Face changing was first performed in Japan in the 1980s. Wang Daozhengg, a top actor in the Sichuan Theater, separated face changing from other aspects of Sichuan opera for the first time in the late 1980s and opened the door for face changing as an independent entertaining performance.

It is said that the famous Sichuan opera actor Peng Sihong could use Qigong to change faces. He played the part of Zhu Geliang in Empty-city stratagem and used his amazing face changing skill to vividly express Zhu Geliang’s feelings of the release and fear after the event. He changed his face from red to white and then from white to black through the power of Qigong.

Face changing was once a skill that was only passed on to men, but now there are some women face-changing performers who add a somewhat charming flavor to this historic art.