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JING-CHU: THE MAKING OF PEKING OPERA
By

Han-ching Liu

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulﬁllment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS
Department of Telecommunication

1 999

ABSTRACT

JING-CHU: THE MAKING OF PEKING OPERA

BY

Han-ching Liu

“Jing-chu: The Making of Peking Opera” uses a made-for-television
documentary to introduce the essence and stylization of Peking Opera to a
western audience.

As one of the oldest theatrical performances in the world, Peking Opera
engaged singing, dancing, music playing and martial arts into a synthesis of
various stage aesthetics. It is performed with almost no set. It is more like a
symbolic art form instead of a representational stage performance.

This video documentary is intended to provide a guide to the major
aspects of Peking Opera. It does not assume the audience to have any
knowledge of Chinese history or civilization. Instead, it will begin with all the
basic concepts of Peking Opera help the audience to understand this unique and
diverse cultural legacy while providing for the purposes of education,
entertainment, commercial viability, and aesthetic vitality.

This written thesis is a supplement to the video program, which explains
the motivation, video design, and creating theories of the author. The results of a

group evaluation and its implications are also presented.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Sincerely, I would like to thank Bob Albers for being the chair of my thesis
committee. Without his guidance and patience, this video project would not be a
reality. I am especially grateful for his help when I went through a lot frustrations
on this project, and he always makes me feel that I can do better. I would also
like to thank the other committee member; Dr. Gretchen Barbatsis for her
valuable opinions and encouragement.

Special thanks go to Kuo-kuang Opera Troupe and all my subjects who
helped me complete the shooting. My appreciations are also given to everyone
who is important to me through this process, Jed, Peyina, and Zoe. Thanks to
Te-fen Lo for her help and advice.

Finally, I would like to thank my parents and family, who were always

there when I needed them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION - .............................................................................. 1
CHAPTER 1 - WHAT IS PEKING OPERA ................................................. 4
CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................... 14
CHAPTER 3 - VIDEO PROGRAM DESIGN ............................................. 22

CHAPTER 4 — EVALUATION, CONCLUSION, and RECOMMENDATIONS...“

APPENDIXA ....................... 53
APPENDIXB .................................................................................... 55
FOOTNOTE .................................................................................... 72
BIBILOIGRAPHY ............................................................................... 73

iv

INTRODUCTION

Known as China's national opera, Peking Opera, which originated in the
late 18th century, is a synthesis of music, dance, art and acrobatics. It is the most
inﬂuential and representative of all operas in China. Peking Opera has been the
nationally dominant form of theater in China for almost two hundred years. The
song, music, dance, pantomime, story and speech form together into a unique
form of art. From late Chou dynasty, Chinese theater may be said to have had a

generally continuous existence. 1

In the Yuan Dynasty, (around early 16th century) the performing form “Tsa-
chu” (a variety drama) was developing in a miniature of the classical Chinese
theater. In the middle of the Ching dynasty, the special opera theater performing
style in Peking was the most popular one. Therefore, Peking Opera was named
after this style and it soon spread over all of China. Based upon traditional Anhui
Opera, it has also adopted repertoire, music, and performing techniques from
Kun Opera and Quinquiang Opera as well as traditional folk tunes in its
development, eventually forming its own highly stylized music and performing
techniques. Peking Opera has been developing for two hundred years. It has
assimilated more ingredients from other traditional arts and still keeps its own
classical form. Today, Peking Opera still plays an important role as a living

monument of world theater.

Peking Opera features intricate body movement techniques, and makes
full use of colorful, gala stage costumes and props to set off the reﬁned dance
movements. Traditional Chinese Opera has certain connections with
performance arts today. For example, many modern Taiwanese dance groups
take features from the traditional Chinese Opera to enrich their dance and some
musicians or singers take Opera music to feature a new form of art. Even
Chinese martial arts have some attributes similar to traditional opera

movements.

The western world’s knowledge of Chinese theater has largely been
derived from the old Beijing style of performance, commonly known as Peking
opera.2 Besides that, there is not so much information of the aesthetic principles
of this form. However, Peking Opera has a totally different performing concept
from Western theater. In a video interview with Mr Jen, a lighting/stage designer
of Kuo-kuang Opera Troupe in Taiwan. He pointed out the basic difference
between Chinese and Western theater:

“To me, the reality in the western theater is to build by magic, by
hiding, by shadow, everything on the stage, we want it look like real. ”

“F or Chinese Opera, it ’s totally diﬂerent, we don ’t make reality on
stage, we give you the subject for the audience to imagine it into reality.

The reality in the traditional Chinese Opera theater, is not made on the

stage, it is made by the audience and in the audience ’s mind. "

“So the stage, the scenery, the props are only the tools for the audience
to imagine, or are only the tools to let the audience relate it. It will be
more like guide for the audience to see the details, make the reality, that ’s
why the light is always bright, so the audience won ’t miss any part on the

stage. ”

Since Peking Opera has a highly stylized performing way, It can hardly be
automatically and universally understood. It is a language which has to be
learned. The audience needs to understand certain conventions and rules before

viewing Peking Opera in the theater.

The purpose of this video documentary is to provide an understanding of
the basic aesthetic attributes to the western audience. In other words, this
program will help the audience appreciate Peking Opera. The documentary
video is about the history, actors, story, roles, training process and performance
at one of the most famous Peking Opera troupes in Taiwan, the National Kuo-
Kuang Opera Troupe. The video will also present videotaped performance from
other Peking Opera training schools and troupes in Taiwan. These include the
Academy of Fu-hsing Dramatice Arts School, and the Contemporary Legend

Theater performing their latest works.

This paper is a supplement to the video program.

Chapter 1

WHAT IS PEKING OPERA

1. Origin of Chinese Classical Theater
Chinese drama usually involved performing a story by dancing and
singing. Dancing can be traced back to the Shaman’s rituals of the Chou

dynasty.3 Shamans were important in Chinese religion and society.

A shaman may be deﬁned as a priest or intermediary recognized as
possessing special powers to invoke and communicate with spirits and gods.
These rituals usually combined dancing and singing for the invocation of spirits,

and the invocation was sometimes intended to entertain.

After the late Chou dynasty (around 500 BC.) court jesters began to
perform Court entertainers were also called “You” or “Chang”. They were people
who entertained their dukes and princes by witty contributions to ordinary

conversation.

Later in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C-A.D 220). The “horn butting game “
ﬂourished. Originally a way of ﬁghting, under Emperor Han, Wu-di (140-80 3.0) it
became one of the “ hundred games”, which involved enacting simple combat
plays on various subjects. The performance was probably like today’s combat

and magic plays.

Through the late period of the Three Kingdoms (220-265 AD.) and Six
Dynasties (222-589 AD). The Chinese dancing and singing performance moved
on to another stage due to the contact of India through the importation of

Buddhism. Puppets and masks began to be used in comic shows.

During the Tang period (618-906 AD), thriving commerce and more
settled times helped the growth of theater. According to tradition, Emperor Ming
Huang, who reigned from AD. 712-756 of the Tang dynasty was the founder of
the Chinese theater. Tang history tells us that Ming-Huang established the ﬁrst
music academy in his Pear Garden and trained three hundred court musicians
and hundreds of women attendants in it and called them all “pupils of the Pear
Garden”, which was probably the ﬁrst theatrical profession. A number of dances
in the nature of musical sketches, using ﬂute, clappers, and drums for their
musical instruments, ﬂourished during the dynasty. In general, these
performances were only limited to dancing and singing; however, stories, one of

the most important elements of theater, were still left out.

The Sung dynasty (960-1276 AD.) is famous for it’s dramatic literature. A
lot of stock dramatic documents from the past decades also enriched the theater
development. In a book on customs and manners of the Sung dynasty, the
different forms of popular entertainment are said to be “story-telling, humorous
talks, shadow plays, ballads, songs, farce, and puppets. On the other hand,

dramatic poetry and music were also evolving at this period. Chinese dramatists

were all poets because all dramas were written in a particular style of poetry. The
development of the Chinese drama and the evolution of Chinese poetical styles

are closely related to each other.

At the arrival of the Yuan dynasty (1277-1367 A.D.), various theatrical
elements developed in the preceding centuries joined to create the ﬁrst four-
sectioned Chinese dramas. Afterwards, the Ming dynasty (1368-1643 A.D.)
marks a most important chapter in the history of Chinese drama and theater.
More than four hundred playwrights produced over ﬁfteen hundred plays, ranging
from one act skits to more than ﬁfty scenes. As a performing art, Ming theater,
with its polished singing, intricate choreography, and splendid costumes has

been rarely surpassed.

Regional dramas had been greatly developing as moved into the Ching
Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.). From a historical point of view, the economic
condition of the whole country was booming in this period (around 1790-1850
AD). Transportation had improved to enable all the theatrical troupes to be able
to travel around. Moreover, more and more people were interested in these
performances, and they were willing to pay to support these troupes. From the
social point of view, the whole society had been deconstructed, and ordinary
people were seeking for a mental entertainment to release their thoughts.‘ (The

History of Peking Opera, p99). This reinforced the interest in plays, and that also

brought a deeper connection of the audience and their beloved theater troupes.

Opera moved closer to the common people.

The Peking Opera is the most highly developed style of the system of
regional drama style known as Pi-huang. The term Pi-huang is a combination of
two words, Xipi and Erhuang, both of which are the names of drama style. The
two styles Xipi and Erhuang share many features with each other. In both there
are “standard'(zheng) and “counter"(fan) tunes. The difference between the two
is that the strings of the bowed ﬁddle, and consequently the music as a whole,
are pitched one-fourth or two-and-a-half tones higher in “counter” tunes than in
“standard”. In general, scenes emphasizing serious or sad feelings are more
likely to use Erhuang while those which are happy or exuberant will use Xipi. For
instance, “quick meter” music, which must belong to Xipi style, is often found in

scenes featuring excited discussion. 5

Peking Opera was born in a combination of the two main regional styles,
Xipi and Erhuang in Beijing. The beginning of the lasting Pi-huang tradition in
Beijing can be dated to 1790. In that year the four big Huiban opera Troupes
entered the capital and combined with Kunqu opera, Yiyang Opera, Hanju opera
and Luantan in Beijing’s theater circle of the time. The occasion was the
eightieth birthday celebrations for the Qianlong Emperor.

Through a period of more than half a century of combination and

integration of various kinds of opera there evolved the present Peking Opera

(around A.D.1840-1860), the biggest kind of opera in China. The special singing
style of Peking Opera utilized these regional singing tones and established its
own characteristics, and its development dominated the history of eighteenth and

nineteenth century Chinese theater.

2. The Content of the Peking Opera

The content of Peking Opera derives from novels of the Yuag and Ming
dynasties or even earlier. The repertoire of Peking Opera is mainly engaged in
fairy tales of preceding dynasties, important historical events, love stories, folk
tales and other legends. These are all important sources of Peking Opera and

they enrich the topics of Peking Opera.

For the content of performance, Peking Operas are generally and
traditionally categorized into civilian and military. The civilian items cover tales of
righted injustice, love stories and family matters. Singing performance plays a
great part in civilian items. For example, “The butterﬂy dream” is a lively satire on
the inconstancy of women. Military dramas are tales of war, uprisings and heroic
exploits. These plays focus more on ﬁghting, acrobatics, and martial arts
performance. For example, the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", based on a
novel is a typical military opera. These plays can also be divided according to

styles, such as comedy, farce, slapstick, and tragedy.

3. Main Elements of Peking Opera

Peking Opera is a synthesis of stylized action, singing, dialogue and mime,
acrobatic ﬁghting and dancing to represent a story or depict different characters
and their feelings of gladness, anger, sorrow, happiness, surprise, fear, and
sadness. In a way the movement works which like a live sculpture. In these main
elements within Peking opera will be broken down and examined according to

the aesthetic principles.

(1) Four primary role categories in Peking Opera

The characters must have their images vividly manifested. They are loyal
or treacherous, beautiful or ugly, good or bad. Stage characters are classiﬁed
according to types. They are interesting to an audience as types quite as much
as the individuals of the immediate drama in which they may be playing. Each
has a traditional make up that is well known to theater habitués.6 There are four
major roles in Peking Opera: male, Sheng; female, Tan; painted face, Ching,
Comedian, Chou; and there are a number of variant sub-categories in each of
them according to their age, social status or characteristics. That is to say, these
roles are archetypal presentations by which a surface contrast between positive

and negative, good and evil is established through the stage action.

a. Sheng:
The male group can be separated into four divisions: warriors are Wu-
sheng, intellectuals are Wen-sheng, young men are Hsiao-Sheng, and old men

are Lao-sheng. These are not mutually exclusive categories.

b. Tan:

Tan are females. Before the present century, there were separate
dramatic troupes made up entirely of men or entirely of women. Since the debut
of the Republic of China in 1911, women have added their glamour to the stage
by playing female parts along with men. Tan roles are subdivided into Ching-yi,
Hua-tan, Hua-shen , Lao-tan and Wu-tan. Ching-yi expresses the traditional
ideal of womanhood, with trembling, mincing steps and downcast eyes. She
usually demonstrates women with remarkable grace. In contrast to the virtuous
female types, Hua-tan portrays women with charm or bewitching grace. Lao-tan
are usually elder women. Wu-tan is a role who is clever with the sword. She is

able to handle acrobatic assignments like a young boy.

c. Ching:
These are usually brave warriors, evil ministers, upright judges, and loyal
statesmen, with a colorful pattern of painting make-up. These characters

symbolize strength and power in ﬁghting and thinking

10

d. Ch’ou:

Chou is the clown or comic of the Chinese stage, making people laugh by
his funny actions. Chou's performance is really interesting in Peking Opera. The
role “Ch’ou” is just like the comedian, he is not necessary a fool. He usually
makes people laugh by making fun of himself or others. He needs to know
everybody’s role on stage, sometimes he has to imitate other roles to make the
audience laugh. Sometimes he acts like a narrator as well as an outsider of the
drama, to inform the audience what’s going happening on stage. Unlike other
roles which use poetical language for lyrics, Ch’ou uses everyday speech in

order to make the audience laugh.

(2) Music and vocal expression

The musical style of the Peking Opera is called Pihuang as mentioned
earlier. The performance is accompanied by a tune played on wind instruments,
percussion instruments and stringed instruments. It serves a strictly theatrical
function and has no place as concert music. Singing is used to indicate human
emotions and psychological reactions, melodramatically conveyed through the
range of mood offered by the metrical arrangements of the two principal musical
styles.7 Each role category is vocally identiﬁed by speciﬁc qualities of pitch,
volume, and enunciation. The method of singing is completely stylized within the
patterned relationships created by the string and percussion accompaniment,

together with choreographic forms in which every gesture is predetermined.

11

(3) Gesture and movement

For each role category there are prescribed methods for every kind of
physical action pertaining to human behavior. Theater people usually list them
for technical purposes under the following headings: foot movements and pace,
leg, hand and ﬁngers, sleeves, pheasant plume, and beards. In all Peking opera
acting forms, every step, gesture, head movement posture, and combat form are
minutely deﬁned. For example, hand gestures are used symbolically to express
emotional reactions and provide a continuous pattern of movement while an
actor is singing. They are also given great emphasis in expressive mime
techniques whereby simple actions like opening or closing of a door or the
threading of a needle become visually attractive interpolations within the total
action of a theme played out through a combined element of music, song, and

dance.

(4) Costumes and makeup

Opera costumes all ﬁt tidily within a limited grouping of basic styles, the
variations on a basic style being due to color, pattern, and whether they are to be
worn by male or female characters, who frequently use robes of the same name,
basic cut, and symbolic function. For example, painted “red” indicates
uprightness and loyalty, and white is craftiness and cunning. Facial makeup on
the Peking opera stage ranges between the highly conventionalized, dependent
on a heavy use of powder and paint, to practically no makeup at all. The makeup

highlights and exaggerates the principal features of the characters.

12

To sum up, the main purpose of acting in Peking Opera is to produce an
artistic effect rather than be true to life. It is the ideal, not the real that is intended
to be emphasized. The aim is to present the show as artistically as possible
without details of true life. However, the audience follows the stage convention
and rules to view the play via these abstract ideas. These are presented not only
by intonation, such as "speech through melody, gestures through dance" but
also in bodily movements such as conventional gait and sleeve movement.
There are striking differences from the sounds and actions of daily life. Actors
and actresses follow the performing stylization and rules. Any expression of
feeling, a smile, a frown, a sigh, an indication of surprise—must be conventionally
given in accordance with special music. If an actor can make his audience feel
and appreciate what he means to present in the play, it is sufﬁcient. The
performers try to convey the show through their singing and acting, and the stage
or props are all minor compared with the actions. Thus, the stage property can
be as simple as a table and two chairs, and that can represent a very real

situation by the actor's acting.

13

Chapter 2

LITERATURE REIVIEW

Documgntagy Deﬁned

Documentary has as its root word “document“, which entered the English
language by the mid-ﬁfteenth century with two chief derivations from its Latin and
Old French roots. It means to teach and/or provide warning, and with evidence or
proof.8 John Grierson, whose British documentary ﬁlm unit exposed social
problems in the 19305, coined the term documentary in 1926 in a review of
Flaherty’s ﬁlm Moana. Grierson wrote, “Moana. being a visual account of events

in the daily life of a Polynesian youth and his family, has documentary value”.9

Grierson’s deﬁnition of documentary was “the creative treatment of
actuality.”‘° Grierson’s emphasis was on editing. Paul Rotha said “ the use of
the ﬁlm medium to interpret creatively and in social terms the life of the people

as it exists in reality" seems to allow for nonactuality. "

William Van Dyke’s view of documentary is ﬁlm intended to bring about
change in the audience-change in their understanding, their attitudes, and
possibly their actions. ‘2

“Unlike the ﬁction ﬁlm, the documentary ﬁlm takes its content from the

perceptible behavior of people in relation to their society. It does not fabricate

14

characters or situations but lets the unrehearsed drama of daily life unfold before

an audience.“

“Documentary” suggests fullness and completion, knowledge and fact,
explanations of the social world and its motivating mechanisms. More recently,
though, documentary has come to suggest incompleteness and uncertainty,
recollection and impression, images of personal worlds and their subjective

construction.”

“...documentary ﬁlmmakers have in common their desire to record
actuality. They select and shape representations of that actuality in order to (1)
communicate insights, achieve beauty, and offer understanding (Flaherty) or (2)

improve social, political, or economic conditions (Grierson)".15

Michael Rabiger states “Documentary is a construct of evidences. It aims
to induce in its audience the progression of its maker’s experience as they

grapple to understand the meaning of particular events.”"5

The deﬁnition of documentary varies according to the purpose and
approach of the ﬁlm makers. Most agree the documentary’s emphasis is on
factual material instead of pure entertainment or ﬁctional ﬁlm. However, the
“actuality" of documentary has been challenged, as Bill Nichols stated “ ...control

does deﬁne, in a backhanded way, a key element of documentary”.17 If we view

15

documentary as a text, a ﬁlm maker can simply approach the viewer via this text,
and a viewer should be able to build his or her own engagement with the text
itself. Thus, a documentary ﬁlm maker needs to make proper use of the “control”
of the text, and present the text as a representation of the reality for the
audience. A ﬁlmmaker’s decisions and approaches dominate the way he or she

presents the text to the audience.

Modes of Documentagy

Film theorist Bill Nichols has identiﬁed four modes used in documentary
ﬁlm for structuring its representation of events. These are expository,
observational, interactive, and reﬂexive.18 These categories of documentary
occur historically, and each mode has its inﬂuence on each other. Each of them
can react against each other or be incorporated in a new manner. The four

modes in some ways represent the appropriated functions of the non-ﬁction ﬁlm.

The expository mode, which derives from the work of Flaherty, provides
a solution to a problem or moves toward a needed conclusion. “The {expository
text addresses the viewer directly, with titles or voices that advance an argument
about the historical world.“19 Therefore, an unseen “Voice of God” commentary
or an on-camera voice of authority dominates the whole program, and footage or
visuals only serve as illustration or explanation. “The expository mode
it 20

emphasizes the impression of objectivity and of well-substantiated judgment .

The expository mode often establishes a sense of dramatic involvement around

16

the sense for a solution, and the viewer’s entry into the text with a problem-

solving expectation.

Observational documentaries refer to “direct cinema” (Erik Bamouw)21 and
“cinema verite”(Jean Rouch)”. Direct cinema is a method of documenting the
participants or subjects with a hidden camera, and these people are usually
unaware of the camera’s presence and cannot modify their behavior when the
ﬁlm has been taking. The other approach, “cinema verite' encourages the
interaction between the subject and the ﬁlmmaker. It allowed the director to

initiate the events and to ﬁlm it as the participants are willing to be ﬁlmed.

The observational mode of documentary, as Nichols addresses,
depends on the “work of realism and it’s ability to render the impression of
reality”. It has a “sense of the historical world as we experience is, on a quotidian
basis“. “The observational mode stresses the nonintervention of the ﬁlmmaker.
Such ﬁlms cede “control” over the events that occur in front of the camera more
than any other mode“.23 Observational mode employs sync-sound and long
camera takes. It ﬁrst appears when technology produced portable sync-sound
equipment capable of long takes in the 1960s. The emphasis on this mode will
be on the individual as a process, a crisis, or other “present tense” experience.
This method will hide the presence of the ﬁlmmaker or the authority, and provide
an effect of an absent presence of observation. It tends to strengthen the

representation of the “reality effect" with less interruption of the subjects and lets

17

viewers ﬁnd a revealing point of view through these non fabricated material. As
Nichols points out “our tendency to establish a repertoire of imaginary
relationships with characters and situations prospers on condition of the

ﬁlmmaker's presence or absence”:24

Interactive ﬁlms, according to Nichols, are derived from Dziga Vertov’s
kino—pravda and Jean Rouch’s direct cinema. Different from the observational
mode, the ﬁlmmaker intervenes and interacts with the participants. Filmmakers
negotiate the interaction and control the participation in certain degrees. The key
difference will be that “we observe an implanted conversation";25 “ Interactive
documentary stresses the images of testimony or verbal exchange and images
of demonstration”,26 “Interaction often revolves around the form known as the
interview” “ The interactive text takes many forms but all draw their social actors
into direct encounter with the ﬁlmmaker.”27 In other words, all the interaction
between social actors, or participants and the ﬁlmmaker are prearranged. The
ﬁlmmaker maintains a logical continuity of these individual viewpoints and
commentary through editing. The ﬁlmmaker’s observation, known as the idea of
“metacbeservation”, will extend to the process of exchange between themselves
and their subjects and

An interviewee’s commentary will be used in an expository text. The visible
presence of the ﬁlmmaker and the prearranged appearance of the social actors

achieve a conjunctive effect to place the viewer in direct relation to the

18

interviewee. The ﬁlmmaker needs to manage with an absent manner to let the

view establish through their own engagement with the text (the ﬁlm) itself.

The reﬂexive mode calls attention to itself by examining the problems of
representation. In other words, the ﬁlmmaker unveils the ﬁlm itself in a
metacommentary about how the world is presented by ﬁlm. “Rather than hearing
the ﬁlmmaker engage solely in an interactive fashion with other social actors, we
now see or hear the ﬁlmmaker also engage in the expository and poetic or
interactive and diaristic modes, than about the process of representation itself.”
The reﬂexive mode of documentaries addresses the question of “how we talk
about the historical world”. Different from interactive ﬁlms which “pose a problem
for the participants”, “the reﬂexive mode draws attention to the process when it

Poses problems to the viewer."28

Thus, the belief systems of subjects become repositioned within the text’s
own metacommentary and reconstructs the perspective of the audience. The
reﬂexive mode of representation emphasizes the encounter between the
ﬁlmmaker and viewer rather than the ﬁlmmaker and the subject. The ﬁlmmaker
puts himself or herself in the frame and tells the stories with a surreal manner.
The interactive ﬁlm and the reﬂexive ﬁlm blend into one at some points. “In one,
the ﬁlmmaker interacts with the subjects; in the other, the ﬁlmmaker may detail
how the ﬁlm affects her. Whereas the interactive ﬁlm literally shows the

ﬁlmmaker, the reﬂexive mode shows the ﬁlm as a construct, but it may also show

19

the ﬁlmmaker as part of that construction.”29 Through unexpected juxtapositions,
the ﬁlm can function as a stimulant to raise the audience’s consciousness of their

distance from engagement with the text, as a representation of reality.

Characteristics of Television Documenting

Since television holds the biggest share of existing media audience, it has
become the best qualiﬁed medium to reach its audience. “This new channel
would provide substantial and sustained basis of support. Thanks to television,
more documentaries and related types of public information programs have been
shown to larger audiences than at any other time in history".30 Made-for-
television documentaries do have a signiﬁcant inﬂuence today. According to Ellis
on “The documentary Idea”, there are three types of documentary series. First is
the documentary based on newsworthy subject; second are the historical and
often nostalgic subjects; third is “human interest”, which is the interest we all
have in individuals. Lately, the “Entertainment documentary” has emerged within

the nostalgia and human interest categories.31

Television documentaries tend to appear in the context of a series, or ﬁt
precisely into air times. “In series context and in the daily ﬂow of television
programming, it may be difﬁcult for particular documentaries to offer the kind of
aesthetic experience or to achieve the social impact on those they do reach to
the extent that some documentaries shown in the theaters and to nontheatrical

audiences may have done.” 32

20

As Ellis stated: “television has become virtually the mass medium,
certainly as far as documentary is concerned. It is the best qualiﬁed of any
medium of art and communication yet devised to quickly call large numbers of
people’s attention to various subjects. It has established its ability to do that- and

sometimes has done it superbly.” 33

21

Chapter 3

VIDEO PROGRAM DESIGN

1. Program Purpose and Description
This program is titled "Jing-Chu, The Making of Peking Opera" which
clearly communicate the intention of explaining the making of this old art form to

a general audience. "Jing-Chu" is the Chinese pronunciation of Peking Opera.

Since Peking Opera is colorful and full of movements, perhaps the best
way to portray the aesthetic features of this creative work is to develop a video
program that incorporates Chinese Opera fundamentals. “The Western world’s
knowledge of Chinese theater has largely been derived from the old Peking style
of performance, commonly known as Peking opera!“ As Scott addressed in “An
Introduction to the Chinese Theater":

“The Chinese theater has generally been regarded as beyond normal
understanding in the West. Exotic, yes, and with a strange fascination

born of this fact, but the nature of its technical approach raises an

apparently insuperable barrier against interpretation on the part of the

newcomer watching Chinese traditional drama for the ﬁrst time. ” 35

In the recently years, research has focused on comparison Peking Opera
with Western theater. However, only limited media texts targeted the aesthetic

principles of this form. This program will examine the aesthetic attributes to give

22

the audience a basic guideline of appreciation. For instance, one of the aesthetic
values of Peking Opera is to combine both movement and vocal production
instead of separating them from each other. Visual examples will be given in this

video text to provide a better illustration of this art form.

Based on those symbolic attribute and aesthetic features of opera, the
program will bring up a brief introduction of the character roles of Peking Opera,
distinguished on the basis of sex, age, and personality. This can serve as a
general idea of the persona for performing. Also, the program will describe the
basic aesthetic principles of how to make an opera good: synthesis, convention,
stylization. The program will also bring in the training process, and stage
practices to let the audience know the efforts devoted behind the stage. Other
sections will include interviews with professional Peking Opera performers, the

director, and the stage designer.

2. Format

This program will design a televisual text, a made-for-television
documentary. The main format of this video text will be presented in a narrative
manner to create an experience that introduces Peking Opera to a Western
audience.

“Narration is content that tells a story. It is perhaps the most powerﬁd

. . .36
means of communicating content. ’

23

“Narration, as story, has a beginning, middle, and end. It always involves
a series of events and characters who move, in spite of (sometimes

increasing) conﬂict, toward a goal. “

The main format of this program adopts a “narrative strategy”37 to tell the
story. The producer uses voice over narration and content from interviewees to
structure scenes, so the words used relate to the emotional ﬂow of the piece as

well as the message being communicated.

The documentary will involve the audience to establish its own
understanding of Peking Opera via the interviews and stage performances
recorded by the producer. Two short "montages”, one in the beginning and one
at the end will represent a hybrid image saturation of symbolic languages of
Peking Opera. Thus the audience can keep the mainstream storyline in mind as
well as experience some mixing of sequences of Chinese opera movement,
opera music, vocal expression, dance, and stage design. This video text can
function as an introductory program in a TV documentary series since it explains

the basic concept, stage patterns, and training of Peking Opera.

3. Target Audience
In the present-day competition for the audiences among various forms of
entertainment, programs with complex patterns or which require program

background knowledge for viewing may have limited their appeal to a new

24

audience. Therefore, the audience will be people who are interested in arts and
performance, but do not have much knowledge of Chinese Opera. The starting
point is to make the program understandable to people from a different culture or

background.

4. Mode

Bill Nichols identiﬁed four modes used in documentary ﬁlm for structuring
its representation of events. “Jing-chu, the Making of Peking Opera” mixes
several modes. Expository, observational, and interactive are all applied on this
video text. The ﬁrst and second segments on the ﬁrst topic use expository mode
to directly address the audience and inform them of the background knowledge
of the history of Peking Opera. The use of commentary voice dominates the
beginning sections of this program in order to establish an objective belief
system to offer the necessary knowledge to the audience. The beginning of the
third topic “Stories and Roles” uses the same method.
Observational mode, or direct cinema is used in B roll shots (visuals that are
inserted over a voice). In on stage rehearsing and performance, the performers
concentrated on their acting and were not aware of the camera. Sync sound and
images are all recorded at the moment of observational ﬁlming. The producer
took the position of an ideal observer, moving among and in between the

audience to ﬁnd revealing views.

25

In addition, the interactive mode is widely used for on camera
interviewees. These interviewees provided their professional knowledge and
experience on Peking Opera on screen. The producer recorded these

prearranged conversations and used these voices as a commentary argument.

The interview structure remains self-evident since all the interviewees
address directly to the camera. The producer brought up questions at times to
inspire interactive talking for the interviewees as if they were addressing the real
audience. These monologues from the interviewees successfully delivered their
thoughts, impressions, feelings, and knowledge as the individual witness directly
to the viewer. A great part of topic two, topic three, a topic four are comprised of

these interviewees’ comments.

4. Program Content

Topic one: Introduction

Segment one: Historical ideas of Peking Opera

The ﬁrst topic is a brief history of Peking Opera. It serves as the opening
of this program as well as introducing the background of Chinese Theater.
Information given to the audience includes the history and development of
Peking Opera, and the role of Peking Opera in modern society. For an audience

with no knowledge of classical Chinese Theater, this segment is extremely

26

important to give them a rough idea of Peking Opera. For others who have
learned some or a little history of theatrical development of China, this sequence

can function as a review.

Spgment two: The Development of Peking Ogra in Taiwan

Since the whole subject of this program is Peking Opera troupe In Taiwan
instead of opera troupes in China, the second segment will explain how Peking
Opera moved over to Taiwan, and the development of Peking style of Opera in

this island.

The major Peking Opera troupe in Taiwan, Kuo—Kuang Opera Company
(established on July 1, 1995) combines three former troupes, Ta Peng, Hai
Kuan, and Lu Kuang, all of which were sponsored by the military. The Kuo-kuang
Opera Troupe is now sponsored by the Ministry of Education. Another well-
known troupe is afﬁliated with the National Fu-Hsing Dramatic Arts Academy.
Kuo-Kuang Opera Troupe and Fu-Hsing Dramatic Arts Academy are the two
major ofﬁcial opera troupes and training school in Taiwan. These two
organizations are both considered as renowned and highly professional Peking
Opera performing troupes in Taiwan. Both of them have performed with famous
troupes from Mainland China or traveled overseas and gained their fame

internationally.

27

Therefore, the style and performance style itself will not have major
differences due to the location of the troupes. Peking Opera performance has
been on stage for 200 years, and the style and convention are all consistent

everywhere.

Topic two: Concepts of Peking Opera

Segment one: Peking Opera, and the basic differences between Western and

classical Chinese theater

The program starts with brief interview with one of the performers in Kuo-
Kuang Opera Troupe, Ms An-li Ju. She points out the major attributes of Peking
Opera

"Basically, Jing-chu, or Peking Opera is a very elegant and delicate
traditional art performance. I think that one of the special attributes of

Peking Opera is that it represents ordinary life expressions in a stylized,

non-realistic way. "

Another interviewee in this segment is Mr. Hua-ming Jen. He works as a
lighting, stage designer of Kuo—Kuang Opera troupe. Jen attended Texas A&M
university and gained his Masters degree in lighting and stage design. He has a
good understanding of both western and classical Chinese theater. In the
interview, he explained the idea of the simple stage properties on Peking Opera

stage, and how that differs from the Western stage.

28

"The reality in the traditional Chinese Opera theater, is not made on
the stage, it is made by the audience and in the audience mind.

"To me, the reality in the western theater is to build by magic, by
hiding, by shadow, everything on the stage, we want it look like real. A
chair, we make it look like a Victorian chair, Victorian table, building,

window, even lights, we make it look real. ”

The Peking Opera convention takes for granted that a part or some parts
can be made to represent the whole in a symbolic way. Symbolic expression is
one of the major attributes in Peking Opera. It is vital for the performers to

convey their performance via proper representation of reality.

"Eﬂective representation and description requires invention. They are
creative. They inform each other; and they form, relate, and distinguish

objects. " 38

Tables and chairs are the most frequently used portable properties on the
Peking Opera stage, and they are often used to represent living rooms and
courtrooms where the actual existence of such furniture symbolizing outdoor
objects and space. Mr. Jen explained how a table and two chairs can be made to
stand for bed, bridge, mountain, or just a table as it is.

"F or example, a table on the stage, could be just a table, could be a

bed, could be a bridge, could be a mountain. But how it can be the reality,

29

it's by the action's action. So the stage, the scenery, the props are only the
tools for the audience to imagine. It will be more like a guide for the
audience to see all the details that make the reality. So that's why the light

is always bright, and the audience won't miss any part on the stage. "

Another example given by the author is a "night scene" of ﬁghting. This is
shown by footage from a Peking Opera play portraying actors combating at
night. Peking Opera theaters used to have performance in the daytime without
modern artiﬁcial lighting facilities. Even today, Peking Opera performing groups
try to avoid two many changes of electric lighting indicators. Lighting designers
try to create a scene that corresponds with the conventional stage, the live
theater outside in the daytime. Therefore, the actors use dialogue, gestures and
movements to show they are in the dark. The actors can see each other in
reality, but they pretend that they cannot see anyone and act accordingly. The
gestures and movements in the night scenes are highly mimetic, and that makes

an interesting point of watching Peking Opera.

The lack of realistic representation contributes to the symbolic expression
of Peking Opera. The simple stage properties make the audience build up their
own imagination. Usually the audience will need some basic knowledge of
Peking Opera language and ways of stage stylization. However, good acting is
still the most essential thing in Peking Opera, and a good actor is supposed to

not let the stage convention and stylization limit his or her way of performing, but

30

to make good use of these symbolic expression to represent the reality in a

creative way, or to assert the style of specialty.

In short, the main purpose of Peking Opera is that the actor should
produce an artistic effect rather than be true to life.

"F or it is the ideal, not the real, that is intended to be emphasized. The

aim is to present the show as artistically as possible without heeding

whether or not the details are of true life. "

"Any expression of feeling--a smile, a ﬁown, a sigh, an indication of

surprise - must be conventionally given in accordance with special music.

If an actor can make his audience feel and appreciate what he means to
present in the play, it is suﬂicient. " 39
Different from Western theater, symbolic expression (including

movements, gestures, and stage properties) has been discussed in this

segment. To help the audience to have a better understanding of Peking Opera.

Segment two: Stage acting patterns and sylizations

Following up the basic concepts, this segment talks more about details

about the stage patterns and stylization of Peking Opera.

First is the exit and entrance of stage. This is also a symbolic idea of place

and situation changing without the change of sets. They may give some prologue

31

or deliver some poetic passages or sing the last sentence of a song to imply
travel.

To enter and exit through the curtain represents that the character returns
to the place from where he has come, or the character has been summoned by
another character on the stage. Characters entering from both curtains show
they come from different directions and happen to meet each other, or that they

are going to all directions.

"Prescribed action creates scenery "‘ 0 In other words, scenery only exists in
imagination. Actors can travel from place to place by entering or exiting the
stage, or simply walk around on the stage, by words and movements. The
audience knows this is the conventional stylization of traveling. From one
perspective, the lack of reality, however, gives the actors a tremendous freedom

of acting space via the abstract idea of acting with almost no sets.

Singing, gestures, and movements are all highly stylized. The singing part
must follow the special tone to go with the plots and match live orchestra
perfectly. Every musical theme has its particular emotional appeal. For example,
the singing performance of a sad scene must have a different tone from a happy

one.

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Movement stylization includes sleeve, hand, arm, foot, and waist. Each of
them has it's own requirement of style according to the characteristic of the role

category. Two examples of movements were mentioned by the interviewees.

"Opening and closing a door“: to open a locked door from outside. The
actor will use the thumb and index ﬁngers of the left hand, with palm outward as
if holding the lock, then open it with the right hand as if putting in the key. Then
she will remove the lock; put hands together, palm outward, and put them

forward as if pushing the door apart.

However, to open a door from inside is slightly different. Take a pair of
Chinese doors for example, if an actor is performing to open doors from inside or
she would ﬁrst hold the left palm outward, and use the thumb and the two ﬁngers
of the right hand as if they were grasping the bolt. Move the "bolt" to the right.
With hands together in front, draw them inward as if pulling open the doors. Then
she walks toward the left with hands raised, palms outward, as if pushing back
the heavy left door. Not only will the actor need to follow these sequences, but

also he or she has to perform it with a graceful, beautiful way.
Another example is the hand gesture of Tan role (the female characters).

Usually this special style of hand movement is called "lotus-like gestures". The

actress puts the thumb on the last joint of the middle ﬁnger, which is held a little

33

forward, and leave the other three ﬁngers naturally extended. This usually

presents the graceful, or gentle characteristics of traditional females.

Peking Opera has been carefully studied and compared with the English
Renaissance theater by Tao—Ching Hsu. Horse, or horse back riding has been
discussed by Mr. Tao-Ching Hsu.41

"Unlike English Renaissance theater, Peking Opera uses a whip to

symbolize a horse."

For example, to rein up an imaginary horse. The rider on horseback moves
the whip backward and downward in a curve. When a circle is completed, he

holds the whip in front of him with a prone hand.

In this program, Mr. Ching—Chou Ju, a Peking Opera performer, explained
the use of whip and the horseback riding stylization. He emphasized the
importance of body language to symbolize a real horse on the stage. The video
in this segment also has footage which clearly demonstrates how the actor

mount an imaginary horse.

Another stylization in this program is the so-called "Singing through
melody, gesture through dance." This is a very important stylization in Peking
Opera. Ms An-li Ju, a performer from Kuo-kuang Opera Troupe, gave her

explanation of this old saying.

"Speech through melody is about our singing. The way we talk is like
singing. We actually improvise, working ﬁ'om conventions, using rhythm
and music to show we 're talking."

"No gesture means anything without a dance. We have to perform it in a

graceﬁtl way. Just like dancing."

Peking Opera is a synthesis of stage art. It is a combination of stylized
acting, singing, dialogue and mime, acrobatic ﬁghting and dancing to represent a
story or depict different characters and their feelings of gladness, sorrow, anger,
happiness, fear, surprise, and sadness. It is their synthesis, rather than
presentation in sequence, that is characteristic of traditional theater."2 In other
words, all the stage movements, gestures, singing, and music should be able to
synchronize with each other. Singing can not be alone with live orchestra
playing, a movement won’t be achieved without proper stylization, a line won't be
said without a poetical form. Synthesis is a requirement, and also a bright
element of Peking Opera. Ms Kuang-yu Li explained this idea:

“Basically, Jing-chu, or Peking Opera is a synthesized stage art. For
example, the poetical lyrics we use are like a literary part; The intonation

of the singing must be graceful-that ’s a musical element; The ﬂoor

acrobatics we perform on the red carpet are gymnastic demonstration. All

the stage movements or postures we adopt, even hand gestures, are like

dance. ”

35

There are hundreds of rules and stylization on traditional Peking Opera
stage. This topic picks up the most important things and explains them from the
expert's point of view. Therefore, the audience should be able to get the main

idea and essence of stage patterns and stylization of Peking Opera.

Topic three: Stories and Roles

Spgment one: The Stout of Peking Opera

This segment introduces the topics of plays in Peking Opera, as
mentioned earlier. A short narration gives the rough idea of the story content of
Peking Opera to the audience.

Narrator:
"Peking Opera owns a greater repertoire of stories than any other. The
number of its plays ranges anywhere among 1, 000 to 1,500, with about
100ﬁequent presentations. Themes includes wars, love stories, folk tales.

Understanding the story is to achieve a shorcut to the Chinese mind and

heart. In the old times, people are not as well educated as today. The

Chinese Theater has been an agent of public morality and is oﬂicially

endorsed as an important medium of mass education. Watching opera

performance is a way to know part of history, to learn to be patriotic, and

to tell good ﬁ'om wrong. "

"F or the audience, these important topic has been brought to life on stage

through four main roles and their sub categories. "

36

The contentof Peking Opera has been derived from various sources, such
as historical events, love stories, folk tales, etc. Most reputable plays teach the
wisdom of morality. For example, comedy is usually the triumph of virtue over the
machinations of some evil inﬂuence. Other themes including ﬁlial and parental
piety; the exaltation of learning; native vice and peculiarities of ofﬁcial corruption;
vices common to mankind; legal anomalies; and the absurdities of religious

practices.

The depravity of the priesthood and the corruption of ofﬁcial China have
been two controlling elements that are lashed by the dramatist. Thus, the
audience found themselves releasing their mind through watching Opera

performance.

Confucian themes include the popular cult for learning and ﬁlial devotion.
Satire is always a development of old civilization, and the Chinese people
understand and respond to satirical comedy. Dramatists write stories with an

ironic perspective to push the corrupting government in their way.

The second segment is about the types of characters. Peking Opera does
a clear job in characterizing different roles. The vivid personality of a certain role
can be told by the audience right away, so there is no need to explain the
characters on stage. Usually the audience can tell good from wrong by the way

the actor dresses, acts, and the mask they wear on the stage.

37

Narration:

" To understand the story of Peking Opera, it is essential for the audience
to know these four main role categories. Each has their own diﬁerent
patterns of performing. Roles are distinguished by the way they dressed,
sand, and performed. The characters in Peking Opera can be divided into
four distinct categories: the male characters in general, which is Sheng in
Chinese. Tan, the female characters. Ching, the masked characters, and
Chou, the comedians. Each of the four categories is sub-divided into

several types according to age and characteristics. "

Topic four: Training Process of Peking Opera

Segment one: Pupil Training

"A Chinese actor is called professional not only because he earns his

living by acting but also because he has completed a long and rigorous

course of training and apprenticeship". ‘3

Like the training of ballet dancers, a Peking Opera performer starts his
training at the age of eight or ten and it lasts about 10 years. During this period,
students assimilate all the basic ﬂoor movements, acrobatic and singing. The
question of if he or she can be a good performer on the stage relies a lot on this

period. The life of these trainees is hard; for example, they rise before daybreak

38

to start their routine practices day by day. Even today, Peking Opera training
schools still have early morning practice session as a tradition.
Narration:

"The training process of Opera actors is very harsh During the ten years

of their training period students are usually called up at 5:30 in the

morning to start their routine practice. "

This segment starts with the three elementary routine practices. They are
the basic stage techniques of Peking Opera. Mr. Ching-chou Ju, a performer as
well as a teacher of elementary training class, talked about the learning and
training process.

"Usually we have students practice opera floor movements in the morning.
The ﬁrst thing they learn to do is the handstand..

In the beginning, teachers will assist students in doing somersault

exercise. Eventually students can do somersaults on their own.

For opera training, there is an old saying, you have to make yourself

control the somersaults, not let the somersaults control you, so I always
remind the students to control the somersaults properly, and they will be

safe all the time. "

39

Spgment two: Professional Life of Actors

The harsh training process for Peking Opera students enables them to be
a better professional performer on the stage. This segment presents the
practicing and rehearsing process of two professional opera troupes, Kuo—Kuang
Opera Troupe and Contemporary Legend Theater. These two troupes share
some same performers. Usually three to four rehearsals are needed before
performing in public. Sometimes if the play has a lot stage movements, acrobatic
combats, the process of rehearsing will be longer to achieve the perfect

coordination among performers and the live orchestra.

Another theme covered in this segment is the idea of "stage directing" in
traditional Peking Opera. There was no actual stage directing in the past. Almost
all the opera performing groups were dominated by one or a couple of main
characters. It was taken for granted that the lead character also served as the
stage director. Mr. Tsiao-ping Li, the stage director of Kuo—Kuang Opera Troupe,
gave his point of view on directing Peking Opera.

" A director would never use his point of view to direct the main
characters. A Peking Opera director was known as "script holder " or
"manager" because he was only in charge of the main character's script,

and managing everything else except the main character's script, and

managing everything else except the main character 's performance.

Nowadays, the concept of directing has evolved closer to that of the

40

western theater. We need to remind the main character to present the play

from the audience point of view. "

From Mr Li’s talking, the audience will have a better idea of how the

concept of stage directing differ from that of the Western theater.

Topic ﬁve: Feedback from Actors: The Drive of Learning Peking Opera

Since Chinese Opera takes a long time to Ieam, actors or actresses often
start their training from their childhood. Most of them have encountered a strict
time of learning and training. The ten years of hard training is unforgettable for
most actors and actress. Today, Peking Opera has been declining, because not
too many young people can appreciate the highly stylized traditional
performance. Some actors leave the stage and choose other ways of living;
however, there is still a group of actors who are proud of their job performing
Peking Opera. They support the continuation of this classical performance.

There are three short interviews given in this segment.

1. Ms. Kuang-yu Li, performer.
" Mien we perform on the stage, on this piece of red carpet, we try to
present our best performance to the audience. For me, I think Peking
Opera is so beautiful, and it is so full of artistic beauty. How lucky I am to

have immersed myself in this beautrﬁtl performance and to have a chance

41

to appreciate it. Not only can I appreciate the modern stage, but also I can

integrate the beauty of classical performance into my own. "

2. Mr. Tsiao-ping Li, perfonnerlstage director.
"Peking Opera occupied a big part of my life now. In fact, I really like it a

lot, and I 'm proud to be an opera performer."

3. Ms An-Ii Ju, performer.
"I choose Peking Opera to be my job, and I never feel any regret about it.
Performing on stage if a big mental support for me. If I feel ﬁustrated
today, for example, if I have an argument with other opera troupe
members or with my husband. What I need to comfort myself is not to talk
to others, but to go to the practice court, to rehearse a scene, to let this
ﬁ'ustration out. Aﬁerwards, I may cry in the practice court, and I '11 feel a
big release. So Peking Opera does bring me a lot of happiness, and a lot

of pain, but I feel I can overcome those.

Topic six: Ending

Peking Opera is a tremendously in complex, and there is too much too
much to cover in this 45 minute video project. The ending of this program will
review the essence of Peking Opera and the relationship of Chinese people and

the Opera Theater.

42

Narration:
" An agent of public morality, a school of stylish acting, a synthesis of
singing, dancing, martial arts and music. For hundreds of years, Peking
Opera has had a great inﬂuence in the life of the Chinese people. It is the

living treasure of China ’s traditional performing art. "

43

Chapter 4

EVALUATION, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

After the video documentary had been produced, it was evaluated by eight
individuals. The respondents were all residents from the Lansing area. Their
ages range from 22 to 52. Four of them have never heard or watched any Peking
Opera before. Two of them knew the name of Peking Opera and had a little
understanding of it. Four of them watched more than ﬁve theatrical performances
a year. Three participants watched at least one theatrical performance a year.
Only one person did not watch any theatrical performance a year. Four out of
eight were students, and two were homemakers, one was a consultant, and the

last one is a reporter as well as a Ph.D. student.

Evaluation was done with the participants taking the video distribution dub
and watching the program at their household television. As mentioned earlier,
the purpose of this program is to develop a video program to introduce the
Peking Opera fundamentals to a Western audience. A speciﬁc questionnaire

was created to study audience reactions.

This questionnaire (see Appendix A) is aimed at the general western
public in United States. Respondents could be any members of the western
television audience. The results of the evaluations are analyzed by evaluating a

5 point Likert scale. For example, if 7 out of 8 gave a response of 4 to a

44

particular question, that question would be coded with 7 responses of “4”. All the
responses to each open-ended question were looked at individually and similar

comments were grouped together.

The questionnaire is designed to elicit responses in three main areas; how
interesting the program is, how informative it is, and its overall effectiveness. The

following is the summary of the evaluations from the questionnaire.

Interest

In general, most of the respondents found the program interesting,
especially on the “Stories and Roles” and “Training“ sections. One person
expected more details on “History” and “Training” sections. Clearly the program

did raise their interest or curiosity at certain points.

Question 3-5, and question 7-8 are in this category.

Question 3: What is your ﬁrst impression, reaction, or feeling after viewing this
pmram?

Four out of eight respondents found the program is insightful and
interesting, and they are impressed by the colorful footage. Two people said that
the information is a little overwhelming. One participant also indicated that the
narrator’s voice could have been more enthusiastic, and the natural sound and

music overlays sometimes drowned out the narrator's voice.

45

Question 4: On a scale of one to ﬁve (with 1 being not at all and 5 my much)
indicate how much you enjoyed viewing this p_rpgram?

7 out of eight participants gave the rating 4 on this question, and only one

of them marked three.

Question 5. Did the program hold your interest throughout its presentation?

Four people gave yes on this question while two respondents said if held
their interest for the most of the part. One person said not always, and the last

person said “No, because terms were used a lot.“

Question 7: Of the topics presented in this pmgram, which ones did you ﬁnd
MOST interesting?

Three participants said the section of “stories and roles” or “the 4
characters“ is the most interesting part. Three others found training as well as 4
roles are interesting. One indicated “stage craft” is her favorite. One marked
“introduction” as the most interesting: “It provided me with differences between
US. theatrical productions and the Peking Opera. l was fascinated by the

explanations of props being used as bridges and gestures symbolizing actions.”

Question 8. Of the topics presented in this program, which ones did you ﬁnd
LEAST interesting?

Five out of eight said “props” (which falls in the introduction section) is

least interesting. One of the ﬁve also said “stories and roles is too much to

46

absorb in one viewing“. One person left this question blank, and one said none.
The last one indicated the “history“ (which is the open) section could have
provided more details. “For example an estimate of age of Peking Opera. 712
BC was mentioned, but the date didn’t tell me how old the art form was around
before then. What other theatrical art forms are there in Taiwan or China. Is this
the only one. Is this the most popular? Also, I wanted to know more information
about the “Trainers”. For example, how are they picked? How many stay in the
profession? Are they able to go to college at the same time? Do they live in

dorm? Can the trainees visit their families?”

The results of this program interest evaluation indicate this video did

stimulate the interest of the audience.

Informative

The informative question is designed on a Likert scale according to the
program sections. The Likert scale was “5” meaning very informative, and “1”
meaning uninformatlve. The program is divided into sections including “Open,
history and highlights of Peking Opera”, “Introduction”, “Stories and Roles”,

“Training and Performers”, and “Ending Summary

47

Question 6. On a scale of one to W; with one being uninformative, and ﬁve

being very informative, how would you rate the following sections of this

re ram?
uninfonnative very informative
A) Open: Histor_'y and highlights of Peking Opera 1 2 3 4 5
B) Introduction
C) Stories and Roles
D) Training and Performers
E) Ending Summagy

The result of the question are respondents by the following chart. The
highlighted column is the rating of Likert scale. Other columns indicate the

number of people who gave their rating points according to the Likert scale.

48

Uninforrnative Very lnfonnative

Likert Sale

Secﬁon

 

Section A One Two Five

(Open)

 

Section B One Three Four

(Introduction)

 

Section C Three Five

(Four Roles)

 

Section D One Seven

(Training)

 

Section E One One One Four
(Ending)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are ﬁve people ranked 5 on section A (History and highlights) and
section C (Stories and Roles). Four people ranked 5 on section B
(Introduction)and E (Ending Summary). Seven people ranked 5 on the “ Training
and Performers” section. One respondent marked 2 on section E, which is the
Ending Summary section. Other respondents who gave on 3 and 4 points on
Likert Scale kind of spread on most sections. Most of the respondents’ gave 4 or
5 points rating through the ﬁve sections. For this area, it is obvious that they

considered the program as a highly informative one.

49

Effectiveness

The next set of questions addressed the areas of program effectiveness in

conveying the general understanding of Peking Opera.

Question 9. Aﬂgr viewing the pmgram, do you have any understanding or

 

acceptance pf thegperfonngnce style pf Peking Opera? If thejnswer is yes.
Please indicate in what aspect?
Six out of eight participants said yes on this question. Two of the six said

the program is very interesting. Two out of eight left the answer blank.

Question 10: Alter viewing this program, do you think “Jing-chg: The Making of
Peking Opera“ would be effective in getting gap/e to understand this highly

stylized performance?
Not at all 1 2 3 4 5 Very much

 

Three people ranked 5 on this question while 5 participants marked 5 on it.

Question 1 1: Aﬂgr viewing this program, will you be interested in watching any

 

Peking Opera performance in the future?

Five said yes on this question. Three others said no. One of the three said

“I’m not into arts very much”.

50

For this question category, all participants indicated they did have some
understanding after viewing this program. Other comments they said such as
“very different from other Opera” “great choreography, custom and expressions”,
“well done”. One of them pointed out that the program is more scholarly, and less
“user friendly” for general audience. One said the program “ a little ovenrvhelming
with information.” Two respondents said the program was well put together, one
of them said “the editing was well-done. Explaining the various roles, primary and
sub-roles, could have been aided with a graphic page illustrating or outlining the

roles.”

Conclusion and Recommendations

The results of this evaluation point to success. Viewers ﬁnd the program
is interesting, informative and effective. It fulﬁlls the program objective to
introduce and make the audience have general understanding on this classical

performance, Peking Opera.
In general, the respondents all felt this material of this program is novel as
well as interesting to them. The content of this documentary provides a good

message of conveying things that are new and unknown to people.

However, there is still some room for improvement. Peking Opera has its

own performing system, and all the stage patterns and performing stylization are

51

strictly ruled according to the tradition. It is a little difﬁcult to explain such a big
topic via a 45 minute program. The program did promote understanding.
Nevertheless, the complexity of this topic could program a TV documentary
series for the audience to absorb the all the information in a step by step

sequence.

As a program for a ﬁrst time Peking Opera audience, this program may be
a little overloaded with information. As mentioned earlier, the program needs to
be made on a more sufﬁcient length to be able to give more details. More
graphic pages will be a must to present more clear idea on various role groups.
The program left out the music section due to the time constraints, yet musical
construction is highly integrated with the performance. Therefore, one more
section on musical construction could be effective with more details. Also, more
inside presentation of the perforrner’s training and professional life could be

added since the survey indicated that the audience would be interested in it.

In view of respondents’ comments, “Jing-chu: The Making of Peking
Opera” is quite effective at getting people to understand Peking Opera. Even
though there are still some parts can be improved in the future, however, given
the restraints present during the production, the program meets the

communicative object.

52

APPENDIX A

PROGRAM EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE

For the purpose of evaluating this project. Please answer the following questions after

viewing the presentation “ling-elm, the Making of Peking Opera”. Thank you very
much for your participation.

1. Before viewing this program, have you every heard or watched any performance of

Peking Opera? Ifthe answer is yes, what do you know about Peking Opera?

2. On an aveggc of one year, how often do you watch theatrical performance (including
live performance and recording program)?

None 1 2 3 4 5 MorethanS ayear

3. What is your ﬁrst impression, reaction, or feeling after viewing this program?

4. On a scale of one to ﬁve (with 1 being not at all and 5 very much) indicate how much
do you enjoyed viewing this program?

Not at all 1 2 3 4 5 Very much

5. Did the program hold your interest throughout its presentation?

6. On a scale of one to ﬁve, with one being uninfonnative, and ﬁve being very
informative, how would you rate the following sections of this program

Uninfonnative Very Informative

A) Open: History and highlights of Peking Opera
B) Introduction

1

1

C) Stories and Roles l
1

1

D) Training and Performers
E) Ending Summary

NNNNN
wwuww
AAA-AA
UrmUtUIU'

53

7. Of the topics presented in this program, which ones did you ﬁnd MOST interesting?

8. Of the topics presented in this program, which ones did you ﬁnd LEAST interesting?

9. After viewing this program, do you have any understanding or acceptance of the
performance style of Peking Opera? If the answer is yes, please indicate in what aspect?

10. How effective do you think “J ing-chu, the Making of Peking Opera” would be in
getting people to understand this highly stylized performance

Not at all 1 2 3 4 5 Very much

11. Aﬁer viewing this program, will you be interested in watching any Peking Opera
performance in the future?

12. Please give any other comments or suggestions about this program.

Sex: Female_ Male

Age:

 

Occupation:

APPENDIX B

NARRATION AND INTERVIEW OF THIS PROGRAM

Topic 1: Open

Sggment one: Historical ideas of Peking Opera

Narrator

Chinese theater is very old. It has been traced to different elements in the
ancient Chinese culture.

Some scholars found it in ceremonial dances, others in ancient court music, and
still others in ancient fold dances.

People believed the emperor Ming-huang, who reigned from 712 to 756 AD of
the Tang dynasty, established a music academy in his Pear garden.

Dancing, singing, and music playing developed both in various regions and in the
royal kingdom.

In the middle of Ching dynasty, around late 18‘" century.

One of the best known regional styles spread to Peking, the capital city of China.

There this regional style derived the most important form of traditional theater:
the Peking Opera.

Through the years, its has kept on growing and revolving, until today is it one of
the forms of native entertainments most admired, and preserved by all the

Chinese, wherever they may happen to be living.

Sggment two: The Development of Peking Opera in Taiwan

55

Nanator

Taiwan is a mountainous island of 13,885 square miles in the South China Sea.
In 1949 the Chinese communists defeated Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces
and took control of the mainland.

Chiang moved the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan.

Although the mainlanders comprise only one-tenth of the Taiwan population,
their theatrical taste-mainly the appreciation of Peking Opera—has had a
powerful effect on the theater development in Taiwan in the last half century.
Training school and opera troupes supported by the Taiwanese government has
kept this old performance rolling in Taiwan.

In competition with modern entertainment, Peking Opera is not as popular as
before.

However, one of the most famous opera troupe and training school in Taiwan,
the National Kuo-kuang Opera Company, is still trying to keep this treasure alive

today.

Topic 2: Concepts of Peking Opera

Sggment one: Peking Opera, and the basic differences between Western and
classical Chinese theater

Interview with Ms. An-li Ju, a Peking Opera performer
“Basically, Chin-chiu, or Peking opera is a very elegant, and delicate traditional

art performance.

56

I think that one of the special attributes of Peking opera is to represent all the

ordinary life expressions in a stylize, non-realistic way.”

Interview Mr. Hua-ming Jen, the lighting/ stage designer of Kuo-Kuang Opera
Troupe
“The reality in the traditional Chinese Opera theater, is not made on the stage, it

is made by the audience and in the audience mind.

” For example, a table on the stage, could be just a table, could be a bed, could
be a bridge, could be a mountain. The table is only a table, it’s not a mountain,
not a bridge. But how it can be a mountain, a bridge, or the things, or the reality
we want it to be, it's by the action's action.

To me, the reality in the western theater is to build by magic, by hiding, by
shadow, everything on the stage, we want it look like real.

A chair, we make it look like a Victorian chair, Victorian table, building, window,
even lights, we make it look real.”

"For traditional Chinese Opera, it’s totally different.

The stage, the props, is only a tool for the audience to imagine.

It will be more like a guide for the audience to see all the details that make the
reality.

That's why the light is always bright, and the audience won't miss any part on the

stage."

57

ngent two: Stage acting patterns and stylization

Nanator

As a highly stylized performance. The Peking Opera of acting can hardly be
automatically and universally understood.

It is a language which has to be learned.

The audience needs to understand certain conventions and rules before viewing
Peking Opera in the theater.

Entry and exit on the stage is a good example of stylization.

In a ﬁghting scene, generals of opposing sides make entries with their soldier
from the exit and entry sides simultaneously.

The soldiers stand to one side and the generals stride forward to meet each
other.

This is one of those patterns they use on the stage.

Interview Ms. An-li Ju, a Peking Opera perfonnen

“A special feature of Peking opera is how actors stylize their performances.
Stylization is one of the principles in Peking Opera performance.

For example, it will take and opera performer 10 years to manage just the 4
basic ways of opera movements and the 5 basic ways of expressions.

People say that Peking opera is different from other performances because the
space is unlimited. That’s true.

Peking opera is a very stylistic and abstract performance.

We don’t use a lot of props on stage to limit actors’ performing space.

58

For example, suppose I want to step out of a door. But what do I do without a
real door on stage? This can be accomplished by our stylization.

For instance, to open a pair of Chinese doors on stage, this is a pair of Chinese
doors, and here is the door look. I would ﬁrst unlock the door, and then push the
doors forward, watch my hands. This is the stylization we use to “open the

doofﬂ

Interview Mr. Ching-chao Ju, a Peking Opera performer:

“Performing horse back riding on the stage is an abstract idea.

We use a whip to symbolize a horse.

We put the cord of the whip on our ﬁngers, then grab the whip. This is how to
hold our whip.

When we’re performing hose back riding on the stage. We simply walk around
the stage to represent that the horse is running.

For example, in the play Monkey King. The scene where the horse doesn’t obey
the Monkey King, and his servants can’t control the wild horse. He uses his own
performance to represent the action of a real horse.

I think that when we’re perfonnlng horse back riding on the stage. We have to
imagine we’re riding a real horse, and we need to use our body language to

convey it. “

Interview Ms. An-Ii Ju, a Peking Opera performer.
“There are other stylizations such as “Speech through melody, gesture through

dance”

59

Speech through melody is about our singing. The way we talk is like singing.

We actually improvise, working from conventions, using rhythm and music to
show we’re talking.

No gesture means anything without a dance. We have to perform it in a graceful
way, just like dancing.

This is “I’m looking at something” “

Interview Ms. Kuang-yu Li, a Peking Opera performer.

“Peking Opera is a synthesized stage art.

For example, the poetical lyrics we use are like a literary part.

The intonation of the singing must be graceful, that’s a musical element;

The floor acrobatics we perform on the red carpet are a gymnastic
demonstration;

All the stage movements or postures we adopt, even hand gestures, are like

dance.”

Topic 3: Stories and Roles

Sggment one: The Stog of Peking Opera.

Nanator

Peking Opera owns a greater repertoire of stories than any other performing art.
The number of its plays ranging anywhere among 1,000 to 1,500, with about 100
frequently performed.

Themes include wars, love stories, and folk tales.

60

Understanding the stories is to achieve a shortcut to the Chinese mind and heart.
In the old times, people were not as well educated as today.

The Chinese theater has been an agent of public morality, and is ofﬁcially
endorsed as an important medium of mass education.

Watching opera performance is a way to know part of history, to learn to be

patriotic, and to tell good from wrong.

For the audience, these important topics have been brought to life on stage
through four main roles and their sub categories.

To understand the story of Peking Opera, it is essential for the audience to know
these four main role categories.

Each has their own different patterns of performing.

Roles are distinguished by the way they dressed, sang, and performed.

The characters in Peking opera can be divided into four distinct categories: the
male characters, which is Sheng in Chinese. Tan, the female characters. Ching,
the masked characters, Ch’ou, the comedians,.

Each of the four categories is sub-divided into several types according to age
and characteristics.

“Sheng”, are male characters in general. They are subdivided according to their
age, social status, and characteristics.

For example, scholars and ofﬁcials are often play by Sheng roles.

The ﬁrst Peking Opera actor in the history, played “Sheng”’s role.

From that time, “Sheng” is the leading role among the four categories.

61

They are popular not only from their strong voice, but also from their great
performance of martial ﬁghting on stage.

Sometimes, the male roles are played by females if this role requires special
vocal expression that can be better played by females.

For example, here is “Tiao-sheng”, a sub-divided role in Sheng category.
Tiao-sheng are young men who sing and talk with a higher tone than other
“sheng” roles.

They are often played by women.

Interview Ms. Li-hung Sun, a Peking Opera perfonner:
“Since the voice of the male breaks, females are usually preferred to play this
role.

In Taiwan, almost all Hsiao Sheng’s roles are played by female.”

Nanator

In general, the make up for this character is light in order to show their clear,
conﬁdent faces.

Make up for the women is simple too. The ideal of beauty is a narrow oval face
with slanting comers to the eyes, and eyebrows.

This is the typical make-up pattern of “Tan” role. The female characters.

After the Ching dynasty collapsed, the audience seemed to appreciate “Tan”
more than they did “Sheng”.

“Tan” are actors or actresses who play all women’s roles.

62

These roles used to be presented all by males, and many well-known male

Peking opera actors earned their fame by playing females on the stage.

Interview Ms. Kuang-yu Li, a Peking Opera performer

“T an roles are divided into Ch’ing-yi, Hua-tan, Hua Shan and Wu-tan.

Ch’ing-yi plays the role of a virtuous woman.

Hua-tan represents a younger woman with charm.

Hua-shan’s character falls in between the two.

Ch’ing-yi focuses more on singing skills, and Hua-tan on performance.

Hua-shan combines the two.

For example, the character Hung-Niang can be categorized as a Hua-shan
character type. Be singing and performing, she embodies characteristics of both

Ching-yi and Hua-tan.“

Nanator

Audiences today are still fasinated with Tan’s beautiful stage actions and
dedicate singing.

Nanator

With multiple color paint covering all over the actor’s face, “colored face” is the
nick name of the third role: Ching. They are also called “painted face.”

The term “painted face” also refers to the art of make-up in Peking Opera.

The painting pattern of this role is a perfect example of human face painting art.

63

Today, face painting art not only applies to real people, but these masks can be
drawn on paper for artistic value- especially for the Ching role, the most famous

role for its colorful face painting.

Interview Mr. Tsiao-ping Li, a performer and stage director

“Face painting is very interesting, I have a great interest on it since I was a kid.
Face painting is the most typical art form in Chinese traditional theater,
especially when it applies to real human faces.

A painted face is made up of distorted facial features.

All the lines and colors are exaggerated. In general, there are around 600 to
1000 commonly used mask patterns in traditional face painting.

Every line has a meaning. Usually, a symbol icon is painted on the forehead.
And all together the facial mask portrays a character's status and background.
There are several types of face painting masks.

One of them is the " Three bricks".

In this mask type, the stripes above the eyebrows and across the eye clearly
divide the face into 3 separate parts, the eyebrows, the eyes, and the nose.

The other mask type is the "broken face".

This is portrayed by curves, lines to represent a superﬁcially and expressive
character.

Another common mask pattern type is the symbolized mask.

The monkey King's mask is an example of a symbolized mask.

It represents a monkey's face, so these are the major mask types.

To paint a mask, the ﬁrst thing to do is to lay the white foundation all over the
face.

Then, draw the outline of the whole mask, from light to dark colors. Leaving out
the red.

Red is applied last. It is the holy color in Peking opera face painting.

Red appears in almost all the masks except in 3 historical characters. These
were unloyal people, and not worthy of red.

Other colors have speciﬁc functions too.

Blue masks, for example, represent bandit heroes.

Black masks represent aggressive and violent men.

But red stands for loyalty and honesty.

Narrator

In general, Ching role suggests power, whether in thought, word, or deed.
Usually they play men with strong, tough characters.

The forth role, Ch’ou, is the clown, comedian.

The special make up they wear mark them clearly from other role groups on
stage.

Basically, Ch’ous portray males with humorous, smart, or negative
characteristics.

Chou is not necessary a tool, but he makes people laugh by making fun of

himself or others.

65

Interview Mr. Li-chang Chen, a Peking Opera performer

“Unlike the western clown, the Chinese Opera clown has a nose painted white,

which is the common characteristics of the comic role, Ch’ou.

The size of the painted surface tells a Ch’ou’s age.

The bigger the surface, the order the Ch’ou.

The shape indicates his knowledge. If it is square the Ch’ou is educated, and is
known as the Fang-ji-Chou” This shape is just like a square slice of Dofu..

A Ch’ou in Peking opera must have the ability to give colloquial speech, mimic,
joke and sing.

A Ch’ou must speak clearly on the stage.

Moreover, he needs to sing well, because sometimes he has to imitate the roles
of Sheng, Tan, and Ching.

He must also plays the roles of women, however, the women he represents are
not normal women like those represented by the Tan role, but women with
negative or funny characteristics.

To represent them, he acts in exaggerated ways.”

Topic 4:Training Process of Peking Opera

Sggment one: Pupil Training

Interview Ms. An-Ii Ju, a Peking Opera performer
“As I recall, I went to Opera school when l was ten years old.

I remember suffering a lot during the training process.

66

Now when I look back, I don't think I'll have the courage to go through the whole
thing again.

Because the training is not only tough mentally, but also physically.”

Narrator:

The training process of Opera actors is very harsh.

During the ten years of their training period, students usually are called up at
5:30 to start their routine practice.

Three are three kinds of elementary routine practices, including ﬂoor
movements, acrobatics combat, and weapons ﬁghts training.

After this comes to the individual practice.

Interview Mr. Ching-chao Ju, a performer and a teacher

“Usually we have students practice opera ﬂoor movements in the morning.

The ﬁrst thing they Ieam to do is the “hand stand”. This is one of the basics.

To do a hand stand, a teacher needs to tell students how to swing their legs and
lean on the wall.

Doing hand stands can strengthen their arms and waist, which allow them to do
other movements easily later on.

In the beginning, teachers will assist students in doing somersault exercises.
Eventually students can do the somersaults on their own.

It will take at least three years for a student to ﬁnish all the ﬂoor movements

training. These are the basics.

67

For opera training, there is an old saying: “ You have to make yourself control the
somersaults, not let the somersaults control you”.

So I always remind the students to control the somersaults properly, and they will
be safe all the time.

For students, after they ﬁnish practicing all the hand ﬁghts and weapon ﬁghts
combinations, it will become easy for them to do these combinations in a creative

way.

Narrator

After their three years of basic training, teacher will select students according to
their specialties, and ﬁt them to the four role categories or music orchestra.

This will be an individual training process. Besides basis opera movements,
vocal training plays an important part in students' daily practice.

Usually the singing practice will be with a live orchestra.

During this session, the teacher will teach and correct the student’s vocal
performance individually.

For students, the strict training process not only educates them to be good opera
performers on the stage, but they can also take advantage of this special

background to be successful in other performing or acting ﬁelds.

68

Sggment two, Professional Life of Actors

Nanator

After the basic training process, students move on to act as Peking opera
professionals.

This will take even more practices and rehearses to be able to present in front of
the audience.

To manage a group of performers, good directing is important.

Unlike Western theater, stage directing is still a new concept for Peking opera.

Interview Mr. Tsiao-ping Li, performer and stage director:

“Directing Peking Opera was simpler in the past.

In those times, a main character would establish his own opera troupe, and all
the other arrangements were made around him.

For instance, rehearsals depended on how the main character positioned himself
on stage.

A director, would never use his point of view to direct the main characters.
Nowadays, the concept of directing has evolved closer to that of the western
theater.

We need to remind the main characters to present the play from the audience
point of view.

Of course, such change won’t happened that fast.

One has to work on making those “celebrities” accept one’s suggestions.

This is not easy for them to accept being directed.

69

It’s not easy, but the situation is making progress slowly, and I’m working on

making it better.”

Topic 5: Feedback from Actors: The Drive of Learning Peking Opera

Interview Mr. Kuang-yu Li, a Peking Opera performer

“When we perform on the stage, on this piece of red carpet. We try to present

our best performance to the audience.

For me, I think Peking opera is so beautiful, and it is so full of artistic beauty.
How lucky I am to have immersed myself in this beautiful performance and to

have a chance to appreciate it.

Not only I can appreciate the modern stage, but also I can integrate the beauty

of classical performance into my own.”

Interview Mr. Tsiao-ping Li
“For me, Peking Opera occupied a big part of my life now. In fact, I really like it a

lot, and I’m proud to be an opera performer.”

Interview Ms. An-Ii Ju, a Peking Opera performer

“ I choose Peking Opera to be my job, I’ve never feel regret about it.

Performing on stage is a big metal support for me.

If I feel frustrated today, for example, if I have an argument with other opera

troupe members or with my husband.

70

What I need to comfort myself is not to talk to others, but to the practice court, to

rehearse an scene, to outlet this frustration.

Afterwards, I may cry in the practice court, and I’ll feel a big release.
So Peking opera did bring me a lot of happiness and a lot of pain, but, I feel I

overcome those.”

Topic 6: Ending

Nanator:

An agent of public morality;

A school of stylized acting;

A synthesis of singing, dancing, martial arts, and music.

For hundreds of years, Peking Opera has had a powerful inﬂuence in the life of
the Chinese people.

It is a living treasure of China’s traditional performing art.

71

FOOTNOTES

 

‘ Tao-ching Hsu. “The Chinese Conception of the Theater”, 1985:299

2 A c. Scott, “An Introduction to the Chinese Theater”, 1959:1

3 l-lsu, p.299-301

‘ Shao-po Ma, “The Development and History of Peking Opera in China”, 1993:99

5 Colin Mackerras, “Chinese Drama, a Historical Survey“, 1990:60-64

‘ Kate Buss, “The Chinese Drama”, 1922242

7 A C. Scott, “Performance of Classical Theater” in Colin Mackenas ed., Chinese Theater,
1983:128

° Philip Rosen “Document and Documentary: on the Persistence of Historical Concepts”, Michael
Renov, ed., Theorizr'ng Documentary, 1993:65-66

° Sharon R. Sherman, “Documenting Ourselves”, 199815

‘° Jack C. Ellis, “The Documentary Idea”. 19995

" Ellis, p.5

‘2 Elllis, p.6

'3 Sherman, p.5

“ Bill Nichols, “Getting to Know You..., Knowledge, Power, and the Body”, Michael Renov ed.,
Theorizing Documentary, 1993: 1 74

‘5 Jack C. Ellis, “The Documentary Idea”, 1989:6-7

‘° Michael Rabiger, “Directing Documentary“, 199826

'7 Bill Nichols, “Representing Reality, Issues and Concepts in Documentary”, 1991214
" Nichols, p.32-75

‘° Nichols, p.34

2° Nichols, p.35

2‘ Nichols, p.38

22 Rabiger, p.25

’3 Nichols, p.38

2“ Nichols, p.43-44

25 Nichols, p.52

2' Nichols, p.44

‘7 Nichols, p.47

2“ Nichols, p.57

2° Sherman, p.262

3° Ellis, p.185

3‘ Ellis, p.196-198

3’ Ellis, p.200

3" Ellis, p.200

3“ Scott, “The Performance of Classical Theater”, p.118

’5 Scott, “An Introduction to the Chinese Theater“, p.1

36 David L. Smith, “Vldeo Communication“, 1991:196

37 Smith, p.342

3' N. Goodman, “Language of Art: An Approach to the Theory of Symbols“, 1996:33
3° Cecilia S. L. Zung, “Secrets of the Chinese Drama”, 1937:66

‘° Buss, p. 62

“‘ Hsu, “Talking about Drama“, 1996:115-129

‘2 Elizabeth Wichmann, “Traditional Theater in Contemporary China“, Colin Mackerras ed.,
Chinese Theater, 1983: 1 85

‘3 Hsu. p.77

72

 

BIBILOIGRAPHY

Hsu. Tao-Ching. “The Chinese Conception of Theater”, University ‘
Washington Press,1985

Mackerras, Colin. “Chinese Drama, a historical survey”, New World
Press, Bejing, China, 1990

Buss, Kate. “Studies in the Chinese Drama”, The Four Seas Company,
1992

Scott, A.C. “Performance of Classical Theater", in Colin Mackerras ed.,
Chinese Theater, University of Hawaii Press, 1983

Sherman, Sharon R. “Documenting Ourselves”, The University Press of
Kentucky, 1998

Nichols, Bill. “Getting to Know You...,Knowledge, Power, and the Body”,
Michael Renov ed., Theorizing Documentary, Routledge, New York, 1993

Ellis, Jack C. “The Documentary Idea”, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey, 1989

Nichols, Bill. “Representing Reality”, Indiana University Press, 1991

Scott, A.C. ”An Introduction to the Chinese Theater”, General Printing Co,
Yokohama, Japan, 1958

Smith, David L. “Video Communication”, Wadsworth Publishing
Company, 1991

Goodman, N. “Language of Art”, Hackett Publishing Company, 1996
Zung, Cecilia S.L. “Secrets of the Chinese Drama”, George.G Harrap Co.

1 937

73

 

Hsu. Tao-Ching, “Talking About Drama” Taiwan Business Press, 1996

Wichmann, “Traditional Theater in Contemporary China”, Colin Mackerras,
ed., Chinese Theater, University of Hawaii Press, 1983

74

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