The Beijing Opera repertoire runs to more than 1,000 items, all of which tell and retell touching stories of sorrow, happiness, separation and reunion. Their rich and varied characters leave indelible impressions in the minds of opera audiences, and very distinct role characterizations have emerged over the years in Beijing Opera, which are referred to as "role categories".

The "role categories" comprise individual sets of characteristics, including gender, age, temperament and status. In Beijing Opera, the characters on stage are generally divided into four types, namely, sheng, dan, jing and chou(male, female, painted face and clown). The actors and actresses tend to specialize in one of two of these role catagories.