Jingju (or Beijing Opera) is a National Treasure in China with more than 200 years of history. Performers train for at least ten years and must be skilled in many areas of performing arts, including acting, singing, mime, dance and acrobatics. Performers demonstrate hundreds of stylized gestures using the sleeves, hands, fingers, feet and legs. Every action and movement of a Beijing Opera performer is highly symbolic. The skill of performers is evaluated according to the beauty of their movements. The layers of meaning within each movement must be expressed in time with music. Jingju characters are categorized into four general catagories (with many subcategories): Sheng (male roles), Jing (painted face roles), Dan (female roles) and Chou (male clowns). This opera doll represents a Dan, or female, role. Known as Mu Guiying (in red), she is a well-known and popular female General and warrior derived from the “”Generals of the Yang Clan”” stories.
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