Peking Opera is a traditional form of Chinese culture. In Peking Opera, each character has their face painted in a specific（特定的）way. By looking at the face painting, the audience can know who the good guy is and who the bad guy is.
Where did this kind of face painting come from? An old story told us that it had something to do with the Prince of Lanling. This prince was one of the four most handsome men in ancient China. Some soldiers in the prince's army thought that he was weak because of his good-looking face. So, to make himself look more powerful, the prince wore a mask with an ugly face painted on it.
Another story about face painting was related to Li Longji, an emperor in the Tang Dynasty. He loved opera very much. One day, a clown actor（丑角）fell ill right before a performance. The emperor decided to play this role himself. He covered his face with a piece of white square jade（玉）so that others wouldn't be able to recognize（认出）him. Ever since then, clown actors have continued to paint white squares on their faces.
As time went on, face painting started being used to show the personality of different roles. It has become one of the many special art forms of Peking Opera.
