Face off

July 22, 2018 1:51 AM

Bian lian is the ancient and secret Chinese art of 'face changing'
posted by fearfulsymmetry (18 comments total)

Wow, that was a lot more amazing than I expected. How standard is the symbolism on the masks? Are they individual to each player or conventional?
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:47 AM on July 22, 2018

If you're intrigued by this art form, the 1996 Chinese film The King of Masks is an absolutely terrific, unforgettable drama about a practitioner in the 1930s.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 3:04 AM on July 22, 2018 [8 favorites]

This was the nightmare stuff of my childhood. I guess the fear of evil clowns is close.

The Chinese theatrical "faces" (not necessarily masks; most are face-paints) are fairly standardized, and characters in the classical repertoires have faces done following certain traditional designs. But each cosmetician may creatively vary the individual faces in their own way and create subtleties. In new productions, i.e. outside of the classical canon, there's much variability, some inspired by the tradition while others quite creative.
posted by runcifex at 3:07 AM on July 22, 2018 [3 favorites]

The King of Masks is streaming on Kanopy.
posted by kokaku at 3:17 AM on July 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

I wonder if that's where the idea for Hexadecimal came from...
posted by DataPacRat at 3:25 AM on July 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

Oh man, I remember when they added the character Mian to King of Fighters XIV, and my shock at discovering that, if anything, they actually UNDERsold the face-changing effect.

Incredible stuff. So cool!
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:48 AM on July 22, 2018

This one has a *puppet* doing the face changes.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 3:52 AM on July 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

I had a full set of ten such "faces" painted onto tiny wooden masks, with pins on the back. To be used as brooches but I pinned them to a long red ribbon for my desk instead. This brings back memories.
posted by infini at 4:28 AM on July 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

Aw, man — I saw this professionally staged in Chengdu a few years back, and it has haunted me ever since. I oscillated throughout the whole performance between not for the life of me being able to figure out how it worked, and not at all caring 'cause the drama was so intense and lightning-fast. Thanks for bringing back some intense memories!
posted by adamgreenfield at 5:06 AM on July 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

Saw this art for the first time recently at the Philly Chinese Lantern Festival. Really amazing.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:27 AM on July 22, 2018

From the last link:

"However, keepers of Sichuan's artistic traditions insist that the sleight of hand behind this feat should not be taught to women or outsiders."

So, you know, it's always something.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:54 AM on July 22, 2018 [6 favorites]

A skill that could come in handy, given the Chinese government has gone all in on facial recognition software.
posted by the sobsister at 7:07 AM on July 22, 2018 [3 favorites]

I can do this, though I use considerably less effort. Mine's the more advanced technique where I only change masks internally but with the added difficulty of also changing mood. It's such an art with me that I no longer need to wave my hand in front of my face. The only requirement is for time to pass.
posted by dobbs at 7:22 AM on July 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

I swear I've seen versions of the instant costume change seen in the fourth link in a touring musical. I have to imagine the mask changes work on similar principles.
posted by pykrete jungle at 9:08 AM on July 22, 2018

The first video gives the game away with a moment of awkwardness from the dancer. Then someone in the comments proceeds to explain the whole trick. But the instant costume changes still bewilder me. I've sometimes thought of using an Ask question to find out how those elders in The Book of Mormon take a single dark second to instantly change into sequined vests, with no apparent tearaways. ACTING!, I suppose.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:48 AM on July 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

However, keepers of Sichuan's artistic traditions insist that the sleight of hand behind this feat should not be taught to women or outsiders.

BUT: good news in the wiki link.

Traditionally only males were permitted to learn Bian Lian, the theory being that women do not stay within the family and would marry out, increasing the risk the secret would be passed to another family. [ed - too bad, assholes]

Controversially, a Malaysian Chinese woman named Candy Chong has become a popular performer after learning Bian Lian from her father. Another female performer is Du Li Min, who teaches a workshop in Kuala Lumpur with her Husband Bian Jiang. … Juliana Chen performed on The World's Greatest Magic television special with a brief black-light performance of Bian Lian.

posted by msalt at 2:04 PM on July 22, 2018 [6 favorites]

However, keepers of Sichuan's artistic traditions insist that the sleight of hand behind this feat should not be taught to women or outsiders.

Watch King of Masks!!!
posted by armacy at 3:13 PM on July 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

I saw a Bian Lian performance in Shanghai. It left me astonished. Thanks for this!
posted by frumiousb at 3:29 PM on July 22, 2018