---
title: "Peking Opera in Chinese: The Four Roles (生旦净丑), Mask Colours and Meanings, With Pinyin"
description: "Peking opera by its words: the four roles 生, 旦, 净 and 丑, what the colours of the 脸谱 masks mean, 变脸 face-changing, the music from 京胡 to 锣 and 鼓, and 55 words with pinyin and sound, down to the sayings 唱红脸 and 跑龙套."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-opera-words"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

Free · 55 words

# Peking opera words in Chinese

[Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E6%88%8F%E6%9B%B2%20%E4%BA%AC%E5%89%A7%20%E6%98%86%E6%9B%B2%20%E7%B2%A4%E5%89%A7%20%E8%B6%8A%E5%89%A7%20%E5%B7%9D%E5%89%A7%20%E9%BB%84%E6%A2%85%E6%88%8F%20%E8%B1%AB%E5%89%A7%20%E6%97%A6%20%E5%87%80%20%E4%B8%91%20%E8%80%81%E7%94%9F%20%E5%B0%8F%E7%94%9F%20%E6%AD%A6%E7%94%9F%20%E9%9D%92%E8%A1%A3%20%E8%8A%B1%E6%97%A6%20%E8%80%81%E6%97%A6%20%E5%88%80%E9%A9%AC%E6%97%A6%20%E8%84%B8%E8%B0%B1%20%E5%8F%98%E8%84%B8%20%E7%BA%A2%E8%84%B8%20%E7%99%BD%E8%84%B8%20%E6%B0%B4%E8%A2%96%20%E8%9F%92%E8%A2%8D%20%E4%BA%AC%E8%83%A1%20%E6%9C%88%E7%90%B4%20%E9%94%A3%20%E9%BC%93%20%E6%9D%BF%20%E7%9A%AE%E9%BB%84%20%E8%A5%BF%E7%9A%AE%20%E4%BA%8C%E9%BB%84%20%E6%88%8F%20%E6%88%8F%E5%8F%B0%20%E6%88%8F%E9%99%A2%20%E5%94%B1%E6%88%8F%20%E7%9C%8B%E6%88%8F%20%E6%88%8F%E8%BF%B7%20%E7%A5%A8%E5%8F%8B%20%E8%A7%92%E8%89%B2%20%E6%AD%A6%E6%89%93%20%E7%BF%BB%E8%B7%9F%E5%A4%B4%20%E4%BA%AE%E7%9B%B8%20%E8%B0%A2%E5%B9%95%20%E6%A2%85%E5%85%B0%E8%8A%B3%20%E9%9C%B8%E7%8E%8B%E5%88%AB%E5%A7%AC%20%E8%B4%B5%E5%A6%83%E9%86%89%E9%85%92%20%E5%85%B3%E5%85%AC%20%E5%8C%85%E5%85%AC%20%E6%9B%B9%E6%93%8D%20%E5%94%B1%E7%BA%A2%E8%84%B8%20%E5%94%B1%E7%99%BD%E8%84%B8%20%E8%B7%91%E9%BE%99%E5%A5%97%20%E5%8E%8B%E8%BD%B4%20%E7%B2%89%E5%A2%A8%E7%99%BB%E5%9C%BA)

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## The four roles of Peking opera

| | In Chinese | Who they play | Kinds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Sheng | 生 shēng | The main male roles | 老生 小生 武生 |
| Dan | 旦 dàn | Every female role, once all played by men | 青衣 花旦 老旦 刀马旦 |
| Jing | 净 jìng | Painted-face men, forceful, with strong voices | 脸谱 painted faces |
| Chou | 丑 chǒu | Clowns, with a white patch of paint round the nose | 文丑 武丑 civil, martial |

## Kinds of opera

xì戏qǔ曲

Chinese opera; traditional drama

jīng京jù剧

Peking opera; Beijing opera

kūn昆qǔ曲

Kunqu opera

yuè粤jù剧

Cantonese opera

yuè越jù剧

Yue opera; Shaoxing opera

chuān川jù剧

Sichuan opera

huáng黄méi梅xì戏

Huangmei opera (from Anhui)

yù豫jù剧

Henan opera

## The roles

dàn旦

female role in Chinese opera

jìng净

painted-face role (in Chinese opera)

chǒu丑

clown role in Chinese opera

lǎo老shēng生

old man role (in Chinese opera)

xiǎo小shēng生

young male role (in Chinese opera)

wǔ武shēng生

martial male role (in Chinese opera)

qīng青yī衣

(Chinese opera) qingyi, role of a virtuous woman

huā花dàn旦

huadan (lively young female role in Chinese opera)

lǎo老dàn旦

old woman role (in Chinese opera)

dāo刀mǎ马dàn旦

female warrior role (in Chinese opera)

## Face paint and costume

liǎn脸pǔ谱

facial makeup (in Chinese opera)

biàn变liǎn脸

face-changing (Sichuan opera art)

hóng红liǎn脸

good-guy role

bái白liǎn脸

the villain role; bad cop

shuǐ水xiù袖

water sleeves (long flowing sleeves in Chinese opera)

mǎng蟒páo袍

python robe (official robe of the Ming and Qing)

## The music

jīng京hú胡

jinghu (Peking opera fiddle)

yuè月qín琴

yueqin (moon-shaped lute)

luó锣

gong

gǔ鼓

drum

bǎn板

(music) clapper; beat

pí皮huáng黄

xipi and erhuang (tunes of Peking opera)

xī西pí皮

xipi (melody type in Peking opera)

èr二huáng黄

erhuang (tune in Chinese opera)

## At the opera

xì戏

play; drama

xì戏tái台

theatrical stage

xì戏yuàn院

theater (building)

chàng唱xì戏

to sing in a (Chinese) opera; to perform opera

kàn看xì戏

to watch a play; to see an opera

xì戏mí迷

opera fan; theater fan

piào票yǒu友

amateur performer (of Peking opera)

jué角sè色

role; part

wǔ武dǎ打

martial arts fighting (in film or opera)

fān翻gēn跟tou头

to do a somersault

liàng亮xiàng相

to strike a pose (on stage)

xiè谢mù幕

to take a curtain call

## Famous names and plays

méi梅lán兰fāng芳

Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), Peking opera master

bà霸wáng王bié别jī姬

Farewell My Concubine (opera and film)

guì贵fēi妃zuì醉jiǔ酒

The Drunken Concubine (Peking opera)

guān关gōng公

Lord Guan (Guan Yu, deified general of the Three Kingdoms)

bāo包gōng公

Lord Bao (Bao Zheng, Song dynasty judge known for justice)

cáo曹cāo操

Cao Cao (155-220), warlord of the late Han and founder of Wei

## Sayings from the opera

chàng唱hóng红liǎn脸

to play the good cop; to play the friendly role

chàng唱bái白liǎn脸

to play the villain; to play bad cop

pǎo跑lóng龙tào套

to play a bit part

yā压zhòu轴

grand finale; last and best item on a program

fěn粉mò墨dēng登chǎng场

to make one's debut

## What are the four roles in Peking opera?

生 (shēng), the main male roles; 旦 (dàn), every female role; 净 (jìng), the painted-face men; and 丑 (chǒu), the clown, whose name sounds like 丑, ugly. In its early years all the 旦 roles were played by men; 梅兰芳 (Méi Lánfāng) is the most famous of them.

## What do the colours of Peking opera masks mean?

The painted faces, 脸谱 (liǎnpǔ), follow Chinese colour symbolism: red is for uprightness and loyalty, like 关公 (Guān Gōng); white for evil or crafty characters, like 曹操 (Cáo Cāo); and black for soundness and integrity, like the judge 包公 (Bāo Gōng). There are 16 basic face patterns and over a hundred variations.

## What is face-changing in Chinese opera?

变脸 (biànliǎn) is a Sichuan opera art in which a performer changes masks in a flash, too fast to follow. In everyday Chinese 变脸 also means to turn hostile suddenly.

## What do 唱红脸 and 唱白脸 mean?

They come from the opera’s face colours: 唱红脸 (chàng hóngliǎn), to sing the red face, is to play the good cop, and 唱白脸 (chàng báiliǎn) is to play the bad cop. 跑龙套 (pǎo lóngtào), to run as an extra, is to have a bit part, and 压轴 (yāzhòu) is the best act, kept for last.

## What instruments are used in Peking opera?

The lead is the 京胡 (jīnghú), a small, high two-string fiddle, with the moon lute 月琴 (yuèqín). The drum and clapper player, 鼓 (gǔ) and 板 (bǎn), conducts the whole band, and gongs, 锣 (luó), and cymbals mark the action.

## What is the difference between Peking opera and Chinese opera?

戏曲 (xìqǔ), Chinese opera, is the whole family of regional styles: 京剧 (jīngjù), Peking opera, is the best known, alongside 昆曲 (kūnqǔ), the oldest, 粤剧 (yuèjù), Cantonese opera, 越剧 from Zhejiang, 川剧 from Sichuan and 黄梅戏 from Anhui.

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## More Chinese culture

- [Chinese musical instruments](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-instruments)
- [Chinese warrior and emperor names](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-warrior-and-emperor-names)
- [What colours mean in China](https://mandarinthewild.com/guides/chinese-colors-meaning)
- [Traditional Chinese clothing](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-clothing-names)

Words, pinyin and meanings from our own dictionary; the roles, face colours and music from Wikipedia’s Peking opera.