Scribd
Upload
490 views2 pages

Worksheet 6-Factual Recount

The document provides information about Beijing opera, noting that it combines singing, dialogue, acrobatics and pantomime accompanied by loud percussion. It discusses the origins of Beijing opera in the Tang dynasty and how the styles became more similar over time. Details are also given about typical roles, costumes, and instruments used in Beijing opera performances.

Uploaded by

Maria Goldiana Taping
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
490 views2 pages

Worksheet 6-Factual Recount

The document provides information about Beijing opera, noting that it combines singing, dialogue, acrobatics and pantomime accompanied by loud percussion. It discusses the origins of Beijing opera in the Tang dynasty and how the styles became more similar over time. Details are also given about typical roles, costumes, and instruments used in Beijing opera performances.

Uploaded by

Maria Goldiana Taping
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Worksheet 6

Name :
Class : Secondary 1
Day/Date :

Text type: Factual Recount Text

Read Passage A then answer all the questions which follow


NOTE: When a question asks you to answer in your own words, you must not copy the words in the
passage in your answer.
Beijing Opera
Among the many types of opera that can be seen in China, Beijing opera is widely
regarded as the best. Like the drama of the ancient Greeks, it has mass appeal.
There is not only singing and dialogue, but also acrobatics and pantomime. The
actors wear masks and the show is accompanied by the loud and insistent
rhythms of noisy percussion instruments. The subjects for the operas are often
taken from tales of intrigue and rebellion well-known to local audiences. 'The
Monkey King' and 'A Drunken Beauty' are frequently performed.
The costumes and loud music were necessary in early open-air opera
performances. Otherwise, how could the performance compete with the crowds of
people milling around the stage or haggling in the markets? Garish colours and piercing noise were
needed to attract and sustain the interest of the audiences.
Today's Beijing opera has its origins in the Tang dynasty. At that time. opera companies from the
provinces converged on Beijing, but, naturally enough, they sang in a variety of dialects, not all of which
were comprehensible to the capital city's opera-goers. Through the period of the Ming dynasty, the
dialects and styles used became more homogeneous and by the 19th century, Beijing opera had evolved
into the creature we know today.
The musicians usually sit on the stage in their ordinary working clothes and
without any musical score to guide them. Their instruments include the erhu,
a two-stringed fiddle tuned to a low register; the huqin, also with two strings
but tuned to a high register; the yueqin, which, as its name suggests, is moon-
shaped; the sheng (reed pipes); the pipa (a lute) and a number of cymbals,
drums and bells.
The sheng, dan, jing and chou are not instruments, but actors' roles. The
sheng are the 'star parts'. These men are warriors or revered scholars, civil
servants or soldiers. Only very fit and agile actors take the parts of soldiers, for very often it is they who
have to perform the daring acrobatics that dazzle the audiences.
The dan are the female roles. Traditionally (just as in classical Western theatre) men had to play the
female parts. This must-have represented a formidable challenge since the variety of women's roles was
very wide: there were elderly, dignified ladies; aristocrats in breathtaking costumes; maidservants,
attractively dressed in brightly-coloured costumes; female comedians and even warrior women. Today,
the female roles are played by actresses.
The painted faces you see on the stage belong to the jing. These could be warriors, demons or heroes.
(The very unheroic figures of ridicule are their counterparts, the fujing.) The chou is the clown.
Acrobatics, mime, music and song are not the only features. Symbolic gestures and facial expressions
take the place of elaborate props. If someone raises a foot, presume he is heading out of the door; should
an actor strut across the stage with a tasseled whip in hand, you are to imagine he is riding a horse. But
your eye will surely be caught most by the leaps, twirls and somersaults of the acrobatic women warriors.
And you thought those Chinese films were nothing but camera tricks!
Beijing opera is not the only survivor today. If you want a 'boy meets girl' romance, head for Canton. A
visitor to Taiwan is more likely to see a Gaojia opera from the Fujian province with songs in dialect.
To the western ear, Chinese opera music can sound unpleasant. The main reason for this is that it lacks
the harmonies that are at the core of western music. The eight-note scale used in the west is by Chinese
opera players who stick to the five-note groupings that characterise the unmistakable sound of Beijing
opera. Given this fact, it is hard to believe that both Chinese and Western musicians of old identified and
used the same 12-note scale.

1. In what way is modern Beijing opera like ancient Greek drama?

2. To whom does the word 'local' refer?

3. Why do you think early Beijing operas were staged in the market place?

4. During the Tang dynasty, why would people in Beijing not understand the plays performed in
their city by travelling opera companies?

5. From reading the passage, how would a non-Chinese speaker know that the word yueqin has
something to do with the moon?

6. Give two reasons why a veteran actor may opt for a sheng role as a scholar.

7. Why would a spectator at a Chinese opera realise that not all stunts performed by Chinese
actresses are camera tricks?

8. 'Beijing opera is not the only survivor today.') What two things does this sentence tell us about
the fate of some Chinese opera traditions?

9. For what two reasons does Chinese opera not appeal to most westerners?

10. For each of the following words, give one word or a phrase of not more than seven words that has
the same meaning that the word has in the passage.
a. Widely
b. Insistent
c. Comprehensible
d. Homogeneous
e. Evolved
f. Score
g. Core
h. Eschewed

You might also like