The Music
The orchestra is to accompany all the movement of every actor or actress on the stage and the drummer is the conductor of the orchestra. He beats out the music to accompany the scene. When no fighting is on the stage, he will beat out the music for the singing, using a drum stick in his right hand, and a clipper to measure the rhythm in his left hand. The clipper is the Chinese equivalent of the Spanish castanets.
Musical instruments used for the accompanying of the singing are:
(1) Hu Chin (二胡) (2) Erh Hu(二胡) (3) Yueh Chin (月琴)
When fighting is staged, the following instruments are added on to build up the crescendo and thus enhance the intensity of the scene
(4) The Big Drum (#鼓)
(5) The Big Gong (大锣) (6) The Brass Cymbals, (钹)
in pairs
(7) The Little Gong (小锣)
(8) The Little Cymbals, (小钹)
in pairs
Other instruments are occasionally used, such as the Chinese flute, and the sonner - an instrument imported from Old Persia or other Middle East countries.
The Costume
The costumes worn by the actors or actresses on the stage are supposed to coincide with those worn at the time of the story according to the position or part the actor or actress portrays. However, sometimes it can be bungled by the ignorance of the play writer who wrote the play. Did you ever hear the joke about one of the famous sons of the Yang family who, after being captured by the Mongols during the Sung Dynasty and living in the Mongol's court for fifteen years under a false name, appeared one day in the full battle regalia of the Sung Dynasty! What an absurdity! How could he appear in full, official Sung regalia in a Mongolian Court without being arrested on the spot!