Gendering Male Dan: Jingju Male Cross-Gender Performers and Performance in the Post-Cultural Revolution Era

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The dan role (female role) is one of the four major role categories in jingju (Beijing/Peking opera). The dan role can be performed by both men and women, who will be referred to as either male dan or female dan in this talk. Prominent male dan masters especially those active in the Republican era (1912-1949) established and perfected the dan role performance system. The socialist government that established the People’s Republic of China in 1949 had a negative attitude toward cross-gender performances; male dan therefore have been generally excluded from the official jingju training system. This talk identifies and explicates the gender politics of the jingju male dan in the post-Cultural Revolution era (1976 to the present) in terms of the gendered obstacles to training and developing male dan, the interactions between the identity of individual male dan and the ways they pursue their careers, and the gendered perspectives of male dan, female dan and other parties on dan role training and performances.