In Peking Opera, what a character wears is a second language. The costume — collectively called xingtou (行头, xíng tóu) — tells you a person’s rank, gender, social standing and even their mood, often before they speak. A connoisseur can read a whole biography from a single robe.

The core garments

• Mang (蟒) — the embroidered, ankle-length robe with a sweeping hem, worn by emperors, generals and high officials. Its dense dragon or embroidered motifs signal the highest rank.
• Pifeng / xuezi (帔 / 褶子) — softer, open-front robes for scholars, gentlewomen and civilians; the everyday elegant wear of the cultured class.
• Kao (靠) — the structured armour of generals, complete with triangular flags (qizhe) on the back that flutter in combat; instantly reads as a military commander.
• Kuaku (夸裤) / short tunics — for servants, soldiers and comic characters, practical and plain.

Colour and status

Colour is coded, though not as strictly as the face paint:

• Yellow / gold — reserved for imperial and the most exalted figures.
• Red, blue, green — distinguish officials and generals by affiliation and temperament.
• White — often mourning, or the plain dress of a grieving or humble character.
• Black / grey — poverty, austerity, or the unadorned dress of a commoner or monk.

Headwear, shoes & the famous water sleeves

The headdress (盔头, kuī tóu) — helmets, crowns, phoenix caps — adds rank and identity, often topped with trembling streamers. Shoes range from the thick-soled gao boot (高靴) that give martial and dignified roles their stylised stride, to the soft slippers of the lowly.

Most iconic of all are the water sleeves (水袖, shuǐ xiù) — long white silk extensions sewn to the cuffs. A flick, a swirl or a drag of the sleeve can express grief, dismissal, welcome or a change of heart without a word. Watching a master work the sleeves is watching poetry made physical.

Where costume meets character

The great performers’ schools each refine how costume and movement interact — a Mei-school dan uses the sleeves differently from a Shang-school one. And many of the classic plays are remembered as much for their iconic look as for their plot.