The Database on Appearance & Facial Patterns in Chinese Music-Dramas made its debut in Zhejiang Library

Compiled by Zhejiang Library and with Zhao Daxiong and Chen Ye as the editors-in-chief, The Database on Appearance & Facial Patterns in Chinese Music-Dramas made its debut with the readers upon the arrival of 2018 Chinese Spring Festival.

Originating from ancient forms of singing and dancing, Chinese opera is a splendid treasure in traditional Chinese cultures, with a deeply-rooted foundation and widespread influences. Featuring a common touch, with its promotion of righteous path and propagation of goodness and beauty, it enjoys widespread popularity among the public. Moreover, divided into a great variety of schools and attaching importance to inheritance and innovation, as well as in an effort to assimilate the essence and reject the dross, Chinese opera is blessed with enduring and unfailing charm. Currently, there are approximately 360 genres of Chinese opera with four key roles: Sheng (male character type), Dan (female character type), Jing (character type with a painted face), and Chou (a clown) and four ways of performance: singing, dialogue, acting and martial arts. Each genre contends in beauty and fascination, suiting both refined and popular taste.

Derived from the primitive totems and having survived the test of the prolonged historical development, the facial patterns of Chinese opera have evolved into an art of makeup and styling with unique charisma and romantic charm. Peking opera, flourished in the middle term of Qing Dynasty, absorbed the quintessence of different genres of drama, and is now reputed as the quintessence of Chinese culture. With Peking opera, the art of appearance and facial patterns reached the peak of perfection.

Initiated from October, 2013, The Database on Appearance & Facial Patterns in Chinese Music-Dramas is designed to fully develop and activate such functions as digitalized mass storage, instant display and intelligent retrieval, to widely collect the multiple and diversified appearance and facial patterns of Chinese opera, to construct an excellent platform via which the audience can achieve a convenient and efficient taste of the glamour, as well as to promote the essence and aesthetic value of this miraculous Chinese civilization.

This database confirms the title of opera figures, introduction (with brief plots of the opera ), appearance and facial patterns, actors, genre of drama, opera lists, the title of facial patterns, data source among other items and also sets up access points.

2913 opera figures are recorded in this database, with approximately 13,000 figures.

Your appreciation and use of it is sincerely and cordially welcomed and any possible suggestion will be much valued.