Marshall Aoki

Marshall Aoki of the Kwantung Army is a Japanese official and opera aficionado from whom Dieyi win's Xiaolou's freedom by staging a private performance.

Cheng Dieyi

Cheng Dieyi is an opera singer who performs with his partner and childhood friend Duan Xiaolou, a man whom Dieyi loves. At the beginning of the book, Dieyi is known by the nickname of Xiao Douzi, or Little Bean. His mother Yanhong is an unlicensed prostitute who cannot afford to raise him, so she enrolls him as an apprentice at Master Guan's opera school. Douzi and Xiao Shitou become friends shortly after Douzi arrives at the school, and Shitou often steps in to save his friend from teasing or punishment. Due in part to his delicate, girlish features, Douzi is assigned to the lifelong role of dan, or female lead, while Shitou is assigned to be his sheng, or male lead...