Sichuan Opera

Sichuan opera, also called Chuanju in Chinese, is a type of opera originating in Sichuan Province of China. It was listed as the state-level immaterial cultural heritage in 2006.

Sichuan opera has a history of about 1700 years which can date back to the Ming Dynasty (1368~1644).

The opera sounds beautiful and is composed of five tunes, namely Gaoqiang, Huqin, Kunqiang, Dengxi and Tanxi. Among them, Gaoqiang is the main performing style as it has abundant tune and euphonious aria.

The performing art of Sichuan opera has profound cultural foundation which forms a systematic and perfect performing process. It is a combination of stunts including face-changing, tihuiyan, sword-hiding, fire-spitting and beard-changing. Among them, face-changing is most widely used in the performing art.

Face-changing is more than a performing art form but a magical art on stage. In the performance, performers change their faces via changing their masks. A performer can change more than 10 masks in less than 20 seconds! Different masks also have the function of showing the role’s different emotions and expressing invisible feelings.