Voice and Roles

Unlike western opera roles, which are classified by vocal range, e.g. soprano and tenor, Peking Opera roles, are organized by age and gender. 

Female roles are called dan, consisting of:

· qing yi (the demure, decent young woman)

· hua dan (the coquettish, fun-loving young woman)

· wu dan (the young, acrobatic woman skilled in martial arts)

· dao ma dan (the young female warrior who uses swords and spears, sometimes on horseback)

· lao dan (the old woman).

Male roles are called sheng and further divided into:

· lao sheng or xu sheng (the middle-aged or older man)

· xiao sheng (the young man)

· wu sheng (the young man with martial art skills/ the young warrior)

Peking Opera has two other role categories: one is jing (including the sub-groups of tong chui and hua lian), and the other is chou. Jing is the ‘painted face’ character and chou is the clown. There are three chou: xiao chou, wen chou and  wu chou, whose faces are partially painted in the center.

Qing yi usually sings in a high falsetto; lao sheng has a baritone voice;  jing or hua lian sings in a bass voice; lao dan has a baritone voice with very heavy nasality; and xiao sheng is a high male voice sung in falsetto, similar to that of qing yi.