The Costumes Used in Peking Opera Performances
As long as you have seen Jingju, even if it’s only a flash of footage or still photos, I believe you have an impression of the costumes used in Jingju performances. These extremely complicated and gorgeous costumes, called Xingtou ( 行头 ) in Chinese, are actually designed following certain conventions. The basic designs of Jingju costumes were established according to the clothes worn by people in the Ming Dynasty, with consideration of certain Song and Yuan dynasties garments, and eventually evolved into shapes that are specific to no historical period in particular.
As an old Jingju saying does, “better wear ragged clothes than wrong costumes.” In Jingju, costumes must enable the audience to distinguish a character’s sex and status at first glance, including each character’s position in the social hierarchy: official or simple citizen, of noble or humble birth, civilian or military functions, and even whether the character is loyal or wicked.
Generally speaking, Jingju costumes are divided into five categories: mang (蟒,the ceremonial robe embroidered with patterns of a four-toed dragon and sea-waves worn by emperors or highrank officials), kao (靠, a warrior’s suit of armor), zhe ( 褶, a lined coat), pei ( 帔, a mantle worn by male or female roles) and yi ( 衣, other costumes).
Many details, even the colors of the costume are to be taken into account. In the pictures below, let’s take mang in Jingju related to the Three Kingdoms period for example. A red mang stands for majesty and nobleness, such as Cao Cao, a prime minister and a widely considered wicked hero. A green mang indicates might and boldness, like Guan Yu, a military general famous for his bravery and skill in battle. A white mang is worn by handsome young people, just like Zhou Yu, another military general who was famous for his handsome appearance besides his bravery. Last but not least, a black mang is reserved for upright and loyal characters, such as Zhang Fei, a military general most famous for his bravery.
Copyright: APPRECIATING TRADITIONAL CHINESE OPERA, New Star Press
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