花脸 (huā liǎn) — painted-face male role in Chinese opera (the 净… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

One of the four main role types in Chinese opera (生旦净丑): the 'painted face' male warrior/character with bold, stylized face makeup, also called 净.

noun

painted-face male role in Chinese opera (the 净 role)

Measure word · 个

Examples

花脸。
Jīng jù huā liǎn de biǎo yǎn xū yào hěn qiáng de gōng lì hé jié zòu gǎn.
Performing a painted-face male role in Peking opera requires great skill and sense of rhythm.
花脸，。
Zhè wèi yǎn yuán de huā liǎn bàn xiàng fēi cháng wēi wǔ, guān zhòng dōu gǔ zhǎng jiào hǎo.
This actor's painted-face costume and makeup looked very majestic, and the audience applauded and cheered.
《》，花脸，。
Zài 《bà wáng bié jī》 lǐ, xiàng yǔ jiù shì huā liǎn, yǐ hēi liǎn wéi zhǔ.
In Farewell My Concubine, Xiang Yu is a painted-face role, mainly with a black face.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

花huāpainted

花 'painted' and 脸 'face' name an opera role with a heavily painted face.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

艹化花

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

化

Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臉; 脸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

⺼Written in full as肉ròubody part

Sound part声符shēngfú

僉

僉qiān臉liǎn

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 臉 combines ⺼ (肉, body part) with 僉 as a sound part; the simplified 脸 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in

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