Every character in a Jingju play belongs to one of four role types. Learning to recognize them is the fastest way to start "reading" a performance. They are written in Chinese as 生旦净丑 (shēng dàn jìng chǒu).
Sheng 生 — the male roles
Mature bearded men of stature — scholars, officials, generals. Recognized by their long grey or black artificial beards.
Young gentlemen and lovers, sung in a brighter, mixed vocal tone.
Martial heroes who fight with swords, spears, and acrobatics.
Dan 旦 — the female roles
"Blue-robe" — virtuous, restrained married women, the heart of many classic plays.
Lively, witty young women with quick movement and bright costumes.
Martial women (wudan) and older women (laodan, sung in natural voice).
Jing 净 — the painted faces
Bold, larger-than-life male characters — generals, officials, gods — instantly recognizable by their elaborate painted faces (lianpu). The colors encode the character's personality (more on that next).
Chou 丑 — the clown
The comic relief: quick-witted, earthy, and marked by a small white patch on the nose. Chou characters often speak in everyday dialect and bridge the audience to the stage.