Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1997 - 21

costumes are constructed of a silk charmeuse.
jacquard or crepe. The more formal clothing
such as the //lang, or court robe and the kao,
or armour. use the silk charmeuse lI'ith a
sturdr lining to create a firmer and more
lustrous surface. The informal dress is made
of silk crepe for a softer garment. The \rater
sleeres or sImi xiII are silk broadcloth to allOll' for graceftil moremem of the draper\'. The
higher ranking serrants are also dressed in
silk. but towards the boltom of the social scale.
the fabric s\ritches to cotton.
Headdresses are another source of SUl~
face texture. The \romen's hair is created with
hair pieces and the headdress is assembled bv
adding an elaborate selection of ornamems
made of rhinestones, jewels, beaded fringe
and flowers. (Fig. 15) The men's hair is completely concealed by a gauze scalf which also
serves as a foundation for their headdresses.
The more extra\'agant headdresses consist of a
gold or silver filigree crown. enhanced with
false kingfisher feather openwork decorations
to indicate imperial rank. Pearls enliven the
surface. as do woolly pompoms moumed on
springs. Tassels. lingzi, or pheasant feathers.
and cbi. or filigree fins, may also be added to
increase the \;sual interest and project infOl1llation about the character. (Figs. 5 and 6)
In most design composition. the strength
of the elemems of design is not equal. For traditional jing/II COSlllmes, the color and the
texture are assertive both aesthetically and
symbolically. On the artistic level, line and
form create a palelte for showcasing color and
texture. The intensitv of the color and the scale
of the texllu'e reinforce the dominance of the
second two elemems. The color and texllire
become the elements that register most
strongly in ule \;sual inlage and are elaborated to
uleir fullest to contribute to ule concept of beauty
to which ule cosntmers aspire. The symbolism in
the color and texntre is also more powernll
than that of line and form. The associations
connected \rith color and texture illuminate
the theatrical experience by telegraphing additional meanings about each character. By
dralring from Chinese cultural heritage and
theatrical invemion, the risual connotations
comained in the elements of color and texture
enrich the performance ofjing/II.

The Language of Costumes
The elcmcnts of design inform a significant
part of thc character of jing/Il costume, howcvcr my dcsign analvsis didn't reveal an answer
to Tcacher Zhao's question. In searching for

the solution. 1examined a second Euro-:\merican srstem for analyzing costumes. the rerelation of personality traits through the risual
image..-\ COS((lme can project raJ;Ous aspects of
ule character by indicating ule ph~ ical chaJ-actel~
istics of sex alld age. ule giren circumstallce of
ule chaJ-acter uU'ough social stams. occupation
and acti\;ty. as \rell as dramatic comext by showing ule character's relationship to other characters in the play. their mood. aJld their
importance in the play. As \rith the elements of
design, while this system is not a specific part
of the Chinese approach to costume, traditional jing/II costumes do project some of
these same qualities of the characters using
the visual language of the Chinese cultural
context.
Jing/II COSlllmes indicate obvious physical
characteristics such as sex and age. Many of
the types of garments are worn by both male
and female characters. While the garment vocabulary for male and female roles overlaps.
the cosmmes clearly indicate the sex of the
role by style of decoration, and by length,
among other characteristics. Ayoung scholar
\rould wear an aJlkle length pi. or informal
robe, in a range of pastel colors \rith a matching cloth hat. whereas his female companion
would \rear a knee length pi orer a pleated
qllnzi. or skirt, and a je\reled headdress. The
colors of their pi most likely \rould compliment each other and her qllnzi would commonly be white or a matching color. Both
would have embroidered flowers, his centered
around the neck and hem of the pi, \dille hers
might be a spray of flowers :U1d tendl;Is scattered
over ule slllface of ule pi. (Fig. 11)
Age is a factor in determining role type
and therefore very erident injingjll COSlllmes.
Performers in young roles wear pastel colors
such as lavender and skI' blue. B\' contrast.
their parems \rear maroon. olire green and
other neutral colors. In addition. the freedom
and \'Quth erident in the spray of flo\rers on the
robe of a young \\'oman \rould be replaced by
more controlled roundels of pallerns s~m-
metrically placed on the front back and sleeres
of her mother's robe. (Fig. 12) Older men and
\romen also dress similarly. like their younger
coumerparts. but in addition to haring the distinction in the length of their garmems. aIlmature men wear beards. Age is also marc c1earlr
defined in the men's roles from the color of
their beards. Young married men \rcar black
beards and as thev age. the color changcs from
black to gray to white. For older womcn, their
agc is evidcnt by their grav or whitc hair.

That Makes
ADifference.

TD&T

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1997