Performance of Kunqu Opera is based on the actors who are classified into male character, female character, painted face, old male and clown. The system developed from Kunqu Opera is called “general system of schools” and it is introduced to other kinds of drama around the country.

Sheng

Sheng means male character and in Kunqu Opera, it is classified into old gentleman (also called Zheng Sheng), Wai, Mo, Guan Sheng, Xiao Sheng and Wu Sheng.

Old gentleman is the elderly male	Wai is older than the old gentleman
Mo is the old gentleman with lower status	Guan Sheng is the man with power and official rank
Jin Sheng is the elegant scholar	Wu Sheng is courageous and strong

Dan

Dan means females and children and in Kunqu Opera, it is classified into Old Dan, Zheng Dan, Zuo Dan, Ci Sha Dan (also called Si Dan), Gui Men Dan (also called Wu Dan), Tie Dan (also called Liu Dan) and Wu Dan.

 

Old Dan is old woman	Zheng Dan is honest woman
Zuo Dan means young children	Ci Sha Dan means the assassin
Gui Men Dan is beautiful, reserved and sentimental boudoir girl or young woman	Tie Dan refers to mostly servant girls or extrovert girls
Courageous women	Wu Dan is based on singing, peaking, acting and fighting

Jing and Chou

Jing and Chou mean the characters with painted faces. Thus, they are called Hua Lian (meaning painted face). Jing of Kunqu Opera includes Wen Jing and Wu Jing (called Da Mian or Da Hua Lian) and Bei Mian. Chou includes Fu (also called Er Mian or Er Hua Lian), Wen Chou and Wu Chou (called Xiao Mian or Xiao Hua Lian).

Wen Jing is powerful	Wu Jing is bold
Bei Mian is treacherous	Fu refers to mostly the ones with inconsistent personality and appearance
Wen Chou is funny	Wu Chou is flexible

Reference:
Chen,Fang.The Performance and Inheritance of Kun Opera.Taipei City:National.Publishing House,2010.
Kunqu Opera Study Clubhttp://www.kunqu.org/broles.html

Source of Photos:
Kunqu Opera Study Clubhttp://www.kunqu.org/broles.html
Daily headlineshttps://kknews.cc/culture/5exy5xl.html

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