There have always been different opinions about the origin of the opera character name "Dan". The more common theory is that the word "Dan" evolved from the word "Jie".
Specifically referring to the role of women, the order of name evolution is "Sister" first, then "Sister" slowly evolved into "Da", and finally "Da" was written in simple Chinese as "Dan" ", just like the original opera name "Lao Gu Qian Da" became the current "Lao Gu Qian Dan". "Sister" has been a title for women since ancient times, so "Dan" is the derivative of "Sister", so the "Dan role" in opera refers specifically to women, which is easy to understand.
The Dan role was first popular in Zaju. For example, Zhu Zhishan mentioned "Sheng, Jing, Dan, Mo" and other names. Sheng refers to the male role, and the dan costume is also the dan role. This clearly refutes the idea that the opera character "dan role" is an "ironym". In Peking Opera, all female roles are classified as "dan" roles, but they can be subdivided into many professions according to the age, personality and social status of the characters.
In Peking Opera, a young lady who plays the role of a lady, or a woman of high status is called "Zhengdan". Zhengdan is also commonly known as "Qingyi" because the role played by Zhengdan is usually Named after wearing a blue gown. There is another type of dan in the dan line called "Hua Dan", which mostly refers to women in Tsing Yi who are innocent and lively or with a fierce personality, focusing on movements and recitation. There is also a type called Lao Dan, who plays the role of an elderly woman.
In addition, there is also what is commonly known as "Wudan", which refers to female performers who are good at martial arts. Wudan's performances are usually accompanied by gongs and drums to enhance the martial arts atmosphere on the field.