A distinctive feature of Chinese opera is the avoidance of any attempt at realism in the acting or properties. Everything depends on symbolism. For example, the way a riding crop is handled indicates whether an actor is mounted, dismounted, leading his horse or tethering it.
The range of symbolization is almost infinitive. Facial expressions, the way a face is painted, the costumes and headgear, the gestures, movements of the body - everything has a meaning familiar to the experienced operagoer. As an illustration of the extensive variety of symbols, known as "conventions," there are 107 different hand movements, each with its own meaning.
But while a knowledge of the conventions is helpful to the operagoer, it is not essential to enjoyment of a form of drama that in every true sense of the word is unique because it has no like or equal.
Except for clowns and other comic characters, all the players sing or chant their lines to music supplied by an eight-man orchestra. The musicians sit behind a net curtain at right of the stage (as viewed by the audience).
One of the distinctive features of Chinese opera is the use of the falsetto, an artificially high-pitched voice, in much of the dialogue and song. The falsetto and the musical accompaniment sound bizarre to most non-Chinese.
The properties could not be simpler. These usually consist of only a carpet, two wooden chairs, a wooden table and a plain backdrop with two "doorways" represented by split curtains at the right and left backstage.
The plots of classical Chinese opera are drawn from popular novels, historical events, folklore and mythology. The themes fall under two broad divisions, military and civil, with most of the characters sharply defined as either good or bad. Righteousness usually triumphs whether in ordinary life or on the battlefield.
The orchestra consists of two sections: wen meaning "civil" and wu meaning "military." The "military" section uses percussion instruments such as gongs, cymbals and bells; and the "civil" section strings and woodwind instruments such as flutes and oboes. Every movement, every scene has its particular musical accompaniment. The accompaniment denotes an infinite variety of situations, for example the appearance of the Emperor or high palace officials; people at leisure; or a person arriving in a great hurry, or from nearby or from a great distance away.
Other situations that have their own particular musical accompaniment - one book lists 66 situations - include soldiers returning to headquarters after com bat; fighting in which arrows are used; the arrival of a victorious general to visit the Emperor; and the departure of the Emperor and his court for an excursion.
To people understanding the language, there is no difficulty in following the plot. On their first appearance, the players address themselves directly to the audience, indentify themselves, state the part they play and indicate what is to follow.
A student of Chinese opera has compared the stage with its few properties to a plain wooden box that, when opened by the appearance of the players, discloses a rich treasure of sparkling Jewels.
The costumes, headgear and make-up indicate the general character of the persons portrayed, their rank and status, and even whether they are rich or poor.
A few examples of the numerous "conventions" include:
- A person who has been killed symbolizes death by falling down, then running offstage quickly.
- Five actors standing in a straight line, each on a chair, denote the arrival of cloud-borne spirits from afar.
- A whole army is represented by a group of four men carrying flags.
- A decapitated head is represented by a small round bundle wrapped with crimson cloth.
- The closing of a door is indicated by bringing the hands together, and the opening of a door by spreading the hands apart.
- A boat is represented by an oar.
- A black flag denotes that strong winds are imminent.
Classical Chinese opera dates from the reign of the Sung dynasty Emperor Chen Tsung who occupied the Dragon Throne for 2S years (A.D. 997-1022). It is thus about 600 years older than Western opera, which dates from the year 1600 when J. Peri's "Euridice" was performed in Florence, Italy.
The avoidance of any semblance of realism takes many forms. For instance, as the players enter or leave the stage, they always step over an imaginary doorsill. If beards are worn- there are 18 different kinds, each with its own particular meaning no attempt is made to simulate reality. The beards are made of hair tied to clearly visible wire frames hooked to the ears. And it is not uncommon for teenagers, whose faces clearly show their youth, to play the part of old men.
Like other elements of classical Chinese opera, the make-up is also unique: it has no counter-part in any other theater. The experienced operagoer recognizes from the make-up whether the persons portrayed are crafty ministers, swashbuckling bandits, fearless warriors, loyal statesmen, gods, supernatural beings and so forth.
There are three opera training schools in Taiwan. The leading one is the National Foo Hsing Opera Academy in Taipei. As of May this year, the students there consisted of 140 girls and 79 boys (64 per cent girls to 36 per cent boys). The heavy proponderance of girls is noteworthy because it was not until the turn of the 19th century that women first began to appear on the Chinese opera stage, and then only a very few of them. Before that, for about 900 years, all female parts were played by men impersonating women. However, it was not until Taiwan was restored to Chinese rule in 1945, that this old practice lapsed altogether. In fact, reversing the process, women now occasionally impersonate men.
The training course at the National Foo Hsing Opera Academy lasts eight years and begins with students whose age usually ranges from 7 to 12. The students have to learn dancing, singing, acrobatics, fencing and countless other things.
The students begin their day at five a.m. and spend most of the morning in training. Then they spend the afternoon pursuing the same educational studies as in all regular schools.
There are daily performances of Chinese opera at the Armed Forces Cultural Activity Center, 69 Chunghwa Road, Taipei; and performances every Saturday and Sunday at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei.
In addition, there are frequent showings of opera on TV.
Student Review - Jesuit guidance
Ever since Matteo Ricci's followers became advisers to the Kang Hs'i emperor, the Jesuits have had an especially active and often surprisingly secular service to the Chinese people. The Tien Educational Center is an example.
Founded in 1963 in memory of Cardinal Thomas Tien, archbishop of Taipei, the Center provides an array of facilities and activities for students: a library of 30,000 cataloged volumes emphasizing British and American literature; a Drama Club whose recent productions include plays by Irish, American and Chinese playwrights; a writers' workshop; a film appreciation series; and a sophisticated counseling service.
Father Lee Je-shiou explains the purpose of the center is to provide students and young scholars with the broadest range of facilities for cultural and academic pursuits. A chapel and church-related groups beckon those so inclined, but the other activities attract any and all for scholarly and artistic pursuits, social service and even recreation (folk dancing is a popular attraction).
The four-story Tien Center is located on Roosevelt Road, Section 3, and includes a 500-seat auditorium equipped with stage, two halls for seminars, a smaller meeting room and a classroom. The library is spacious and well-equipped to research questions ranging from literary criticism, comparative literature, library science, education and religion to mathematics, philosophy and some of the social sciences. The strongest collection is British and American literature, although the representation of Spanish, Italian and French authors is by no means token.
One wing of the building is a dormitory for visiting Jesuits, and as one permanent resident puts it, "This place occasionally resembles Grand Central Station." The library guest book attests to his claim: in one month there are signatures from Austria to Australia and Pakistan and all points in the United States. One intriguing entry is the name of actor Gregory Peck, who visited Taiwan recently and dropped in to see his old friend at the Tien Center, Father Albert R. O'Hara, a professor of sociology at National Taiwan University and a renowned authority on Chinese society. You can see him any Sunday morning standing outside the chapel besieged by local children who know he always has a pretty foreign stamp in his pocket to give them.
Father O'Hara's office is filled with memorabilia from his colorful career. The connection with Peck came when Father O'Hara served as the "mission adviser" to the 1945 movie version of the Cronin novel The Keys of the Kingdom. Gregory Peck played the leading role in the tale of Catholic missionaries in China. Father O'Hara's experiences as a missionary on the China mainland qualified him to be Peck's coach, but his old photographs show he was handsome enough to have played the starring role himself.
Besides his Peck souvenirs, Father O'Hara has other treasures: a book of Madame Chiang Kai-shek's paintings presented to him by Madame Chiang, a Chinese scroll written by General Hsieh Chien-yuan (a hero in the Shanghai battle with Japan), a silver cup given to him by his students in recognition of 40-years' service in China and a recent ROC Ministry of Defense citation for his contribution to English publications.
Father O'Hara's affiliation with actors continued in Taipei when he directed the Tien Centers production of Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windemere's Fan." Other recent Tien Center productions include Irish poet William Butler Yeats' "The Pot of Broth," American writer Mark Twain's "Thief" and Irish playright John Synge's "Riders to the Sea."
Tien Center productions are not limited to Western offerings, however. Wang Chen-ho's "Hope You Come Back Sooner" has been presented, and a recent series of lectures on Chinese philosophy and literature was a sellout. The "Writing Club" invites Chinese writers of renown to teach students. During summer vacations, seminars on writing are held for exchanges of opinions and experiences to stimulate the fledgling writer's interest in his craft. Members of the club are often encouraged to stage Chinese and English dramas.
Father Andrew Lefebvre, the resident psychologist, holds concurrent responsibilities as head of counseling and head of drama activities. His office is a comfortable sitting room in which students can discuss with him their problems of school, jobs, friends and personality on a reassuringly confidential basis. The counseling center has administered psychological tests and treatments to over 5,000 persons in the past five years.
Father Lefebvre explains the function of the Drama Club and Film Appreciation Series. "We thought an organization had to be set up to present drama on a regular basis if we want to develop and promote drama activities in Taiwan. Through the Tien Center club, we hope to train actors, actresses, directors and stage technicians." And the Film Series? "We show the best films we can get - Italian, French, American, Chinese. We always publish a synopsis and invite a lecturer to speak about the meaning, technique and value of the film. The idea is to train students to think critically, to understand what questions need to be asked about what you see in a film. So much f11m criticism in the newspapers now is either a simple summary of the plot line or straight-out advertisement. We hope to cultivate the next generation of critics, perhaps, or just a more discriminating public. Thus the general level of culture is raised." Recent films shown in the Series include Elia Kazan's "On the Waterfront," Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West," Soong Tsun-shua's "The Dawn" and Sidney Lumet's "Serpico."
The Rev. John J. Deeney, now in Hongkong, was the instigator of another Tien Center innovation: an Audio-Visual Center for learning English through literature. The collecting of materials took over 15 years, and all the recording was done by professional readers, usually famous actors or singers, and some times by the authors themselves. The project also includes slides and films on the authors, and the center is now planning to buy video tape recordings on similar subjects.
Drama, literature, film and scholarship enhance the capabilities of the mind, but there is one Tien Center activity which enhances the capabilities of the soul. Since 1967, college students have been recruited to spend summer vacations serving the mountain people of Taiwan. Students face a battery of tests before entering the ranks of those dedicated to the betterment of life for all people. Tasks include reconstruction of communities, agricultural service, medical treatment and even a helping hand with children's homework assignments. The students live the way the mountain people live, and return with a better understanding of both themselves and the people they served. (Patrick Mo)