Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1997 - 28

and the season. quite the opposite of earlier
Euro-.\merican effons and of current traditional jingjll techniques. The costume designers \\"Quld proceed to de\"elop COSnImes that \\"ere
e\"ocati\"e of the sClipt :lIld an expression of incli\idual chamcters. llljingjn co nUlles though. the
plimaIY function of the cosnImes is the Sll11bolic
repre entation of the chaI'acter and the detail. of
time. region and season are unnece sar~:
The significance of the S\'stem of traditional jingjll costume can be appreciated
through an understanding of the elements of
design. the functions of costume in projecting
character. imperial dress and most impor-

tantl\". traditional jingjll precepts of costume
design. While detailed here in isolation. it is
onh \\"ith the blending of all of these qualities
onstage that the laIlguage of the costumes can be
fully appreciated. Erery aspect of the costumes
is decided by the needs of the story :Uld a complex language of \isual communication has de\"eloped in order to sen'e this need. In costumes of
the traditional jingjll. as Teacher Zhao assened. \\"hat is not e\"ident in the co tumes is
as imponant as what is \"isually a\":tilable. By
abandoning a meticulousl\" created reality
from the start. a\"oiding references to specific
period. season and region. the costumes. as

30rH ANNIVERSARY EDlrlON

\lell as the other aspects of traditional }ingjn.
present an alternate reality unique to the stage.
This reality. is framed b\". the beaut\". that is crealed b\" the extra\"agantl\" colored aIld embellished costumes. s\mbolic of character aIld the
Chinese culture. The audience is in\"ited into a
\I'orld \\"here the \"isual language of clothes
plays :1.11 equal pan \I'ith the spoken word .*:.

Ale.\"andra Bonds is ProJessor oj
Costllme Design at the Cnil'ersi(J' oj
Oregon. She receil'ed a Flilbright to teach
at the Sational InstitllteJor tbe rlrts in
Taipei. Taill,{//I ill 1990-91, I/'here she
begall her research illto the costllmes oj
traditiollal Beijing opem. Since then, she
has tral'eled to Beijillg and to tbe
Cn il'ersi(J' ojHal/'aii Jar additional
research ill prepamtion Jar lI'1'iting a book
on the sllbject, rill photos in this article
are ~J' the allthol:

Works and Inrervie\ys Cited
AndeI>On. Barbara :md Clerlls.*\tage COS/lillie DesiQII.
\ew York: Holt. Rinehan and \X·inston. 198-1.
Den .ling An. \I'ardrobe peI>Onnel for \ational Fu Shing
lJr.mJalic Ans .\cademl'. Taipei. Taill'an. inteniewed bl'
author.
DiCKenson. Gan' and Linda \X'riggleswonh. tlllperial
Il'rmlmbe. l.ondon: Bamboo Publishing l.td.. 1990.
Hu:mg Po Ho. Cbillese Forllls. Translated bl' Peter Eberll'.
Taiwan: Sinorama .\lagazine. 1989.
\Ia Qi:mg. Yu Qiao-Lm. Qang Gang-niu. \Ia Ku:m, \Ia
Kui. 'fbe Pic/orial Alblllll ofCOS/lll11es ill Cbillese
'fi'adi/iollal Opem. Sahngxi Education Press. 1992.
Pang..\Iae Anna. Dmgoll Elllpemr: 7)msllres Fmlll/be
Forbiddell 0/1'. \lelboul11e: \ational Gallen' of
\klOria. 19&~
l.u Qing. Pekillg Opem S/al'{lolII. Celebm/illg 200 }e(//o
ofPekillg O/Jem. Beijing. China: Beijing Publishing
House,l99L
Shakespeare, \\'iIIi:Ull. A., Jim Like II.lnj'[xlkespetlre. 71J1'
COlllple/e Irorks. Edited hI' G. B. Harrison. \erl' York:
Harcourt. Brace :md \X·orld. Inc.. 1952.
,"ollmer.John. Fire COIOIII:' o//IJI' ['lIil'me: ~'l'lI/boli.~1II
ill (}O/bl.' I/lld Fabrics of/be Cb illg DYllas/y
rt6·/-I-!lJ"). EdmOlllon:\I1 Gallen: 1980.

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.*& L..

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\\·ichm:um. Elizal~th. Li.''/ellillg /0 fiJl'II/re: 71J1' :llIml
Dill/ellSIOIIS o(Bl.'ijillg Opml.llonolulu: l·nil'€r.;ity
ofll:l\I'aii P~. 1l)91.
Zhao Zhenh:U1g, lIardrobe peNlI1nel for Fu Zhong Art,
:\cademl', Beijing, (hina. illlenierl'ed hI' author.
Zou Zhigi:U1g, II'ardrobe per.,onnel for Fu Z110ngAn,
Academl', Beijing, (hina, inreni I'ed 1)1' author.

AcknO\\-ledgements
Speciallhanb (0 Eliz:~Jerh \\'ichm:um-\\'alczaK :lllhe
l·nil'. of lIall'aii al \1:Uloa. a leading expert onJi'ngjll opera.
and (0 S:Uldra FinneI', costume de:-igner at l·nil'. of Iiall'aii
at \1:U1oa. for their generous :U1Sll'er.; ro allml' qUNiol1s.
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