Dans " ( 四 大名 旦 , Sì Dàmíng Dàn ) and remains known as the "Queen of Pingju " ( t 評劇 皇后 , s 评剧 皇后 , Píngjù Huánghòu ). Li Guizhen was born in Guye , Luan County , Hebei . As a child, she was sold to the wandering entertainer Li Jingchun and his wife Mrs Bian, who renamed her Li Huimin ( 李 慧 敏 , Lǐ Huìmǐn ). Her status within
575-495: Was able to extricate her from the charges. Her character was attacked by conservatives but defended by Zhao Jinshen and A Ying in the press and the reformers Tian Han , Hong Shen , and Ouyang Yuqian worked with her to work "anti-feudalist" messages into her historical dramas. She became a movie star following her role in Zhang Shichuan 's 1936 Red Begonia ( t 海棠 紅 , s 海棠 红 , Hǎitáng Hóng ) and
600-565: Was considered one of "The Four Famous Dans ", alongside Liu Cuixia , Ai Lianjun , and Xi Cailian . She fell in love with the cymbal player Li Yongqi, but Mrs Bian prevented their marriage to protect the profits she was deriving from her "money tree" ( yaoqianshu ). The pair eloped to his hometown in Ba County , Hebei , in February 1937. She dressed and lived as a peasant for six months before Mrs Bian ultimately negotiated for her return and
625-458: Was led by Mei Lanfang , one of the most famous dan performers. In the early years of Peking opera , all Dan roles were played by men. Wei Changsheng, a male Dan performer in the Qing court, developed the cai qiao , or "false foot" technique, to simulate the bound feet of women and the characteristic gait that resulted from the practice. In the late Qing dynasty and the early republic,
#174825