梅蘭芳黑白青衣：Mei Lanfang’s Sepia Qingyi

若眼眸為靈魂之窗  手指則是道盡故事的獨舞者
穹蒼潤澤幻化  從世宗的雨過天青雲破處  徽宗的剔透冰裂玲瓏瓷
靛藍泛紫斑滲透著紋路  如血  如詩  如火  如花
到黑白影像中廣袤如墨的青衣綢緞  瀑布似流暢著水袖的樂音
空洞窗櫺與月華宣紙淺淺隱藏著洩漏不了的秘密
它卻為最美的絳唇  點綴出最美的頌歌

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Mei Lanfang’s Sepia Qingyi

Should eyes be the window to the soul,
fingers are the dancers narrating all stories, all tales.
Ever-evolving hues of the sky:

From a morning sky after the rain, where clouds break,
ice-crazing of porcellaneous translucency,
where light filters through its celadon glaze,
purple veins of permeating sapphire—
Reminiscent of blood, of poetry ablaze, of paradoxically languishing eudaimonia;

To the vastness of qingyi’s silk in black and white,
coruscating like the darkest ink,
a cascade of singing melodies from the dancing water-sleeves—
breathing, conversing, ever-changing, ever-fixed…
Hollow flowers in the windowpanes, moonlight-swept paper drapes,
softly hide the secret never to be told, never to be known.
The secret that embroiders the most beautiful paean
from his most beautiful carnelian lips.

More on Mei Lanfang here...

Qingyi (青衣)：Guimen Dan (閨門旦) is the role of the virtuous lady. It is also known as Qingyi (青衣）or Zhengdan (正旦). Qingyi means 'green robes' in Chinese, although the term traditionally extends to the colour black. This type of dan characters used to wear black robes. Qing Yi are normally mature and sometimes married women. They may be rich or poor, young or of middle age, but they have to be mature women to fall under this category. Qingyi focus more on singing and they have little movement. Opera schools in China tend to have difficulty recruiting students for this kind of role, since it requires a good voice, good looks and a good height. The most famous qingyi of the last century was Mei Lanfang. Examples of Guimen Dan are Du Liniang (杜麗娘) from The Peony Pavilion (牡丹亭) and Wang Baochuan (王寶釧）from Wujiapo（武家坡). *Via: Wikipedia