Visual Elements and Symbolic Meaning in Puxian Opera Facial Makeup: A Peircean Semiotic Analysis
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
As a living remnant of Southern Opera traditions from the Song and Yuan dynasties, Puxian Opera preserves distinctive performance conventions and visual systems. Facial makeup forms a structured visual language of color, form, and line, embedding regional belief, ethical symbolism, and aesthetic consciousness. Despite its status as intangible cultural heritage, its visual-symbolic mechanisms remain under-theorized, particularly regarding how meaning is generated in ritual and theatrical contexts. This study adopts a qualitative design grounded in Peirce’s icon–index–symbol framework. Data include textual analysis of opera scripts and archives, fieldwork in Putian, 12 semi-structured interviews, and observation of three live performances. Materials were thematically coded and semiotically mapped to examine meaning construction. Findings offer three contributions: a typology of chromatic, morphological, and linear elements; a semiotic mapping model explaining layered sign functions; and an interpretive framework showing that meaning is dynamically reconstructed through narrative context and audience reception. Sustainable preservation, the study argues, requires digital reconstruction and multimodal dissemination, though broader comparative research remains needed.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Views and opinions appearing in articles in the Journal of Arts of Management It is the responsibility of the author of the article. and does not constitute the view and responsibility of the editorial team I agree that the article is copyright of the Arts and Management Journal.
References
Armstrong, C. (2021). Key methods used in qualitative document analysis. OSF Preprints, 1(9), 1-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3996213
Chia, C. (2018). In search of the origins. In Hokkien theatre across the seas (pp. 11-32). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1834-4_2
Chua, S. P. (2019). Chinese performing arts. In A general history of the Chinese in Singapore (pp. 573-614). World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789813277649_0026
Junyou, C., & Chantamala, O. (2024). The lead male in the Puxian opera: maintaining cultural identity and traditional body practice in the context of Chinese contemporary dance. The International Journal of Critical Cultural Studies, 22(2), 155. https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-0055/CGP/v22i02/155-174
Lawrence, P. (2020). Policing, ‘science’, and the curious case of photo-fit. The Historical Journal, 63(4), 1007-1031. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X19000530
Li, S., Li, S., Fong, L. H. N., & Li, Y. (2025). When intangible cultural heritage meets modernization–Can Chinese opera with modernized elements attract young festival-goers?. Tourism Management, 107, 105036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2024.105036
Lin, J. (2025). Inheritance and innovation of Puxian opera: from the perspective of fieldwork—a case study of the living practice of local opera. Lecture Notes in Education, Arts, Management and Social Science, 3(5), 237-243. https://doi.org/10.18063/lne.v3i5.1107
Liu, K., Zhou, S., Zhu, C., & Lü, Z. (2022). Virtual simulation of Yue Opera costumes and fashion design based on Yue Opera elements. Fashion and Textiles, 9(1), 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-022-00300-0
Loo, F. Y., & Deng, S. X. (2025). Female roles in Western-style Chinese opera: From confucianist female archetype and political allegory to postmodern complexity. Women's History Review, 34(3), 401-419. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2024.2360300
Révész, Á. (2024). Xiqu and cultural identity. In Economy of identities in traditional Chinese theatre (pp. 1-40). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-7463-0_1
Wen, M., Ma, H., Yang, J., & Yang, L. (2022). Main acoustic attributes and optimal values of acoustic parameters in Peking opera theaters. Building and Environment, 217, 109041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109041
Wong, E. C., Maher, A. R., Motala, A., Ross, R., Akinniranye, O., Larkin, J., & Hempel, S. (2022). Methods for identifying health research gaps, needs, and priorities: a scoping review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 37(1), 198-205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-021-07064-1
Wu, J. (2026). The application of color in modern design: A visual transformation from emotional expression to cultural identity. Art & Design for Humanity, 2(02). https://adh-journal.com/index.php/journal001/article/view/26
Yaco, S., & Ramaprasad, A. (2018). Cultural heritage semiotics. In digitisation of culture: Namibian and international perspectives (pp. 49-64). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7697-8_4
Yu, N. (2017). Life as opera: A cultural metaphor in Chinese. In Advances in cultural linguistics (pp. 65-87). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4056-6_4
Zifei, L., Aris, A. B., Nor, Z. B. M., & Siyu, C. (2025). An analysis of traditional Chinese opera costume research on the current status and emerging trends. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 12(1), 2469459. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2025.2469459
