102:, is an important part of Chinese Sichuan opera. Sichuan opera is one of the Han Chinese operas, popular in eastern and central Sichuan, Chongqing and Guizhou Province, Yunnan Province. Sichuan Opera masks are the important part of the Sichuan Opera performing; they are treasures that the ancient opera artists work together to create and pass down. The secret of the face change has been passed down from one generation to the next within families. Traditionally only males were permitted to learn Bian Lian, the theory being that women did not stay within the family and would marry out, increasing the risk the secret would be passed to another family. Controversially, a
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allegedly offered to pay Bian Lian master Peng
Denghuai 3,000,000 yuan (ca. US$ 360,000) in order to learn the techniques. Although Lau did learn the techniques from Peng, both deny any money changed hands. Knowing the secret does not make it easy and thus far, Andy Lau has learned only how the masks
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In a 2006 interview, Sichuan Opera performer Wang
Daozheng said the secret of Bian Lian leaked out during the 1986 visit of a Sichuan Opera troupe to Japan. Wang laments the leak of this Chinese traditional secret performance art and is concerned that non-Chinese performers in Japan, Singapore, South
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Since the cultural basis of the opera are not well known outside of China, international performers have been making efforts to inform and increase the entertainment value for
Westerners who do not know the context and meaning of the different faces.
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Korea and other countries are not well-trained. Wang argues that Bian Lian is one of the traditional arts protected by
Chinese secrecy laws but officials of the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China have stated that this is not true.
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Historically, Bian Lian had rarely been seen outside of China because non-Chinese were not permitted to learn the art form, but since the mid-2000s it has been performed occasionally in international mass media and at
Chinese themed events.
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woman named Candy Chong has become a popular performer after learning Bian Lian from her father. Another female performer is Du Li Min, who teaches a workshop in Kuala Lumpur with her husband Bian Jiang.
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The actor can pull down a mask which has previously been hidden on top of their head, changing their face to red, green, blue or black to express happiness, hate, anger or sadness, respectively.
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Beard colours can be changed while the beard is being manipulated, from black to grey and finally to white, expressing anger or excitement.
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The actor blows black dust hidden in their palm or close to his eyes, nose or mouth, so that it obscures their face.
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The actor drags greasepaint hidden in their sideburns or eyebrows across their face to change their appearance.
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BBC article about face changing artist He
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television special with a brief black-light performance of Bian Lian. Michael Stroud, (as
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are changed so quickly, but has not yet mastered the technique.
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423:"川剧的绝活中国民间艺术的瑰宝：神秘的"变脸"：南方网社会新闻频道"
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143:. Bian Lian was also featured on
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355:on 25 December 2010
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455:. Retrieved
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383:the original
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353:the original
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288:the original
283:
253:directed by
251:Chinese film
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226:Quick-change
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125:Juliana Chen
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1233:Stage
1123:Clubs
981:Wudan
961:Sheng
917:Nanxi
878:Tanci
817:Baiju
656:Kunqu
88:masks
1198:Coin
1168:Card
996:Chou
989:Jing
924:Zaju
836:Guci
806:Quyi
459:2019
434:2019
391:2010
361:2011
330:2011
296:2013
248:1996
246:, a
182:髯口功夫
79:lit.
975:Dan
1508::
450:.
425:.
377:.
347:.
282:.
268:^
210:抹臉
196:扯臉
168:吹臉
149:.
76:;
66:;
64:变脸
58:;
56:變臉
1184:)
1180:(
1174:)
1170:(
1096:e
1089:t
1082:v
984:)
978:(
970:)
964:(
508:e
501:t
494:v
461:.
436:.
393:.
363:.
332:.
298:.
212:)
198:)
184:)
170:)
50:(
36:.
20:)
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