Page "Chinese opera" Paragraph 6

In Beijing opera, traditional Chinese string and percussion instruments provide a strong rhythmic accompaniment to the acting.

The acting is based on allusion: gestures, footwork, and other body movements express such actions as riding a horse, rowing a boat, or opening a door.

Spoken dialogue is divided into recitative and Beijing colloquial speech, the former employed by serious characters and the latter by young females and clowns.

Character roles are strictly defined.

Elaborate make-up designs portray which character is acting.

The traditional repertoire of Beijing opera includes more than 1, 000 works, mostly taken from historical novels about political and military struggles.