Basic Skills in Chinese Opera

Editor:at0086 | Resource:AT0086.com

Chi-pen-kung is the basic physical training required for the performance of Chinese Opera. For such performance utilizes the entire body, where singing, intoning, gesturing and acrobatics is each exactly defined by tradition both in method and in symbolic choreography, so that in expressive movements or gestures, any single part of the body must be rigorously and minutely trained in order to attain the perfect stances and routines. For example, there should be highly exact gestures of the head, neck, shoulders, chest, waist, legs, arms, hands, fingers, feet, eyes, mouth, or movements of appendages such as the garments, long flowing sleeves, sashes or flowing hair, beard, feathers, etc. For each of these movements by tradition describe both the character and the moods, and enhance the atmosphere of the scene. This is what the audience comes for. Thus the first step toward a good performance is training in these basic gestures and movements. This is the foundation for all sorts of performance and each minute gesture or full movement must be performed with the utmost exactitude. This is the first step.


For physical training, the malleability of the young student far exceeds that of the teen-ager or older youth. So basic training should start at the earliest, what insiders call yu-kung or infant training. Here again they must be exact, correct, steady and have visual appeal. They must further be performed with a certain flair and style and incorporate the proper emotional spirit and each part of the motion or routine must be accurate in split-second timing, fitting into brilliance, kung-chia stance and posture, yen-shen eye-expression, t'ai-feng stage-presence, etc. are all mastered during this phase of basic training. This is an extremely vital part of the education. The syllabus for chi-pen-kung basic training is scheduled over an eight-year curriculum of sixteen terms progressing from the simple to the complex. Whether in subject-delineation, division into classes and age level, or in apportionment of length of study, every aspect has been studied and formulated by experts. It remains for actual experimental practice to know whether the curriculum as it stands is entirely suitable, practicable, whether it needs amendments or corrections. This will have to await the next phase of cooperation between the various experimental opera academies, educators and experts for further refinement.

Lastly we must point out that while the syllabi and course descriptions in normal schools have long been formulated and regulated, the same cannot be said for that formulated and regulated, the same cannot be said for that in Chinese Opera training. No one ever undertook to study and produce one for such specialized training, nor has there been any reference materials to aid us in the compilation of teaching aids to delimit the separate movements and routines into easily workable study units. We have defined the units which comprise each part of a particular movement or sequence, and compiled teaching aids in sequential order. This too must await the results from experimental practice for final judgment as to its feasibility and desirability.

Because basic training differs for male and female roles, we have divided it accordingly, and further divided the eight-year programmer into three levels, the first being Elementary Level comprising the first two years, the second being Intermediate Level comprising the third, fourth and fifth years, and the last being Advanced Level comprising the sixth, seventh and eighth years. The syllabus, course and grade distribution follow below.

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