In traditional Peking Opera, each of the historical characters portrayed in the performance has its own unique design painted on the face of the actor. Over time, these designs have become a set stereotype. Audiences that are old hands of Peking opera can differentiate at first glance the heroes from the thugs, the intelligent from the foolish, liked from the despised, and so on just from the facial makeup painted on the actors’ faces. In addition to the color of the makeup, the characteristics, personality, moral character, and the like are displayed through the symbolic and exaggerated artistic designs on their faces. In other words, facial makeup is the portrait of each actor’s character.

Origins

Actually, many local operas around China have their own facial painting traditions.

When it comes to the origins of dramatic facial makeup, there are many theories. One theory is that facial makeup began in ancient times as part of people’s devotion to primitive totem beliefs, from which people formed traditions of tattoos and facial makeup. Peking Opera facial makeup has some similarities with some of the markings found on oracle bones of dancers wearing masks, and the bronze masks of indigenous cultures.

Another theory says that facial makeup originated in song and dance drama. The Prince of Lanling (541-573) had a beautiful face, and every time he led his troops into battle, he was always looked down upon as an inexperienced youth, all because of his pale looking face. This inevitably brought down the morale of his troops. So, in order to enhance his image as a mighty general, he made himself a mask with the image of an evil ghost. The result worked wonders in greatly intimidating his enemy troops, much to his advantage. In order to praise his outstanding military achievements, people wrote a song about him. During the performance, the dancers wore masks. Later the masks evolved into colored masks, which were the predecessors of facial makeup used in Peking Opera.

Still yet another theory is that they originated with Emperor Li Longji (685-762) in the Tang Dynasty. This emperor and his concubine Yang Yuhuan were both fond of performance art comprising of song and dance. In the palace, there was even a special place for practicing singing and dancing opera called the Pear Garden. After that people used “Pear Garden” to refer to Chinese opera. According to legend, one day an actor who played the comedy role suddenly fell ill right before the scheduled performance. At the last moment, the emperor performed this role in the show, but because he feared people would recognize him, he took off the square white jade pendant that hung on his clothes, and hung it on his headwear to cover his face. From then on, clowns painted their faces with a white block. Moreover, from this we can see why clowns are considered important Peking Opera roles.

Each theory, regardless of its authenticity, demonstrates how the design of opera facial makeup underwent a complex development process of rising in popularity and becoming a unique form of art in its own right. With the passing of time, each type of operatic style has become more defined, and each kind of facial makeup pattern used has been adapted to the features of each actor. By the end of the 18th century, dramas from various regions had converged in Peking, and after a time of learning from and mingling with each other, they finally formed what we know today as the Peking Opera, of which Peking Opera facial makeup became a collection of expressive operatic facial makeup art.

Decoding the Types of Facial Makeup

The main characters in Peking Opera can be divided into four main types: sheng, dan, jing, and chou. Sheng represents the male roles; dan represents the female roles; chou, which means clown, represents the comic role; and jing is a rather complex male character that has various rough, heroic, and dignified characteristics. The facial makeup of the sheng and dan are quite simple, using a little rouge and powder, and has also been referred to as the “handsome role.” The jing and chou facial makeup design, on the other hand, is more complex, especially the jing, which uses oil paints and complicated patterns, and has been called the “painted role.” As for the chou, a small patch of white powder is applied to the area around the bridge of the actor’s nose, and so has been called the “minor painted role.”

In order to emphasize the personality of the characters, each type of Peking Opera makeup pattern is distinguished by different colors, which as a result greatly enriches the stage’s color palette and strengthens the dramatic conflict on the stage. While having much aesthetic value, the color pattern of each of the facial makeup patterns used in Peking Opera has a specific meaning. As soon as the actor enters the stage, the audience can instantly read the character of the person by the pattern and colors on their face. In general, red stands for loyalty, white for treachery, black for integrity and intrepidity, purple for firmness and steadiness, yellow for ferocity, blue for bravery, green for grumpiness, gold for immortals, silver for monsters, and so on.

The artistic features of Peking Opera facial makeup are mainly manifested in the three following aspects: distortion, vividness, and allegorical implications. This kind of makeup art uses a form of deformation and exaggeration to express meaning. The colors and patterns of facial makeup show the basic predisposition of each specific character. At the same time, the pattern on each type of facial makeup has its own limitations, only being able to articulate one certain look very clearly, but not being able to express any significant changes. For this very reason, the facial makeup pattern of each character is slightly different depending on the different narratives of the story they are performing. Even when different actors play the same role, because of the different understanding of the role or the different shape of the actor’s face, the details of facial makeup will also change.

Take the role of Monkey King as an example, who was originally a stone monkey that was transformed from a fairy stone on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits. According to legend, he acquired the ability of transforming himself into 72 different forms. He proclaimed himself Monkey King and later caused a great commotion in the heavenly court. Because of this, he was punished by the Buddha and placed under the heavy weight of the Wutai Mountain for 500 years. Later, he followed the monk to get scriptures from the west in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), finally became an immortal.

There are many plays about the story of the Monkey King in Peking Opera, and all of the actors playing the monkey role paint their faces according to a certain type of facial makeup pattern. But each design is unique. For the early life of the Monkey King, the facial makeup is just an ordinary monkey face, with markings of an upside-down red peach in the middle of his face and pink eye shadow. After creating a great commotion in the heavenly courts, he was locked in the alchemy furnace and burned for 49 days, after which his eyes turned into a pair of “golden eyes.” Accordingly the actor is painted golden eye shadow. He later followed the Tang Dynasty monk to get scriptures, so a line of Buddha beads is added to his forehead. From this point of view, Peking Opera facial makeup designs are not completely static, but their charm lies in that the changes in each facial design tell a story.

Making Opera Masks

Yang Yudong, one of those who inherited the intangible cultural heritage of colorful Peking Opera masks, has been teaching students at the Beijing Haidian Minzu Primary School in his spare time about this art for many years. Some of his students are so enthusiastic about learning the art that they have been studying with him from grade two all the way to grade six.

Yang told China Today that Peking Opera facial makeup designs that people see today can be divided into two kinds, one is painted on actors performing on the stage, and the other one is painted on paper and other materials for decoration.

Though Peking Opera facial makeup originated with facial makeup painted on real actors of theater and drama, painting facial makeup designs is no longer merely limited to actors on the Peking Opera stage. Today, such makeup can be seen on various ornaments including clothing, architecture, embroidery, painting, textile printing, and so on, becoming a unique cultural symbol. But despite the fact that many artists have produced beautiful art based on Peking Opera facial makeup patterns, in Yang’s viewpoint, these forms are not suitable for use on stage and can only be appreciated as drawn or painted versions of Peking Opera facial makeup. “Only facial makeup designs that are produced for Peking Opera performers on the stage can be considered the ‘authentic’ Peking Opera facial makeup,” said Yang.

Based on Yang’s deep understanding of the art of Peking Opera, every colorful Peking Opera facial makeup design that he paints follows the real facial makeup design used by Peking Opera performers on the stage, and for each of the facial makeup designs, he can explain which role it is, in which act it is performed, which Peking Opera play it belonged to, and which actors performed it. The authenticity of his work is as good as the corresponding stills.

Even though Yang never became a Peking Opera actor, growing up near the theater has instilled in him a passion for drama that he has carried throughout his life. When he was a child, he was so attracted to Peking Opera that he would often go backstage and watch the actors painting their faces and put on their makeup. As a result, he slowly began to learn how to paint the various facial makeup designs. Later on, Yang was accepted into the Beijing Arts and Crafts School and studied under two famous teachers who were successors of the clay figurine art, namely Shen Ji and Zheng Yuhe. His knowledge and training of how to make clay figurines laid the foundation for his later work of painting Peking Opera facial masks.

The first show of Yang’s colorful Peking Opera facial mask work was during a Chinese folk art exhibit in the 1980s, and attracted much attention from the media and theater enthusiasts. From that day on, people’s interest in his works began to grow. Yang’s exquisite artistic skills of creating Peking Opera facial masks have traveled with him to dozens of countries around the world, and his works have become special gifts given by Chinese state leaders on state visits. In 2011 Yang published a book, Techniques for Making Peking Opera Headdresses and Painting Colorful Peking Opera Makeup Masks. The book includes around 80 pictures of Yang’s own Peking Opera facial mask art pieces, with detailed explanations of the role, design, specific Peking Opera play, and even names of renowned actors who had performed it.

Yang told China Today that there used to be many famous actors of Peking Opera. Some of whom were really skillful in painting facial masks and would write down the design of the facial masks they used so as to preserve it for future generations. However, not all actors did that. “My goal is to help people appreciate the elegance of Peking Opera through painting facial masks that are exact replicas of the designs used by Peking Opera actors on the stage,” Yang said.