It is not easy for an actor to forget himself but enliven the role . A jargon of the actors says : an actor should achieve the “three external harmonies” and the “three internal harmonies” . The former belong to the technical category . They are : harmony between head , waist and feet , harmony between hip , knees and feet and harmony between shoulders ,wrists and hands . The latter are much harder . They are : harmony between heart and mood , harmony between mood and spirit and harmony between spirit and appearance , which should be achieved without marked efforts . A mnemonic rhyme goes : Appearance 30% , vigor 60% , mood 80% , and lack of mood 100% .
Only when the acting seems to be not intentional and when the appearance and the spirit blend naturally , will the
acting be perfect . In the act “Pick the Jade Bracelet”. The male character Fu Peng holds a folding fan in his hand and opens and folds the fan frequently . In fact , he is trying to find an excuse for talking to the female character Sun Yujiao , and is in no mood to open or fold up the fan . A good actor would not seem to mind his fan , but would maneuver his fan as if he has no intention to do so . Thus his acting is far better than the acting of another actor who maneuvers the fan skillfully and intentionally to show off . This is the state of “lack of mood”.
The “Commentaries on Operas” written by Jiao Xun in the Qing Dynasty has an interesting record : There were two theatrical companies , Xinghua Troupe and Hualin Troupe , in Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty .
Both troupes happened to stage the opera “The Crying Phoenix” , which censured the bad prime minister Yan Song . The actor surnamed Li in Hualin Troupe acted Yan Song so well that people who used to watch the Xinghua 
Troupe play went to the Hualin Troupe instead . The rival actor surnamed Ma in Xinhua Troupe was unhappy and left secretly . Three years had passed when Ma returned to his troupe . This time Ma performed Yan Song very well . Not only did he win the applauses and cheers from the audience , but also the actor Li , who had already had fame for his role of Yan Song , came to visit Ma and to acknowledge Ma as his master . It was found later that after leaving his troupe Ma went to be a servant of a high-ranking official Gu Bingqian , who had been the bosom friend of Yan Song and was a bad minister himself . Ma studied secretly Gu’s manners and learned the spirit of a bad minister . So, when he resumed his actings, he could act remarkably true to life, reaching the perfect state of “lack of mood”.
