Male Dan: Cross-dressing

Male Dans,referring to actors who act the female roles in the drama, once played an important part in the history of the classic Chinese. The theatre-setting of traditional opera lays down basic procedures and norms for cross-gender performances. The dialectic of gender of roles and gender implication by drama costumes prescribe the possibility and feasibility of cross-dressing performances. The traditional norms of gender culture stimulate and further promote the development of cross-dressing performances. The fledgling, flourishing, prosperity and decline of the art of male dan almost accompanies the whole history of drama development. The art of male dan originates from songs and chances played by wizards. It took its initial shape and became mature in the drama in Tang and Song Dynasties when the skills of actors acting the female roles in female disguise gradually transformed into"zhuangdan"of Zaju and"zhuangdanse"of Nan-his. The system of male dan was not fully established until the late Ming Dynasty. Besides, the male dan in Qinqiang opera and Anhui troupe moulds a unique style of performance and aesthetic standards, too, but still makes compromise to vulgar aesthetic value to some extent. The cross-dressing performance, once flourished in Ming and Qing Dynasties, should be put into a series of specified social systems for better study: either the underlying gender culture norms in the cross-dressing texts or obscure masculine taste caused by male homosexual sensibilities attached to the male dan has been exerting profound influences on people's opinion and attitude towards the art of male dan until today. The male dan of Peking opera broke through the limitation of its predecessors by refining, integrating and extending various roles of dan which greatly improved the level of performance of male dans. Male dans'being worshiped as idols became a culture phenomenon unique to social changes of China in the early 20th century. Male Dans represented by Mei Lanfang launched an all-round innovation in the art of Dan. The harmonious integration of beauty in the"external structure"---- performing skills of Dan and exquisiteness in its idea and artistic conception is the very key to improve the overall artistic performance of Peking Opera.Male Dan has ever played an important part in the history of the classic Chinese opera. The female impersonators of modern drama of earlier days in the early of the 20th century have not only poured flesh meaning into the traditional art of cross-dressing, but also lied concealed the first signs of losing contact with it. The art of male dan in Peking Opera has broken through the other role categories and reached the culmination of the art and the era. Mei Lanfang's visit to Japan twice and the Soviet Union and the United States of America respectively has not only become the medium and bridge of the theatric culture of the eastern and the western, but also influenced the Chinese playerdom. However, with the develop of the actresses in the culture context of absolutizational understanding of realism, the art of male dan has on the decline.The male dan in Chinese drama cannot find its parallel in terms of the profound art background and far-reaching impact when the histories of the development of drama in China and the west are examined. It is of special significance to probe into the deep-rooted cultural and psychological factors that stimulate the formation of the art of male dan. The plight of male dan in today's society seems to demonstrate that it is the latent vestige of feudal thought that has been revealed by the deliberate prohibition and restriction or degradation of male dans'performances.However, the existence and the development of this art is still rational and possible with the clear—up of the feudal and ethical culture.