A Research On The Role Of Women In The Singing And Performing Arts Of Chinese Opera In The New Century (the Last Decade)

Due to the differences in culture and aesthetic principles between China and the West, the Chinese opera took a different development track. Since the inauguration of the Chinese opera, women singers play a significant role in the past one hundred years. Based on the evolution of the Chinese opera since the founding of PRC, this paper delineates the arts and aesthetic values of the women role in the Chinese opera.Building upon the past researches, this paper presents a rational depiction and in-depth analysis of the acting of the women singers and their singing practices. Using the three operas melancholy dawn, psalm of Mulan, Wild Fire, Spring Wind and Fight in an Old Town as examples, the author analyzes the main characters____ Lin Mei, Hua Mulan, Jinhuan and Yinhuan, and the Peng Liyuan, Sun Liying, who starred the roles in terms of their performing arts, which showcased the unique charming of the women singers and their influence in the society.There are eight chapters in this thesis.Introduction will be devoted to exploring the academic significance of the female singers'performing practice in the past ten years.Chapter one contributes a sketch of the female characters in the Chinese operas in the 20th century so as to provide a historic background for the whole research. The Chinese operas differ from the West in its prioritizing the female characters and the difference evolved through a long period of time.The second chapter presents a social and cultural background of the development of Chinese opera in the past ten years. The Chinese opera inherits the tradition cultivated in the last century, which is refreshed with the new elements in the new century, which is closely associated with the social, economic and cultural background, but the motif of the female singers will still lead the trend of the future development of the Chinese operas.The third,fourth and fifth chapters produce a detailed analysis of the characterization of the female personae, the music and singing of the female artists in the three operas melancholy dawn, psalm of Mulan, Wild Fire, Spring Wind and Fight in an Old Town, which plays a key role in the whole research. Some musical pieces are incorporated into this chapter. The sixth chapter elaborates on the aesthetic characteristics manifested in the female motif of the Chinese opera in the past ten years and its cultural significance, which serves as a crystallization of the main content of the themes of this paper and constitutes the rationale of this research.Conclusion summarizes the main arguments and restates the significance of the research into the female characters in Chinese opera and its implication for the future cultural development.