Nuo masks
In nuo sacrifices, masks play a very important role. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, when the sacrifice was prevalent, the emcee of the ritual wore a golden mask with four eyes to frighten away ghosts and devils. In nuo drama performances, masks are the most important prop and a major characteristic that distinguishes this drama from the others.
Each nuo mask has a fixed name, represents a certain role and has legendary stories to tell about its origins. In Guizhou, a province with the largest number of nuo drama repertoires, at
least 24 masks are required to perform an entire nuo drama piece.
The masks can appear valiant and martial, stern and tough, orgentle and kind, and they come in various styles to represent different figures. For instance, since the responsibility of valiant gods is to emit awe and dispel ghosts and devils, their masks usually have horns and buckteeth, with a very ferocious countenance.
Nuo masks are the result of primitive religion and totem worship. From sun, to earth, to deity worship, nuo performances reveal the secrets of the evolution of ancient societies. After thousands of years of evolution, some heroic figures in history were deified and became the incarnation of kindness, bravery and justice. Thus, nuo masks became richer and more loved by ordinary people.
The masks are mainly made of poplar and willow since poplar is light and less prone to cracks, while willow is widely regarded as having the power to ward off evil.
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