Face changing was introduced to the traditional opera repertoire through its inclusion in the play Gui Zheng Lou, which began to be performed at the turn of the 19th century. Gui Zheng Lou tells a story about a obliging bandit named Bei Rong who robs the rich and helps the poor, and changes his face several times to escape his captors. In this earlier period, face masks were composed of multiple shells made out of paper, which were then painted on rough straw paper and adhered to the performer’s face. Actors quickly peeled off one face mask after another with the cover provided by fireworks or a folding fan. This skill is called ”peeling the face.” The diverse and complex masks of today had their humble beginnings in layers of painted paper and rough straw paper.
Generally speaking, a face mask in Sichuan opera is a layer of three pieces, and thus it is named “Three changing body”. In some cases, it may even be comprised of nine pieces. The famous Sichuan opera master Kang Zilin ws very good at performing face changing. In the opera Chung Kuer, the actor uses the skill of  “smearing the face” when performing the opera ace titled “Chung Kuei Touches the Post,” and uses the skill of “blowing the face” during the act titled “Capture Zi Du Alive.” Later on, Mr. Kang Zilin concluded al sorts of skills and developed them. At the beginning of the 1950s, Sun Decai, a Sichuan opera actor, created the method of face changing commonly called “tearing the face.” The person who really developed and perfected the ‘tearing the face” method, however, was the famous performer Liu Zhongyi who performed at the Sichuan Theater. Liu Zhonyi improved the “tearing the face’ method while he played the role of Nao Bo in the “The Legend of the White Snake”, and is responsible its continued development and current use.