Chinese Opera Mask Art & Chinese Tradition - Critical Summary

Victor Tong, HC005 Southampton Solent University, 8/05/14.

A skilled and knowledgeable makeup and fashion designer Victor Tong, studied Visual Culture at the Hong Kong Design Institute and touched down on his knowledge and experience in Chinese Opera Make-up and Masks. From this lecture, with a great passion for Japanese Culture; I was able to draw similarities to theatre makeup and tradition in Asian countries. Tong explained the different types of makeup that appeal to the audiences of Chinese Opera and how the visual aspect of the designs signify emotion; also how different colours can represent an emotion or aspect of the characters personality and traits. For example, red can represent bravery whereas silver and metallic gold shades can represent mystery. This suggested to me through what Tong explained, that colour has such great significance in Chinese Opera and where some people do not think makeup is an important aspect, in Chinese theatre it has a much more important meaning to summarise a certain character.

Having always admired Japanese and Chinese traditions and culture, I found this lecture not only intriguing but also informative. Both speakers touched down on topics that interest me especially through trying to get us to think about the visual aspects of Chinese Opera. The only limitation I found was the length and detail in which both speakers went to because although the subject interested me greatly, we were told that we would not be able to do personal research on the topics because we are not able to write in Chinese. This language barrier then stopped me from being able to find in-depth and correct information on the traditions of Chinese Opera and Fashion.