按照传统，正旦在旦行里占据最主要的位置。因为扮演端庄、正派、严肃的中青年女性角色，且这类角色中相当一部分出身贫苦，常穿青色的服装，因而又名青衣、青衫。青衣的表演特点是以唱功为主，动作幅度较小，行动稳重，念韵白，唱功繁重，如《白蛇传·祭塔》中的白娘子、《祭江》中的孙香玉，以及《二进宫》中的李艳妃、《贺后骂殿》中的贺后等。也有些青衣戏是唱、念、做并重的，如《宇宙锋》中的赵艳容、《三击掌》中的王宝钏、《汾河湾》中的柳迎春、《宝莲灯》中的王桂英等。从服装上看，青衣扮演的人物主要穿青褶子，此外，还有女蟒、宫衣和帔。

Traditionally, the Zheng Dan is the most important role in the Dan category. The characters of Zheng Dan are usually women who come from or find themselves in a lower status in society. As they often wear a costume that is blue-green (qing) in colour, the role is also sometimes called Qingyi (blue-green coat) or Qingshan (blue-green blouse). The Qingyi role places greatest emphasis on singing, with recitation in yunbai (a stylized form of speech that gives the character a sense of decorousness) and movement still significant, but to a lesser extent. The character of the White Snake in "The White Snake" (Baishe Zhuan),Sun Xiangyu in "Sacrifice to the River" (Ji Jiang), Li Yanfei in "Second Entrance to the Palace" (Er Jin Gong) and the Dowager Empress He in "The Dowager Empress He Curses the Throne" (Hehou Ma Dian) all belong to this role category. However, there are some roles where singing, dance-acting and recitation are equally important, such as Zhao Yanrong in The Cosmic Blade (Yuzhou Feng), Wang Baochuan in "The Third Palm Strike " (San Ji Zhang), Liu Yingchun in "Fen River Bend"(Fenhe Wan) and Wang Guiying in "Lotus Lantern" (Bao Lian Deng). The Qingyi roles normally wear pleated skirts, as well as female mang robes, palace garments, and short embroidered capes.

花旦，是旦行中的一支，主要扮演天真活泼或身份较低的年轻女子，多穿短衣裙，重视念白和做，如《西厢记》中的红娘。

花旦又分闺门旦、玩笑旦、泼辣旦、刺杀旦。闺门旦，扮演的是还没有出嫁的少女，性格内向、腼腆，与正旦接近。玩笑旦，扮演的是喜剧、闹剧中爱说爱笑、好打好闹的人物，如《小上坟》《打花鼓》中的女性。泼辣旦，扮演的是举止放荡、说话锋利的女性，如《翠屏山》中的潘巧云、《巴骆和》中的马金定。关于刺杀旦，有两种认识：一是说刺杀别人的；二是说被别人刺杀的。前者如《双钉记》中的白金莲，后者如《战宛城》的邹氏等。

The Hua Dan roles portray naïve and sprightly young girls with a lower social status. They wear relatively shorter skirts, and emphasise the skills of dance-acting and recitation in performance. The role of Hong Niang in "The Romance of the Western Chamber" (Xixiang Ji) offers a vivid example of this role.

The Hua Dan can be further subdivided into: Guimen Dan, Wanxiao Dan, Pola Dan and Cisha Dan. Guimen Dan is for unmarried young women who have shy and introverted personalities, and is similar to the Zheng Dan role. The Wanxiao Dan portrays comic, chatty, and farcical female roles, such as the female characters in "Visiting the Little Grave" (Xiao Shang Fen) and "Beating the Flower Drum" (Da Huagu). Pola Dan, literally means "Shrewish Dan" and, as suggested by its name,is for young girls who are somewhat profligate and rather sharp talking.Pan Qiaoyun in "Cuiping Mountain" (Cuiping Shan) and Ma Jinding in "Reconciliation between Ba and Luo" (Ba Luo He) are performed by the Pola Dan. There is one more division called the Cisha Dan. "Cisha"literally means "to assassinate" and the role can be interpreted in two ways: women who seek to assassinate others, and women who were themselves assassinated. For instance, Bai Jinlian in "The Story of the Pair of Nails" (Shuangding Ji) is a Dan character who seeks to kill others, whilst Zoushi in "Wancheng Battle" (Zhan Wancheng) is a woman who is killed.

花衫是京剧旦行里的一个重要的行当。在花衫形成之前，一个演员一般不能兼演青衣和花旦两个行当。为了丰富旦角的表现力，契合日益多元的社会生活和复杂多样的人物性格，从而提升戏曲表演的观赏性，王瑶卿融合了青衣的沉静端庄、花旦的活泼灵巧、武旦的武打功架，创造出一种唱、念、做、打并重的新行当，花旦、青衫的结合体——花衫。它要求演员多知多能，全面把握人物角色，准确刻画人物性格。梅兰芳是最具代表性的演员。

The Hua shan is of great importance to the Dan category. Before the creation of this role, a performer was not allowed to act both the Hua Dan and Qingyi roles. In order to enrich the Dan role, and to enable Peking Opera to portray the diversity of society through more complex characters, Wang Yaoqing created this role category. He integrated the calm and dignified air of the Qingyi role, with the dexterity of the Hua Dan role, and the martial arts movements of the Wu Dan role. For Huashan actors, singing, recitation, dance-acting and fighting skills are all equally important. Actors of this role need to be good all-rounders, and be able to understand and express characters. Mei Lanfang was the greatest Huashan actor.

老旦扮演老年妇女人物 , 其扮相、身段与台步都要突出老年人的特点。唱、念都用本嗓，但唱腔具有女性婉转迂回的韵味 , 突出女性特征，这种声腔在京剧的行话里叫“雌音”。从表演技艺来说，老旦一般可以再划分为唱工老旦和做工老旦两类，如《钓金龟》中的康氏、《赤桑镇》中的吴妙贞、《望儿楼》中的窦太真、《遇皇后·打龙袍》中的李后等，都属于唱工老旦；《清风亭》中的贺氏、《西厢记》中的崔老夫人、《得

意缘》中的狄母等，都属于做工老旦。在 20 世纪 80 年代自地方戏移植的《对花枪》中，老旦有了披靠、开打的技艺，丰富了老旦行当的表现能力。

The Lao Dan roles portray old women characters. Their appearance, posture and gait are characteristic of elderly women. As its hallmark, the actors sing and recite in their natural voices, which has a pleasant, gentle, melodious and sweet sound, which evokes femininity. Such vocal music is called the "feminine voice" (ci yin) in the jargon of PekingOpera. Lao Dan roles may be further divided into two categories based

upon a different emphasis on skills in performance: the Changgong Lao Dan (Singing Lao Dan) and Zuogong Lao Dan (Acting Lao Dan). Mrs. Kang in "The Tale of a Tortoise" (Diao Jingui), Wu Miaozhen in "Chisang Town" (Chisang Zhen), Dou Taizhen in "A Mother's Longing for Her Son to Return Home" (Wang Er Lou), and Empress Li in "Encounter with the Empress" (Yu Huanghou) all belong to the Singing Lao Dan role. Mrs He in "Breeze Parilion"(Qing feng Ting), The Dowager Cui in "The Romance of West Chamber" (Xixiang Ji), and Mother Di in "Darts for Males and Females" (Deyi Yuan) are performed by the Acting Lao Dan.In a regional drama from the 1980s called "Silver Spear" (Dui Huaqiang),a Lao Dan character wore armour military costume and began to use fighting skills on stage, which enriched the performance of this role.

武旦扮演精通武艺、英勇善战的女性人物，如武将、江湖中的各类女侠等。穿短衣裳，一般不骑马（也有骑马的，比较少），重在武功与念白。有的还以武打和跌扑取胜，不太注重演唱等表演内容。例如《杨排风》中的杨排风、《泗州城》中的水母、《打店》中的孙二娘、《无底洞》中的白鼠精、《摇钱树》中的张四姐、《三岔口》中的店主婆等，都属于武旦。

武旦在表演上重武打和绝技的运用。武旦的特点有二：一是跷功，即脚上绑木质小脚，模拟古代妇女缠足行走，而且还要完成一些高难度动作，如走凳子、踢石子。它十分考验演员的功力。二是打出手，即以一个角色为中心，另有几个角色抛扔武器，相互配合，做抛、掷、踢、接武器的特技表演，形成种种丰富繁难的惊险场面。根据剧情需要和演员水平，可由三人、五人、七人、九人表演，所用枪也由两杆至十几杆不等。打出手有专用的锣鼓伴奏，以烘托气氛。

The Wu Dan are female roles who are proficient in martial arts and strong in character, such as generals, or women who have acquired martial arts (jianghu). They generally wear shorter costumes and do not ride horses (there is some horse riding, but to a lesser extent). In performance, actors emphasize acrobatic fighting and recitation. Some are also good at martial arts and tumbling, but do not pay so much attention to singing skills. For instance, Yang Paifeng in "Yang Paifeng" (Yang Paifeng), the Water Goddess in "Sizhou City" (Sizhou Cheng), Sun Erniang in "Fighing at the Inn" (Da Dian), the Jade Rat in "The Abyss" (Wudi Dong), Zhang Sijie in "Money Tree" (Yao QianShu), the Landlady in "At the Crossroads" (Sancha Kou) are all Wu Dan characters.

The Wu Dan roles emphasize martial arts and special stunts. There are two special kinds of stunt. One of these is stilt-walking. To imitate the bound feet of women from past times, the actor will step on a pair of wooden stilts, which are tapered and small. During the performance, the actors can only walk on their toes. When walking, the actor not only imitates the gait of women with bound feet, but also accomplishes difficult movements, such as stepping onto a stool, or kicking a pebble. This really tests the skills of the actor. The other special stunt is called "Da Chu Shou" and involves a number of actors tossing, casting, kicking and receiving weapons across the stage with one leading actor positioned in the centre. It is a breath-taking dance-like performance. According to the needs of the plot and the skill of performers, three,five, seven or nine people may be involved, and the number of spears they use varies from two to over ten. Da Chu Shou acrobatic fighting is accompanied by special drums and gongs, which adds to the excitement.

京剧中身穿铠甲、头带首盔、骑马鏖战的擅长武艺的女性人物，持长兵器，如刀，被称为刀马旦。实际上是武旦和花衫融合的一种行当。刀马旦一方面要有很好的武功，同时还长于做功，而且有时候说白、功架也很重要。如《穆柯寨》《穆天王》《破洪州》中的穆桂英，《七星庙》《佘塘关》中的佘赛花，《棋盘山》中的窦仙童，《马上缘》《三休樊梨花》中的樊梨花，《珍珠烈火旗》中的双阳公主，《刘金定》中的刘金定，《扈家庄》中的扈三娘等。

The Daoma Dan is a female character who wears armour, and is also good at horse-riding, sword-wielding, and manipulating weapons. That is why the role is called "Daoma Dan" – "dao" means "sword" and"ma" means "horse". The Daoma Dan is a blend of the Wu Dan and Huashan roles. Daoma Dan actors must have excellent martial arts skills, and also excel in dance-acting, though sometimes recitation is also important. Examples of this role include Mu Guiying in "Muke Village" (Mu Ke Zhai), "The Heavenly King" (Mu Tianwang), and "Lift the Siege of Hongzhou" (Po Hongzhou); She Saihua in "Temple of Seven Stars" (Qixing Miao) and "Shetang Pass" (Shetang Guan), Dou Xiantong in "Mount Qipan" (Qipan Shan), Fan Lihua in "Romance On Horseback" (Ma Shang Yuan) and "Fan Lihua Deserted" (San Xiu Fan Lihua), Princess Shuangyang in "The Flag of Pearl and Fire" (Zhenzhu Liehuo Qi), Liu Jinding in "Liu Jinding" (Liu Jinding) and Lady Hu in "Hu Village" (Hu Jia Zhuang).

彩旦俗称丑婆子，因为面部化妆和服装穿戴刻意突出花哨的色彩而得名，也称丑旦、玩笑旦，即女丑角。彩旦的唱、念用本嗓，说京白，重做功，表演、化妆都很夸张，主要扮演滑稽、诙谐的女性喜剧人物。在舞台上，彩旦嬉笑怒骂，逗乐搞笑，往往最能烘托气氛，使台下观众兴致浓厚。如《凤还巢》中的程雪雁、《西施》中的东施、《反徐州》中的花婆、《四进士》中的万氏、《铁弓缘》中的陈母、《拾玉镯》中的刘媒婆等。

The Cai Dan (literally "Coloured Dan" role), also commonly known as Choupozi (literally "ugly old woman") is famous for its facial make-up and colourful clothing, which explains its name. Cai Dan is also called Chou Dan ("Clown Dan") or Wanxiao Dan ("Joking Dan"). Cai Dan actors both sing and recite in their natural voices, and the speech is mainly in jingbai, a form of speech similar to the everyday Beijing dialect. Cai Dan performances emphasize posture and movement. The acting and make-up are exaggerated, thus, the role specializes in acting funny, humorous comic characters. On stage, the Cai Dan laughs mischievously and curses angrily, embellishing the atmosphere and maintain the interest of the audience. Examples of Cai Dan include Cheng Xueyan in "The Phoenix Returns to its Nest" (Feng Huan Chao), Dong Shi in "Xi Shi" (Xi Shi), Huapo in "Rebellion in Xuzhou" (Fan Xuzhou), Mrs Wan in "The Lawsuit" (Si Jinshi), Mother Chen in "The Iron Bow" (Tiegong Yuan), and Matchmaker Liu in "Picking Up The Jade Bracelet" (Shi Yuzhuo).