What do the tables and chairs on the stage of Peking Opera stand for?

In the center of the Peking Opera stage, there are usually different numbers of tables and chairs. These tables and chairs are props. Commonly known as big props. It is usually made of wood and painted red.

In the performance, the placement of tables and chairs in different programs has different meanings. They represent different places and environments. For example, a table on the stage can represent a dining table, a bed, a mausoleum, a building and a mountain range. The chairs on the stage can represent an inner room, study, fence, door and well. Tables and chairs can be represented as towers and boats.

The different combinations of these tables and chairs have more different meanings. For example, a table with a chair, different arrangements have different interpretations. For example, there is a table in the middle and a chair behind the table, which is called a big chair. According to the different furnishings on the table, it can represent the study, the court and the sleeping person. If the chair is placed in front of the table, it is called a small seat, which means that the characters are idle or waiting for news.

When a table has two chairs, the table is placed in the middle, and there is a chair on each side, which is in a figure of eight, indicating that the host and the guest are talking, the two are drinking, or the husband and wife are sitting together.

Three tables and three chairs are combined into a finished font, which can represent a court trial or a banquet of a certain scale according to the different furnishings on the table.

In addition to these arrangements, there are two tables and two chairs, two tables and four chairs, three tables and five chairs, three tables and six chairs, three tables and seven chairs, etc., which represent different arrangements.