Third Lesson of Chinese Traditional Cultural Workshop opened
Date：April, 15, 2019
Source: International School
Author: He Yuyan

He Yuyan, a professor in JNU's International School, taught Peking opera face-paintings during the third lesson of the Chinese Traditional Culture Workshop for International School overseas students on April 9.

(Prof. He teaching Peking opera face-painting)

Prof. He gave the students an introduction to Peking opera from its origins, explaining four types of roles -- sheng (male role), dan (female role), jing (painted face) and chou (clown) -- as well as the procedures and characteristics of face paintings. By comparing Peking opera with Indian Sanskrit drama, with which the students were familiar, she helped them understand the two ancient dramas more deeply.

As the colors of Peking opera face paintings are closely related to the characters’ personalities, making their patterns stylized, Prof. He showed students six basic patterns. They included the whole face, in which the color of the painting is basically the same tone; the three-tile face, using a main color as the background, then black to exaggerate the eyebrows, eyes and nose so that the forehead and cheeks show three distinct colors; and the cross-shape face, painted from the top of the forehead down to the tip of the nose by using one color, which crosses with the color of the eye socket to form the Chinese character for 10.

Prof. He guided the students in designing face-paintings for themselves, their parents or their friends, corresponding to their personalities.

     (Students making face paintings.)

After designing the patterns, painting the profiles, filling in color and making improvements, the students finished their works and posed for photographs wearing their Chinese-style, exotic or personalized masks.

The Chinese Traditional Cultural Workshop for Overseas Students follows President Xi's instructions during his visit to JNU last year to spread Chinese traditional culture to the world. The workshop has been held three times since the beginning of this year.

(Students posing with face-painting designs.)