Theater masks

Author: Shao Yu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Chinese theater has a very long history and has formed a self-contained theatrical culture. In theater, to better portray the personality, origin, occupation, position, as well as the characteristics of beauty and ugliness, good and evil, the performers are designed with facial makeup that matches their identity and spiritual temperament. Although it is somewhat stylized, Chinese theatrical facial makeup has its unique artistic characteristics. It is mainly reflected in two aspects: the artistic expressiveness and the exaggerated transformation of facial makeup. The artistic techniques used to achieve expressiveness are realized through exaggerated transformation. The transformation of facial makeup is divided into full transformation and half transformation: full transformation means completely changing the natural form of life, thereby exaggerating and evolving, making the facial makeup rich in certain symbolism and aesthetic interest. Half transformation refers to the highly typical symbolic decoration and coloring of characters in specific dramatic contexts according to their characteristics and conventions. This symbolic and decorative technique that does not deviate from the original form not only strengthens the spiritual demeanor of characters in the theatrical props but also ensures that the basic personality expression of the facial makeup must align with the fundamental spiritual temperament of the character in the plot.