

Lao sheng: an old male that sings and speaks in a deep natural voice.ģ. Xiao sheng: a young man who speaks in natural and aftificial voice. With further investigation, it became clear that roles are basically divided into two male roles and female roles.ġ.


The four roles are Hua dan, which is female role, Xiao Sheng, which is male role, Lao Sheng, which is an old men, and Wu Sheng that are fighters. Through interview with BBIS Chinese student, Eva, I learned that there are four main roles in Chinese opera, and make ups of the four differ. These operas differ in costumes, make ups, music and regions that these operas are performed. There are many different types of Chinese opera due to the region, which can be divided to five main types Beijing, Cantonese, Henan, Hwangmei and Yue opera. Chinese opera is a form of traditional drama and musical theatre in China.
