What is Jing Chou?

Sheng, Dan, Jing, and Chou are the four major roles in traditional Chinese opera. "Jing" refers to the male villain, and "Chou" refers to the comedy role, also known as the "clown."

There are many different roles on the opera stage. People divide them into four categories: Shengdan and Jingchou according to their gender, age, personality and identity. "Jing" mainly refers to men with rough personalities and strange looks. Actors who sing "net" are commonly known as "singers with colorful faces" because they must draw facial makeup to play such roles. "Jing" can be divided into Zhengjing (big painted face), Fujing (two painted faces), Wujing (wu painted face), etc. Characters such as Bao Gong and Cao Cao that everyone is familiar with belong to the "net" corner.

Comedy characters are called "ugly" characters. They often have a small piece of white powder on the bridge of their noses, so they are also called "little painted faces." "Chou" can be divided into "Wen Chou" and "Wu Chou". The female characters in the two types of clowns are called "Caidan" or "Chou Ri". With the division of labor between the four roles of Sheng, Dan and Jing Chou, Various characters in life can be displayed on the opera stage and vivid and interesting stories can be told to the audience.

Introduction to the roles of Sheng and Dan

"Sheng" refers to the male character, which can be subdivided into "Lao Sheng", "Xiao Sheng", "Wu Sheng", etc. "Laosheng", also known as "Xusheng", refers to middle-aged and elderly men with beards; "Xiaosheng" refers to young men without beards; young and middle-aged men with martial arts skills are called "Wusheng".

"Dan" refers to female roles, which can be divided into several categories such as "Hua Dan", "Lao Dan", "Qing Yi", and "Wu Dan". The innocent, beautiful and virtuous young female characters are called "Hua Dan"; the middle-aged and elderly women characters are called "Lao Dan"; "Qing Yi" mainly refers to the dignified and strong-willed young and middle-aged female characters; "Wu Dan" is also called "Dao Ma Dan" , refers to a female character with martial arts skills.