中文
HOME
HOME / LATEST NEWS / Content

Middle School Chinese Department: The Art of Beijing Opera—Lecture by Yuyin She

November 27, 2020

This week, we invited a guest speaker from Yuyin She to give a lecture on Beijing Opera. Students from the 7H Chinese classes attended the lecture in the primary school auditorium.

Beijing Opera is the quintessence of Chinese culture.With its fascinating elements, nowadays Beijing Opera has been recognized by the world as a symbol of China. For most students, “Beijing Opera” is nothing more than abeautifulterm that they are barely familiar with, since what they know about it is only its status and values that they may have simply learned from textbooks. The lecture, delivered by the teacher from Yuyinshe, provided students with vivid insights about Beijing Opera. Aside from the origin and development of this art, students alsolearned about the four roles of Sheng, Dan, Jing, and Chou in Jingju (京剧) as well as the four skills involved, including speaking, singing, dancing, and combat. Additionally, students learned about the simple and minimal props used on stage.

Furthermore, the teacher also shared some cool facts and stories about life as a performer. She admitted that mistakes are bound to happen during performances, but how to handle these mistakes is important yet challenging. While mistakes can be embarrassing, the best thing to do when you know you make a mistake is to act as natural as possible. Also, the other performers and staff will try everything they can to help cover your mistakes.

Students became attentive learners when they watched and imitated the mannerisms of the Yuyin She teacher as she demonstrated the postures and gestures of Beijing opera performers. Through this activity, students gained a firmer understanding of traditional Chinese opera and felt more connected tothis charming ancient art.

(Translated by Huang Shiyuan Pictures by Tian Lijiao)