Posted 2012/3/27
Qimo (stage props) is the name for all stage properties and some simple decorations. The term first occurred in the Jin Dynasty (265-420). Qimo includes articles of everyday life such as candlesticks, lanterns, fans, handkerchiefs, brushes, paper, ink and ink slabs, and tea and wine sets. The props also include: sedan chairs, vehicle flags, oars, and horsewhips, as well as weapons. Also employed are various articles to demonstrate environments, such as cloth backdrops to represent cities, and curtains, flags, table curtains, and chair covers. Traditional qimo are not just imitations of real articles, but also artistic articles in their own right.
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Tables and chairs are usually made of wood and painted in red. Their different arrangements on stages indicate different locations and environments. One table and two chairs put on the stage before the performers appear are generic furnishings.
For instance, the table can be an imperial desk when the emperor inspects the court, a judge's desk when a county governor uses it to try a case, or a banquet table. The table can also be used as a rock or other objects. When a person goes up a hill, he stands on a table. One table on top of another means a particularly high mountain. The table can also represent a wall for jumping over.
An actor conveys sleeping by slumping over a table with the head resting on one hand, and climbing from a low hill to a higher one by stepping from a chair onto a table.
Chairs can be used to represent the doors of caves or jails.
Others
Flags are also frequently used on the stage. A square flag with the Chinese character for "marshal" on it, a rectangular flag with the Chinese character for "commander" on it, and a flag with the name of a certain army on it represent the location of army camps and commanders-in-chief. In addition, there are water, fire, wind, and vehicle flags. Actors shake these flags to represent waves, fire, wind, or moving vehicles.
Waving a whip means riding a horse, and waving an oar means rowing a boat.
