The headdress originates from the term “Toukui” comprising of a crown, helmet, hat or a scarf(Ayer J, 1974). They are work of art and the history behind it is just as fascinating. I chose the Chinese Opera Headdress due to its vibrant colours and intricacy of the crafting. Green highlights instability and unreliability of a character, where as, orange and pale grey correspond to infirmity and old age (Ayer J, 1974). Yellow indicates the same qualities as blue but to a lesser extent. Blue depicts haughtiness, craftiness and a tiger like fierceness. Black signifies a good but uncouth character. Purple represents red but to a lower degree. Red symbolises: Loyalty, sacredness or divine qualities. The colours of the costumes and makeup hold great importance and are symbolic to the Opera.

The actor’s movements and gestures from the central part of the dance and the headdress are the most beautiful part of the costumes. Most of the costumes of Chinese Opera are based on styles of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). (Bonds A B, 2014) There are four main categories that an Opera actor can play… Sheng (male), Dan (female), Jing (painted face), and Chou (clown). There are more than 300 different regional styles of Chinese Opera (Li G, 2001) and each style has it’s own sets of headdress, makeup and costumes. Chinese Opera Headdress (Pinterest, 2014)

Peking opera headdress