Sheng
In the opera world, there are 4 hang dang (行当) Sheng, Dan, Jing, Chou. There used to be 5 Hang Dang including the 'Mo' 末 which is something like a lao sheng (老生) but the 'mo' category is now under the 'Sheng'.
Yippee.. today i going to talk about the Sheng. 'Sheng' 生 is a general term for the male characters. Haiz.. the shengs has mesmerised so many female fans! I think in opera, the Sheng is more popular than the Dan 旦, general term for female characters.
Shengs are further divided into a few types of sheng. The commonly seen one Wen Sheng 小生，武生，娃娃生，老生 and 红生。
1) 小生-- Shengs are normally Jun Ban 俊扮, meaning they put on nice make up and look handsome. Xiao Shengs need to be able to sing well.
Xiao Shengs are then further divided into a few types. There is this Jin Sheng 巾生, which are those scholarly type. They usually carry a fan and wear long robes as the one shown in the picture. Fans are used to express a gentlemanly look. Examples are Liu Meng Mei 柳梦梅 in Mu Dan Ting 牡丹亭, Zhang Jun Rui 张君瑞 in Xi Xiang Ji 西厢记。
Then we have Sha Mao Sheng 纱帽生. Sha Mao Shengs are those that has an official ranking. Because the hats that the officials wear are call Sha Mao, we named this category of shengs as Sha Mao Sheng. Examples are Shang Tian Bao 尚天保 in San Jin Shi 三进士，Xu Ji Zu 徐继祖 in Bai Luo Shan 白罗衫 。
Ling Zi Sheng 翎子生 are those that have the Ling zi on their head. Ling Zi is a long long feather plucked from some kind of bird. Wu Sheng wear Ling zi too but Wusheng is a different story from Ling Zi Sheng. Ling Zi Sheng normally don't have to fight alot but they need to sing very well and have a good gestures foundation. For examples Zhou Yu 周俞 of Qun Ying Hui 群英会 and Lv Bu 吕布 of 吕布与貂蝉。
********That is a lot for the xiao sheng*************
2) Wu Shengs are those warrior, fighting type of xiao sheng. In my opinion, Wu sheng this hang dang is very hard to survive as the process of learning to be a wu sheng is a torture. (that is my opinion) If you ever see a wu sheng perform live on stage, you will fully understand what is 台下十年功，台上三分钟. Wu shengs have to be trained from young and they need to master a lot of acrobatic movements.
Wu Shengs has 2 category Chang Kao 长靠 and 短打. Chang Kao is the type that wears the big looking warrior suit with 4/5 flags behind and Chang Kao wears 3-4 inches high platform shoes to fight! Duan da is the kind that wear the normal light warrior suit with flat shoes. Hence Chang Kao is much more difficult to master. Examples are Zhao Yun 赵云 and Gao Chong 高宠。
Duan Da has more acrobatic movements, examples are Wu Song 武松 and Lin Chong 林冲。
There is also Wu Lao Sheng 武老生, old warriors with beards. Example is He yuan shuai 贺元帅 in Hua Mu Lan 花木兰。
**********************************************
3)Wa wa sheng are the act cute type, hahaha..... yah.. they normally act as kids in a show. Normally wa wa shengs are done by hua dan. Wa wa sheng is also divided into the fighting and non-fighting type. Examples or fighting type is Chen Xiang 沉香 from bao lian deng, non fighting one is 士久 from Liang Zhu.
Omg.. can't find any photo of wa wa sheng. So i posted my own photo.. hee hee..cute or not?..
*********************************************
4) Now my favourite, Lao Sheng. Lao sheng also know as Xu Sheng 须生 or Zheng Sheng 正生。 I remember some very famous Xu shengs are Ma Lian Liang and Tan Fu Ying. You must be
wondering why is Lao sheng called zheng sheng while xiao sheng is called xiao sheng right. Actually in Pekin Opera, the main lead is always a Lao sheng aka Zheng Sheng. If the main lead requires a young scholar than the lao sheng will remove his fake beard to play the main male lead. The xiao sheng on the other normally don't take main roles. haha.. surprise right?!
Lao Sheng focus mainly on singing. I love the singing of lao sheng! There is a kind of laosheng who plays those mentally unstable characters. Example is the Song Jiang 宋江 in Song Jiang Sha Xi 宋江杀惜. This kind of lao sheng needs to have lots of movements.
******************************************
5) Hong Sheng are normally done by Lao sheng (told you lao sheng is the most important). From the name you can tell that this kind of sheng normally has got red face and they must paint their faces red. The most famous one will be Guan Yu. I love Guan Yu.. he is so cool!
Yippee.. today i going to talk about the Sheng. 'Sheng' 生 is a general term for the male characters. Haiz.. the shengs has mesmerised so many female fans! I think in opera, the Sheng is more popular than the Dan 旦, general term for female characters.
Shengs are further divided into a few types of sheng. The commonly seen one Wen Sheng 小生，武生，娃娃生，老生 and 红生。
1) 小生-- Shengs are normally Jun Ban 俊扮, meaning they put on nice make up and look handsome. Xiao Shengs need to be able to sing well.Xiao Shengs are then further divided into a few types. There is this Jin Sheng 巾生, which are those scholarly type. They usually carry a fan and wear long robes as the one shown in the picture. Fans are used to express a gentlemanly look. Examples are Liu Meng Mei 柳梦梅 in Mu Dan Ting 牡丹亭, Zhang Jun Rui 张君瑞 in Xi Xiang Ji 西厢记。
Then we have Sha Mao Sheng 纱帽生. Sha Mao Shengs are those that has an official ranking. Because the hats that the officials wear are call Sha Mao, we named this category of shengs as Sha Mao Sheng. Examples are Shang Tian Bao 尚天保 in San Jin Shi 三进士，Xu Ji Zu 徐继祖 in Bai Luo Shan 白罗衫 。
Ling Zi Sheng 翎子生 are those that have the Ling zi on their head. Ling Zi is a long long feather plucked from some kind of bird. Wu Sheng wear Ling zi too but Wusheng is a different story from Ling Zi Sheng. Ling Zi Sheng normally don't have to fight alot but they need to sing very well and have a good gestures foundation. For examples Zhou Yu 周俞 of Qun Ying Hui 群英会 and Lv Bu 吕布 of 吕布与貂蝉。
********That is a lot for the xiao sheng*************
2) Wu Shengs are those warrior, fighting type of xiao sheng. In my opinion, Wu sheng this hang dang is very hard to survive as the process of learning to be a wu sheng is a torture. (that is my opinion) If you ever see a wu sheng perform live on stage, you will fully understand what is 台下十年功，台上三分钟. Wu shengs have to be trained from young and they need to master a lot of acrobatic movements.Wu Shengs has 2 category Chang Kao 长靠 and 短打. Chang Kao is the type that wears the big looking warrior suit with 4/5 flags behind and Chang Kao wears 3-4 inches high platform shoes to fight! Duan da is the kind that wear the normal light warrior suit with flat shoes. Hence Chang Kao is much more difficult to master. Examples are Zhao Yun 赵云 and Gao Chong 高宠。
Duan Da has more acrobatic movements, examples are Wu Song 武松 and Lin Chong 林冲。
There is also Wu Lao Sheng 武老生, old warriors with beards. Example is He yuan shuai 贺元帅 in Hua Mu Lan 花木兰。
**********************************************
3)Wa wa sheng are the act cute type, hahaha..... yah.. they normally act as kids in a show. Normally wa wa shengs are done by hua dan. Wa wa sheng is also divided into the fighting and non-fighting type. Examples or fighting type is Chen Xiang 沉香 from bao lian deng, non fighting one is 士久 from Liang Zhu.Omg.. can't find any photo of wa wa sheng. So i posted my own photo.. hee hee..cute or not?..
*********************************************
4) Now my favourite, Lao Sheng. Lao sheng also know as Xu Sheng 须生 or Zheng Sheng 正生。 I remember some very famous Xu shengs are Ma Lian Liang and Tan Fu Ying. You must be
wondering why is Lao sheng called zheng sheng while xiao sheng is called xiao sheng right. Actually in Pekin Opera, the main lead is always a Lao sheng aka Zheng Sheng. If the main lead requires a young scholar than the lao sheng will remove his fake beard to play the main male lead. The xiao sheng on the other normally don't take main roles. haha.. surprise right?!Lao Sheng focus mainly on singing. I love the singing of lao sheng! There is a kind of laosheng who plays those mentally unstable characters. Example is the Song Jiang 宋江 in Song Jiang Sha Xi 宋江杀惜. This kind of lao sheng needs to have lots of movements.
******************************************
5) Hong Sheng are normally done by Lao sheng (told you lao sheng is the most important). From the name you can tell that this kind of sheng normally has got red face and they must paint their faces red. The most famous one will be Guan Yu. I love Guan Yu.. he is so cool!
.jpg)
Comments