The Cantonese opera incorporates a variety of musical and dramatic elements, and perfectly combines watchman's clapper, Peking opera and the dialect rhyme of Cantonese dialect, creatively expanding the artistic performance of Chinese opera. It becomes the master of the opera art of the North and South China, which is different from other Chinese opera dramas. As the most influential and most representative type of Chinese opera in the Cantonese dialect district, the Cantonese opera has penetrated the traditional and modern life of Lingnan with various and unique forms of opera, and has become an important medium for ethnic identity and cultural exchange.
The Cantonese opera band originally consisted of "five instruments" including two-stringed plucked instrument, four-stringed plucked instrument, three-stringed plucked instrument, bamboo plucked instrument and vertical bamboo flute. Then, it successively absorbed some other new musical instruments. The original Cantonese opera has such ten major characters as middle-aged male roles (末/mo), principa male roles (生/sheng), principal female roles (旦/dan), roles with painted faces (净/jing), jester (丑/chou), elderly male roles (外/wai), young male roles (小/xiao), elderly female roles (夫/fu), young female roles (帖/tie) and utility men (杂/za), and then was then reduced to six categories of civilized martial male roles (文武生/wen wu sheng), young male roles (小生/xiao sheng), principal female role (正印花旦/zheng yin hua dan), secondary female role (二帮花旦/er bang hua dan), jester male roles (丑生/chou sheng) and military male roles (武生/wu sheng). The Cantonese opera performances include the unique skills such as single foot, zipline, movement, jump, and waist-cropping. Based on the southern martial arts, it has the excellent performances such as targets, hand bridges, Shaolin boxing, and difficult chair performance and high-platform exercise. The Cantonese opera costumes are simple and concise, with rich colors, and most of which are exquisitely and gorgeously embroidered in Cantonese styles, with rich local characteristics.
The Cantonese opera widely absorbs local art forms such as Cantonese music, Canton embroidery, tooth carving, ceramics, and clay sculpture. It fully reflects the regional cultural traditions of the Cantonese folk community, and spreads all over the world. It has strong cultural cohesion among the Chinese in the world.
The Cantonese opera band originally consisted of "five instruments" including two-stringed plucked instrument, four-stringed plucked instrument, three-stringed plucked instrument, bamboo plucked instrument and vertical bamboo flute. Then, it successively absorbed some other new musical instruments. The original Cantonese opera has such ten major characters as middle-aged male roles (末/mo), principa male roles (生/sheng), principal female roles (旦/dan), roles with painted faces (净/jing), jester (丑/chou), elderly male roles (外/wai), young male roles (小/xiao), elderly female roles (夫/fu), young female roles (帖/tie) and utility men (杂/za), and then was then reduced to six categories of civilized martial male roles (文武生/wen wu sheng), young male roles (小生/xiao sheng), principal female role (正印花旦/zheng yin hua dan), secondary female role (二帮花旦/er bang hua dan), jester male roles (丑生/chou sheng) and military male roles (武生/wu sheng). The Cantonese opera performances include the unique skills such as single foot, zipline, movement, jump, and waist-cropping. Based on the southern martial arts, it has the excellent performances such as targets, hand bridges, Shaolin boxing, and difficult chair performance and high-platform exercise. The Cantonese opera costumes are simple and concise, with rich colors, and most of which are exquisitely and gorgeously embroidered in Cantonese styles, with rich local characteristics.
The Cantonese opera widely absorbs local art forms such as Cantonese music, Canton embroidery, tooth carving, ceramics, and clay sculpture. It fully reflects the regional cultural traditions of the Cantonese folk community, and spreads all over the world. It has strong cultural cohesion among the Chinese in the world.
