崑曲 Kunqu Opera /崑曲表演的行當 Role Types in Kunqu Opera

崑劇原稱崑曲(又稱崑山腔)，起源於元末江蘇的崑山和蘇州一帶，明代中葉，戲曲音樂家魏良輔吸收了「海鹽腔」、「餘姚腔」、「戈陽腔」的精華，對崑山腔進行了改革，同時代的戲曲家梁伯龍創作了《浣沙記》，並以改革後的崑山腔譜曲，使崑曲的影響迅速傳播海內。崑曲集文學、歌舞、繪畫、雕塑等多種藝術於一體，是中國乃至世界，現成的、最古老的、俱有悠久藝術傳統的戲曲劇種，二零零一年，聯合國教科文組織公佈崑曲為「口述非物質人文遺產傑作」。

Kunqu has a history of more than five hundred years. As early as the late Yuan to early Ming Dynasty, a southern singing style – Kunshan style – was already enjoying immense popularity. Later it assimilated and the merits of other singing styles and developed into its own, and this was Kunqu. Kunqu incorporates singing, dance, martial arts and literature and is a showcase of a variety of performing art forms. It is unique in that “there is no song that does not go with dance, and no dance that does not go with a song”. In 2001, UNESCO declared Kunqu Opera as one of the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”.


崑曲腳色行當主要分為生、旦、淨、末、丑五種：

生 - 一般是扮演年輕、未及蓄鬚的男子，又叫小生。生行主要分為官生、巾生、窮生、雉尾生。官生是做官的小生。巾生指未做官或未及冠的風流書生，頭戴方巾、必正巾，故稱巾生。巾生是崑曲男角中最重要的，如潘必正、張君瑞、柳夢梅等都是。窮生是落泊的讀書人。雉尾生為年輕的將帥，如周瑜、呂布等。

旦 - 戲曲中所有女性人物都屬旦。崑曲旦行分為老、正、作、四、五、六，而多以正、五、六為主體。正旦一般扮演已婚女子，如《琵琶記》中的趙五娘、《癡夢》中的崔氏。五旦一般扮演淑女或千金，又稱閨門旦，如崔鶯鶯、西施等。六旦一般扮演近身丫頭，也叫貼旦。

淨- 俗稱大花面。淨大體分為淨和副淨(俗稱白面)二種，凈一般扮演性格粗獷豪邁的人物，如魯智深、張飛等，副淨一般扮演地位較高、性格奸險的人物，如嚴嵩、曹操等。

末 - 專門扮演中年以上、蓄鬚帶髯的角色。

丑 - 分為副和丑二種。副一般多扮演性格奸險的角色 ; 丑常扮演沒性格樸實敦厚的小人物。


The role types in Kun opera could be divided into the following five specialized types:

Sheng – the leading male characters without beard. There are sub-categories of sheng roles, including guansheng, jinsheng, qiongsheng and zhiweisheng.
Guansheng are young male characters wearing hats, and they are either officials or aristocrats. Jinsheng are young male actors with head-coverings and fans in hands, and they are usually young, romantic scholars who are not mature enough to become government officials, such as Liu Mengmei in The Peony Pavilion. Qiongsheng are young male characters with humble status, and they are usually poor and distressed scholars. Zhiweisheng are young male warriors with pheasant tail feathers in their helmets.

Dan – are female roles which can be divided into six sub-categories of lao, zheng, zuo, si, wu, liu. The main roles are usually zheng, wu, liu. Zhengdan are usually middle-aged, married female characters; wudan are elegant young ladies who are mostly beautiful girls from rich families; and liudan, also named tiedan are vivacious young lady characters who are very often servant girls.

Jing
Jing are male roles with painted faces. The role is subdivided into the jing and fujing, also named baimian (whiteface) categories. Jing are great-hearted masculine roles with striking personalities. They are what we now call “tough guys”, such as some of the rough heroes in Tales from the Water Margin. Meanwhile, Fujing are usually men in high position with slyand cunning characters, such as notorious villains in history.

Mo – are middle-aged or old male characters.

Chou – are comedy characters. The sub-categories are fu and chou. Fu are characters with sinister and treacherous personalities; and chou are kind, lively, humorous, and quick-witted males like clowns and court jesters.