Four Great Characteristic Melodies

Four Great Characteristic Melodies in Chinese opera are Bangziqiang, Huangpiqiang, Kunqiang and Gaoqiang.

Bangziqiang

Qinqiang, Yuju, , Hebei Bangzi, Sixianqiang in Dianju, Tanxi in Chuanju, etc.

Huangpiqiang

Huiju, Hanju, Beijing opera, Cantonese opera, Xiangju, , Dianju, etc.

Kunqiang

Kunqiang, also known as Kunshanqiang, or Kunqu was listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2001.

Gaoqiang

Chuanju, Xiangju, , Dianju, Chenhexi, Diaoqiang, etc.

Hong Took Tong Chinese Dramatic Company

The Hong Took Tong Chinese Dramatic Company was a San Francisco, California-based Chinese opera company who became the first major Asian American theatrical company in the country, inaugurating the first phase of the history of Chinese opera in the United States. A performance in 1852 was the first Cantonese opera ever shown in the country.

Jiangsu Province Kunqu Theatre

Jiangsu Province Kun Opera is a professional company, based in Nanjing, engaged in Kunqu research, production and performance.

Six members of the opera have won the Plum Blossom Prize: Zhang Jiqing, Shi Xiaomei, Hu Jinfang, Huang Xiaowu and Zhang Jidie. Performers graduated in three generations from the Jiangsu Opera School.

The Opera presents two kinds of performances: selections from classical operas, which are performed every week; and full operas adapted for one-, two-, or three-evening performances, which are produced several times a year, since the original scripts are too long for the modern stage. Recent full operas have included ''The Peony Pavilion'' and ''The White Silk Shirt'', which won the national prize for Best New Opera.

Lisa Lu

Lisa Lu born December 5, 1927 in Beijing, China) is a Chinese-American actress and documentary producer.

Biography

Beginning in her teens, Lu was active in Chinese opera, or Kunqu, before emigrating to the United States. Beginning in the 1950s, she enjoyed a long career in , though the only roles she found were stereotypical roles.

During the 1958-1959 television season, Lisa had the recurring role on the cult western show ''Yancy Derringer'' as Miss Mandarin. Miss Mandarin was an old love interest of Yancy's and close friend. She is the proprietor of his favorite place to dine, the Sazarack Restaurant. Set in New Orleans in 1868.

In 1961, she had a recurring role as Hey Girl on the television series ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' . Lisa also made numerous other appearances on television, with guest starring roles on ''The Big Valley'', ''The Richard Boone Show'', '''', ''Hawaiian Eye'', ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' and many more until her film career began to take off.

Her film career began to take off in the 1970s, with supporting roles in films like ''Demon Seed'' and Peter Bogdanovich's ''Saint Jack''. During this time, she also received three for Best Actress for her films ''The Arch'', ''The Empress Dowager'', and ''The Fourteen Amazons''. For the remainder of her career, Lu alternated between theater and film. Today, she is best remembered by audiences for her roles in the critically acclaimed films ''The Last Emperor'' and '''' . In addition to her work in film, theater, and television, she is known for narrating and producing a number of documentaries.

Selected filmography

Pear Garden

The Pear Garden or Liyuan , the first known royal acting and musical academy in China. It was founded during the Tang Dynasty by Emperor Xuanzong . It may be the first institutional Academy of Music in the world.

In later dynasties the phrase "Pear Garden" was used to allude to the world of Chinese opera in general.

Qu (poetry)

In Chinese literature, qu , or yuanqu consists of ''sanqu'' and ''zaqu'' . Along with '''' and '''', the former comprises Chinese poetry. The latter is a form of Chinese opera.

''Qu'' became popular during the late Southern Song Dynasty, and reached its highest popularity in Yuan Dynasty, therefore it is often called ''yuanqu''. Both ''sanqu'' and ''ci'' are lyrics written to fit a particular melody, but ''sanqu'' differs from ''ci'' in that it is more colloquial, and is allowed to contain ''chenzi'' . ''Sanqu'' can be further divided into ''xiaoling'' and ''santao'' , with the latter comprising of more than one melody.

Yunbai

Yunbai is a form of heightened speech used in Beijing opera and Kunqu. It utilizes a local dialect typical of central China, with a sing-song and rhythmic quality.

Dan (Chinese opera)

Dan is the general name for female roles in Chinese opera. There are a few different kinds of ''dan'' in Chinese opera. The commonly seen ones are 'Guimen Dan', 'Hua Dan', 'Daoma Dan', 'Wu Dan', 'Lao Dan' and 'Cai Dan'. Each different kind of dan has its own unique characteristics.

* Guimen Dan
:This is the role of the virtuous lady. It is also known as ''Qingyi'' , a typical Gui Men Dan image.-->
* Hua Dan
:These are lively, vivacious young female characters. 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. Hong Niang of the Romance_of_the_West_Chamber and Yan Xijiao of ''Wulongyuan'' have involved the role of Hua Dan.
* Daoma Dan
:These are young female warriors. The name Daoma Dan, meaning "sword and horse dan", indicates the style of performance which usually involves horse riding with a spear. This category is superficially similar to Wu Dan but there is a difference. Daoma Dan do not fight as much as Wu Dan. They do more stunts and dancing with the spear or whatever weapons they have. Daoma Dan need to sing, which is performed while dancing or doing stunts and requires great stamina. Daoma Dan usually wear female warrior costumes with the 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.
*Wu Dan
:Wu Dan specialise in fighting with all kinds of weapons. The Wu Dan engage in fighting with opponents besides just doing stunts. In the past, the Wu Dan needed to perform cai qiao , 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 heels 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 the actress has very small feet. It is an imitation of the foot binding practice. Wu Dan must master many acrobatic movements. They specialise only in fighting hence they seldom sing or speak.
**Examples of Wu Dan are Zhizhu Jing of ''Pansidong'' and Hu San Niang of ''Hujiazhuang'' .
* Lao Dan
:Lao Dan are older women . They have their own set of movements and gestures and singing styles, different from ''qingyi''. ''Qingyi'' sing in high pitched and piercing voices while 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 She Tai Jun of ''Yang Men Nu Jiang'' .
* Cai Dan
:These are the clownish female roles. 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 is exaggerated by their hideous make up.