Chinese Opera has a history that dates back 4,000 years ago. It is believed that the Chinese people were involved in ritual dancing and singing to please or entertain spirits during their religious rites.

In the 19th Century the Opera was dominated by a form called Peking Opera featuring colorful costumes, elaborate make up, facial expressions and was spoken and sung in Mandarin dialect. Other operatic forms also evolved using the dialects of different areas, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chiuzhou and Suzhou. The plays come from legendary tales and some are interpretations of actual historical events such as "The Three Kingdoms" and the "Outlaws of the Marsh".

The majority of the Operatic Clothing design came from the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368 -1644). The magnificent embroideries, the gorgeous headdresses, the jeweled girdles for the men, the hair ornaments for the women, the high court shoes which help to increase the height of the performers and the different styles of face painting are the most attractive features people would like to explore.

These opera costume designs with their symbols of Chinese art (dragons, cranes, phoenixes, peonies, etc.) will make stunning needlepoint projects.

18 mesh Zwiegart canvases with Chinese opera costumes optimized to be “stitcher friendly.”             Each hand-crafted  canvas comes with a free art print (a $ 14.95 value)  printed on archival paper which can be used as a stitching guide as well as a framed print.

Folded Notecards are available of all images on premium archival cardstock.                                      Size: 4.62 x 6.25 inches (folded). Packages of 4 (with envelopes) at $ 9.95 per package.