双簧

雙簧

shuānghuáng

noun #35,537

Meanings

1 a comic duo act (one performer mouths while the hidden one speaks/sings)
2 double-reed (as in oboe/bassoon)
3 (figurative) a coordinated act / put-up job

Characters

reed / spring (of an instrument)

Examples

他们两个一个唱红脸一个唱白脸，简直是在唱双簧。

Tāmen liǎng gè yī gè chàng hóngliǎn yī gè chàng báiliǎn, jiǎnzhí shì zài chàng shuānghuáng.

One plays good cop and the other bad cop — they're basically doing a double act.

春节晚会上的双簧表演逗乐了观众。

Chūnjié wǎnhuì shàng de shuānghuáng biǎoyǎn dòu lèle guānzhòng.

The shuānghuáng comic act on the Spring Festival Gala had the audience in stitches.

Tips

history

Traditional 曲艺 (folk performance art): one performer (the 'face') sits in front and mimes; another (the 'voice') hides behind and speaks/sings, so it looks like the front one is doing it all. Said to have been invented in the late Qing by the singer 黄辅臣 (Huáng Fǔchén) when his voice failed and his son spoke for him from behind a chair (per 《新华词典》).

Stroke Order

双 shuāng

簧 huáng