傳統布袋戲之角色分類

Sheng or male role family:

Sheng are male characters who wear no facial makeup .Most Sheng have symmetrical , attractive features and represent positive qualities. The Boy(child under 10),the Youth(age 10-15),the Civilian Male, the Martial Male, the Heavily-bearded Civilian, the Heavily-bearded Warrior, the Motley-bearded Civilian(with white and black beard)，the Squire(with white beard)，the Martial Squire, the white Squire(older than the Squire,60-70 or more, but of lower standing).

Dan or female role family:

The Single Topknot and Double Topknot (both young girls),the Respectful Maiden, the Ponytailed Maiden (both young women classified by hairstyle),Open Face(middle-aged woman),the Motley -haired Woman(middle-aged to elderly),the White-haired Woman(elderly).Other female roles include the Maid, the Disguised Woman(dressed as a man),the Painted -face Female(ugly or barbarian woman),the Venomous Female (dangerous and wicked),the Unkempt Haired Female(in distress, refugee),and Old Woman(middle-aged busybody, experienced actions). The Silly Girl, the Big Headed Woman and Wild Mouthed Woman play lower-class comic characters such as maidservants, go-betweens and village women.

Jing are also called 〝painted-face〞, a reference to male characters who have colors or marks on their faces. The colors and marks suggest character traits. For example :red represents courage and valor; yellow, impatience; and white, evil.

Jing or painted-face role family:

Little Red Kuan, Red Kuan and White-bearded Red Kuan usually play upright, loyal characters between the Sheng and Ching role families. Little Black Face, Black Short Beard, Big Black Face, White-bearded Black, Little Red Face, Red Short Beard, Big Red Face and White-bearded Red represent upright, impetuous characters.

Little Blue Face , Blue Short Beard, Big Blue Face and White-bearded Blue, together with Big Face roles of other colors(all have mobile faces, mouths and tongues),play regional allies or crooked rebels of the forest.

Little White Villain, Short-bearded Villain, White Villain, Motley Villain and White-bearded Villain play imperial cunning ministers； those with round eyes are heroic turncoats.

Little Civil Villain, Civil Villain, Motley-bearded Civil Villain and White-bearded Civil Villain play crafty ministers； those with long, narrow eyes are evil geniuses.

Slant Eyes and Red Misery play greedy, corrupt officials. Little North, Big North(with beard) and all-painted Face play rebels which may be painted gold, silver, red, white, blue, black, yellow or green； Golden Face Little North plays regional princes or the god of wealth.

Chou or comic role family:

Chou are zany or amusing male characters with comical faces. In addition to clownish roles, chou are often cast as playboys, menial servants ,or bullies.

The Little Smiler plays civil roles, and is more of a rascal, The Comic Lead plays a witty court minister. The long-bearded Smiler usually plays a master or manager. The Red-bearded Smiler is a clever , wise, honest character between the Sheng and Chou role families. The Three-patch Smiler, with a white mark on the tip of his nose and fly-wing patterned face is a crooked character uglier than the Comic Lead. The Red Ape is a unique role in hand puppet theater which plays either honest or perfidious characters and often forms a pair with the Little White Villain. It usually represent s a crafty minster or a rebel commander, and the role of Cheng Yao-chin is always played by the Red Ape. The Black Squire normally plays the part of senior minister, jailkeeper, or major-domo.