Image characteristics of Guan Yu in traditional Chinese opera

Guan Yu's role in China's traditional operas was created by the descriptions in unofficial history and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. His facial makeup is to wipe a red face to show loyalty and courage, and the saying that "red face is loyal and brave" comes from Guan Yu's facial makeup. Goudanfeng eyes, delicate eyes. In addition, Guan Yu is known as a handsome man with a big beard, so he will add a big beard to Guan Yu, which is called "Five Beards" or "Guan Gong Beard". Holding a dragon crescent moon blade and a red whip, wearing a proprietary green helmet, decorated with a yellow velvet ball with a back pocket, white ribbons and yellow silk spikes on both earlobes, and wearing a green python. In order to show respect for Guan Yu, later generations deliberately added a black spot or a gold thread to his face, which is called "broken face", meaning that he did not dare to imitate him completely. In addition, Guan Gong made 48 appearances, which is called "Guan Gong's Forty-Eight Pictures".

In the past, there were many rules for performing Guan Yu's opera: for example, the actor who played Guan Yu had to fast 10 days before the performance, and smoked and bathed himself; Before entering the venue, you should burn incense and kowtow to the statue of Guan Di, and kill chickens and worship sacrifices in the background; Actors should hang a yellow watch attached to the statue of the emperor on their helmets or chests, wipe their faces with this paper after the performance, and take it to the statue of Guan Di for incineration to show their gratitude for Guan Di's protection. In the performance of "Walking in Maicheng", it is necessary to burn sandalwood and light candles on the stage. It is said that if the forbidden law is violated, Guandi will appear, the actors will have an accident and the theater will have a problem. When performing in the palace of the Qing Dynasty, every time Guan Gong appeared, the emperor, queen and concubine had to leave their seats for a few steps before they could sit down and watch the play. Some plays that are detrimental to Guan Di's image, such as Cut the Bear and Tiger, Furious Guan Ping, Guan Gong Ci Cao and so on. It is forbidden to be staged in Beijing's courts and famous theaters. Now the actor who plays Guan Yu has many taboos. For example, an actor can't laugh or commit adultery when he wears makeup, and others can't lose their manners when they see Guan Yu wearing makeup.