本文探討京劇表演和性別意識之關係，乾旦坤生對舉。乾旦傳統淵源久遠，梅蘭芳男身塑女形應無性別認同之尷尬。但梅刻意以雅正為女性塑造的高標，或有難言隱衷。梅確立的旦行美學標準影響深遠，直到今日坤旦仍模仿男性形塑之女子。不過清末女伶初登場時，色重於藝，花臉不勾臉、花旦不上蹺，以女性本色形成劇場趣味，而後坤生小蘭英、恩曉峰逐漸以唱做受到注意，此後孟小冬對嗓音韻味畢生追求，終能脫盡雌音、練成蒼勁。與孟同為杜月笙夫人的姚谷香，則仍循女伶舊路，不拘行當，兼跨生旦，不拘流派，以高音花腔取勝。但姚在京劇史評價遠不及孟，因為京劇對演員的藝術要求是精純專一。從性別角度切入這段表演史，透露出京劇正統審美觀。

This paper discusses the correlation between Beijing opera performance styles and the actor's gender consciousness by juxtaposing examples of male actors playing dan (旦female roles) and female actors playing sheng (生 male roles). As part of a tradition of male dan dating back to ancient times, male actors such as Mei Lanfang 梅蘭芳 were able to play female Beijing opera roles without raising any embarrassing issues of gender identity. Mei painstakingly pursued such high standards of perfection in his portrayals of female characters for perhaps his own personal reasons, but the aesthetic standard for performing female roles that he established has had a profound and long-lasting impact on Beijing opera; even female actors playing those roles today still model themselves on the way they were played by men. When female actors first stepped on stage in the late Qing dynasty, it was their beauty that captivated the audience rather than their talent. They were not made to conform to the conventions of certain character roles, such as wearing heavy make-up or walking on stilts; their very existence was the focal point of the audience's attention. Later, the unique singing and dancing skills of female sheng such as Xiao Lanying 小蘭英 and En Xiaofeng 恩曉峰 gradually drew attention, and subsequently Meng Xiaodong's 孟小冬 lifelong pursuit of a desolate yet powerful male voice further elevated the aesthetics of female sheng. In contrast, Meng's husband Du Yuesheng's 杜月笙 former wife, Yao Guxiang 姚谷香, followed the well-worn path established by female actors, seeking to cut across the boundaries between sheng and dun, regardless of the role being played. Yao's treble voice and florid ornamentation brought her success, but today she is held in much lower regard than Meng by Beijing opera historians, as despite being a wide-ranging genre, Beijing opera demands delicacy and refined concentration in an actor's performance. By re-examining the history of Beijing opera performance from a gender consciousness perspective, this article helps to reveal the orthodox aesthetics of Beijing opera.