The origins of the Face Masks

It was said that Emperor Tang Taizong of the Tang Dynasty liked his officials to perform opera for him. However, one of his official, Wei Zheng found it embarrassing to perform before an audience of many people. So Emperor Taizong obtained face masks for his officials to wear so that they would not feel awkward during the performance. Soon, Wei Zheng became bolder after putting on the face mask and over time, this kind of face mask became popular and was called the "official's mask". However, there was one problem. The audience would not be able to see the actors' facial expressions behind the face masks. So, actors began to paint their faces in many different ways in what is known today as the Chinese facial make-up or painted faces.

Painted Faces

Believe it or not! It is said that the tradition of painting faces could have originated from ancient China where there was a king who had a rather kind face. Before he went to war, his wife would put colours on his face and paint it to make it look fiercer and more ferocious.

Why do opera performers paint their faces in a range of colours? Do the colours mean anything? Yes, each colour stand for a different character trait.

The whole set of colourful facial patterns that we see in Chinese Opera today came about with improvements in the skills of drawing and preparing paints during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

Guan Yu

Red indicates devotion, courage, bravery, uprightness and loyalty. A typical "red face" is Guan Yu, general of the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280), famed for his faithfulness to his Emperor, Liu Bei

Huang Pang

Yellow signifies fierceness, ambition and cool-headedness.

Zhu Wen

A green face tells the audience that the character is not only impulsive and violent, he also lacks self-restraint.

Zhang Fei

Black symbolizes roughness and fierceness. The black face indicates either a rough and bold character or an impartial and selfless personality. An excellent example of an impartial and selfless personality is the character Bao Gong (alias Bao Zheng), a semi-legendary fearless and impartial judge of the Song Dynasty.

Lian Po

Purple stands for uprightness, and cool-headedness. While a reddish purple face indicates a just and noble character.

Cao Cao

White suggests sinisterness, treacherous, suspicious and craftiness. It is common to see the white face of the powerful villain on stage. Example of such a character is Cao Cao who was a powerful and cruel Prime Minister during the time of the Three Kingdoms.

Jiang Gan

The clown or chou in Chinese Opera has special makeup patterns called xiaohualian (the petty painted face). Sometimes a small patch of chalk is painted around the nose to show a mean and secretive character. At times, the xiahualian is also painted on a young page or jesting to enliven up the performance.