Peking Opera Mask Unit

Peking Opera is a national treasure with a history of 200 years. It is a classic Chinese performing art, including Chinese music instruments, singing, and performing, such as miming and Kungfu. Students explore the Peking Opera mask design in this unit, one of the essential visual elements to support the performance. Students study the different color meanings for the Peking Opera mask. They can either choose to incorporate the traditional meanings or break the stereotyped color code in their design.

Teacher's worksheets of the four main characters in the Peking Opera:

The meaning of the Peking Opera mask color:

An illustration of a traditional Peking Opera mask design:

Students also practice the air-dry clay technique and learn how to make a 3D face mask. In my class, the major challenges students faces were how to avoid the cracks on the clay when it was dried. Some attachments such the eyebrows and nose easily fell off if it was not well-merged into the mask.

Teacher's demonstration:

Example of Student Practices:

Students use modeling clay to practice before they use air-dry clay for the summative.

Examples of Student Summative Artworks: