ABSTRACT
The term hangdang 行當 first appeared in the mid-Ming dynasty (1368–1644) referring to people’s professions. Starting from the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1911), hangdang has been applied to notate the role categories—or role-types—of →xiqu 戲曲 (traditional performing art forms; Yuan 2011, 76). In different historical records, the hangdang of →xiqu have also been referred to as buse 部色, jiaose 腳色 and juese 角色 (see Huang 1989, 36).
