Chinese Opera: The Actor's Craft

4. Using Weapons and Skills for Stage Fighting

Spear The Chinese stage becomes a battlefield in many operas. Great generals, heroes, villains and warrior maidens fight with a variety of weapons in carefully choreographed scenes requiring a high level of skill. One of the most common weapons used in these scenes is the spear. This weapon is light, long and flexible, ideal for combat with more than one adversary. Actors will parry, thrust and toss their spears through the air in a variety of ways that require not only manipulation of the weapon, but acrobatic skills as well. There are different kinds of spears. The male warrior role regularly uses the long spear, which has a sharp blade at the head decorated with a tassel. The actor wields this weapon by holding it firmly at its end to get the maximum reach. A general, like Zhao Yun, wears full armour and is equipped with battle flags. He fights several armed warriors while mounted on horseback (see Photo 4.02). As the actor needs to manipulate the spear, he does not in this case carry the horsewhip that would normally signify the horse. Using Weapons and Skills for Stage Fighting CHAPTER 4 Opposite Photo 4.01 Raid on Hu Village, Cantonese Opera Chinese Opera: The Actor’s Craft 94 Female warriors often use the double-headed spear. This weapon is shorter than the male warrior’s long spear, but has the advantage of a sharp blade at each end along with accompanying tassels. The warrior maiden Zhang Xiuying uses such a weapon to successfully fight off two soldiers with long spears in the opera Phoenix Terrace Fortress (see Photo 4.03). Aside from warriors and generals, magical beings often use spears in battle as well. This kind of fighting, called dachushou, elevates the battlefield combat into a display of supernatural power. The spear, in particular, flies through the air of its own accord to attack immortals or magical beings, who use their own special powers to defend themselves. In one opera, The Nine-Tailed Fox Fairy, the Fox Fairy, an exceptional warrior, has fallen in love with a mortal and so refuses the advances of another fox spirit. Enraged at her rejection of him, he sends spirit warriors to capture her and bring her back. The Fox Fairy uses her feet to fend off the spirits that have encircled her (see Photo 4.04). Photo 4.02 Changban Slope, Cantonese Opera Photo 4.03 Phoenix Terrace Fortress, Cantonese Opera Photo 4.04 The Nine-Tailed Fox Fairy, Sichuan Opera Photo 4.06 Bringing the Magic Pearl Over the Rainbow Bridge, Peking Opera Photo 4.05 Bringing the Magic Pearl Over the Rainbow Bridge, Peking Opera Using Weapons and Skills for Stage Fighting 97 The story of a spiritual being’s forbidden love for a human being and the resulting battle recurs in several other operas. Wave Walker, a fairy who has also fallen for a mortal, is on her way over a rainbow bridge with a gift of a pearl. She is intercepted, however, by powerful forces dispatched by the Jade Emperor of Heaven. The warrior maiden role who plays the fairy must use a wide range of skills to fend off the attack, including blocking spears with her feet and hands while wielding her own weapon (see Photo 4.05). Wave Walker, in the midst of battle, fends off a flying spear with her feet while standing on her hands (see Photo 4.06). The White Egret Fairy, in yet another magical opera, must protect her home from attacking demons. The supernatural powers and magical weapons of both the fairy and the demons are expressed through a fast-paced interchange of weapons. The White Egret Fairy wields two spears while tossing back flying spears with her foot (see Photo 4.07). Photo 4.07 The Fire Phoenix, Cantonese Opera Chinese Opera: The Actor’s Craft 98 The battle becomes heated as she is surrounded by demons who toss spear after spear at her, each of which is deflected back to them as they are juggled by the actress on stage in an impressive display of stage-fighting technique (see Photo 4.08). One of the most spectacular battles using spears appears in the opera The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea. After a banquet with much drinking, the immortal Lü Dongbin decides to play a trick on the Goldfish Fairy. This ends in a violent, and heart...