Beijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture

2. The World of Traditional Jingju Costumes

An elaborate system of telegraphing character through the visual image has developed for modern Jingju costumes , which uses prescribed garments with specific symbolism in color and decoration. During the 200 years that Jingju has evolved, garments and colors have been chosen to define the most appropriate image for each character in each play. The choices result from the combined input of the dressers, the performers, and the responses of the audiences, rather than from the imaginationofaspecificcostumedesigner .Throughselection ofthemostdesirablearticlesofclothingfromseveraldynasties and their modification to suit theatrical needs, the choices have gradually developed into a pattern of visual language that now serves as the design aesthetic. Though the sources are quite varied, the overall look has become unified by standardization of the clothing through simplicity of cut, clarity and intensity of color, and the scale and amount of ornamentation. The combinations of thecostumes onstage are selected toconvey not only the individual characters, but to produce the most beautiful stage picture possible (Fig. 2.1). Costumes and Roles The unique system of traditional Jingju costumes, as expressed through the precepts of stylized conventionalized dress, was introduced in Chapter One. The costumes have developed to represent roles; the dynasty, season,andregionarenotrepresentedthroughclothing. China has both extensive lands and a long history, and the stories in Jingju plays cover the length and breadth of the country and its past. Identifying each region and time period in every play could be a very complicated issue. Instead, the costumes that have evolved for traditional Jingju focus on the distinctions among the role types and accommodate this vast region and time in a single conventionalized style. The information about the character communicated by the costumes focuses on the characters’ physical characteristics and personal circumstances, but nothing in the costume communicates the time period, the geographic location, or the weather. In other words, a significant component of the most notable aspects of traditional Jingju dress include what is not revealed, a quality that reflects the traditional Chinese preference of indirect expression and innuendo. The characters in traditional Jingju are divided into four major role types: sheng (standard male), dan (female ), jing (painted face or formidable male), and chou (clown). The role types and subtypes have been detailed in Chapter One. Within the conventionalized nature of traditional Jingju, just as each role’s subsets have recognizable identities, so, too, each has a distinctive visual image, from choice of the headdress and makeup, through their dress, to their shoes. The rules for the attire of each role type and the styles of clothing have TheWorldof TraditionalJingjuCostumes 32 @ the wor ld of tr a ditiona l jingju costumes become relatively fixed. To achieve these standardized identities, the costumes for each role type are selected from a specific range of clothes, and all characters within that role type are dressed from this same assortmentofgarments .Withinthegarmentsusedforagiven role type, the choice of clothes further reflects the role subtype, defining age, position, or disposition. Then the garments may also indicate the nature of the individual character, the characteristics of that individual’s personality , and the given circumstances. The determination of the wardrobe becomes more refined with each progression of character delineation. Therefore, members of a role subtype will wear the same general style of costume, and a named character within a role subtype could wear virtually identical garments in productions of the same play by different companies. For example, sheng roles generally wear the xuezi (informal robe), pi (formal robe), or mang (court robe). Their version of these robes are distinct from the same type of robes when worn by the other male characters, jing and chou. Within the sheng range of garments, the xiaosheng (young men) will wear specific versions of these pieces that fall within the conventions of the style of the young man’s role. Their garments will all share the characteristics of color and ornamentation for younger men. Therefore, a xiaosheng looks essentially Figure 2.1. The costumes are unified by simple forms with beautiful colors and embroidery. The acting ensemble is arranged for a formal court setting, with sets of eunuchs and gongnü (female palace maids) flanking the throne. Defending the State (Da bao guo). NJC, Beijing, China. October 5, 2001. the wor ld of tr a ditiona l jingju costumes @ 33 the same in every traditional Jingju performance, and he is distinct from a laosheng. The hua xuezi (flowered xuezi) they wear falls from the shoulders, laps over to the...