The Development of Ancient Chinese Opera in China

Prosperity and Transformation of China Classical Opera in Ming and Qing Dynasties

The development process of China traditional opera seems unpredictable, but in fact, its development is clear and logical. Its five stages of development are closely related, but also different and focused. Throughout the whole process, there is a main line of drama development-general law; Throughout each development period, it has its own distinctive characteristics. From the preparation period before Sui and Tang Dynasties, it gradually evolved into the prosperous and innovative period in Ming and Qing Dynasties, which fully illustrated this point. The following describes some important situations of the development of Ming and Qing operas.

(1) The new trend of China opera development and its enlightenment.

The development of local operas in the Qing Dynasty broke through the legendary couplet form, created a "banqiang"-style "random drama", and gradually deepened China opera from the North-South opera system to the local opera system. This is a significant development in the history of China opera. It freed itself from the old shackles. Not only those emerging local operas show infinite vitality, but also those ancient operas, and with the advancement of the situation, great or small changes have taken place. In this way, the art of traditional Chinese opera is more popular and diversified, and its development prospect is broader. This new trend of change has been developing until modern times. With the emergence of a new historical period, it appears in the modern drama world in a deeper and larger scale. /kloc-In the late 20th century, the emerging bourgeois ideological trend impacted the traditional poetry and drama circles. At that time, many places were trying to express the current political struggle in the form of opera, preparing for the improvement of opera. At the beginning of the twentieth century, this kind of opera improved and developed into a national movement. They used operas to expose corruption in the Qing Dynasty, demanding that Qiang Bing be rich, resisting foreign aggression, advocating women's liberation and freedom of marriage, and so on.

From this development trend, people can draw many meaningful inspirations.

First, there may be many reasons for the prosperity or stagnation of traditional operas in China, but the decisive factor lies in whether the traditional operas in China reflect the spirit of the times and the needs of the broad masses of the people. The decline of Kunqu opera and the overall prosperity of local operas are the best explanations. When Kunqu opera entered the court from the folk and became the entertainment of the ruling class and the tool of feudal public opinion, it would naturally be replaced by a new kind of drama. The prosperity of local opera is precisely because its large number of plays (including historical dramas and social dramas) directly or indirectly reflect the ethnic and social contradictions in the Qing Dynasty.

Second, the vitality of an acoustic cavity is also manifested in its great fusion and adaptability. Because only in this way can we combine the local tune, absorb the essence of folk art, and create a distinctive new cavity, thus winning the people's love. Yiyang Opera, for example, was originally a folk opera. Because it is flexible and changeable, it can "tune the title", "misuse the local dialect" and "only follow the local customs", so it can develop into a major drama, spreading all over the country. Peking Opera is better at learning from others' strengths, and it can be carried forward by integrating the voices of the local Pihuang system into one furnace. However, Kunqu opera is difficult to spread and take root among the masses because of its strict rules, small changes in rhythm and melody and "soft and graceful" singing.

Third, if a drama wants to last for a long time, it must face the public and constantly change and innovate. Let's cite a history of the rise and fall of Kunqu opera to illustrate this problem. Kunqu Opera rose and became popular in Kunshan, Jiangsu, precisely because it appeared as an innovator in the Ming Dynasty. Kunqu Opera developed to the Qing Dynasty, boasting "elegance" and "disdaining to be a new voice to please people", so it stagnated, so its declining future is inevitable.

(2) Important writers and works in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Before the prosperity of local operas in the Qing Dynasty, Kunshan Opera and Yiyang Opera always stood side by side in the drama circles of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Therefore, the important writers and works in this period naturally belong to these two big cavity systems. Of course, there are also zaju outside the two major systems.

① Overview of two large cavities:

The two major cavities mentioned here are Yiyang and Kunshan. The following focuses on their writers and works-

Let's talk about Yiyang cavity system first

Yiyang Zhu Qiang is a torrent of folk operas in Ming Dynasty. It not only reached a certain level in performing arts, but also made its unique achievements in drama literature. However, because the scripts they performed are scattered, it is difficult to see the whole picture. However, we know that there were a large number of scripts belonging to Yiyang Opera, and there are still more than ten complete scripts, such as Pearl Story by Gao Wenju, Rebirth Story by Yuan, White Snake Story by Liu Hanqing, Broken Kiln Story by Lv Mengzheng, Guanyin Fish Basket Story and Carp Story. There are also about 100 kinds of plays scattered or found in various materials contained in various opera anthologies. In these plays, quite a few directly inherited the heritage of Southern Opera in Song and Yuan Dynasties, and made some processing and creation. For example, the five legends of Jing, Liu, Bai, Sha and Pi, as well as the famous works such as The Golden Seal, The Legend of a Thousand Daughters and The Story of Embroidery, have all been "trained". There are also a number of works with historical stories as themes, such as Taoyuan Story, Shooting Deer, Caotang Story, Ancient City Story, Seven Victory Story, and other Sui and Tang operas, such as Little Qin Wang Three Jumping into the River, Xue Baipao and Golden Ferret, as well as Lintong and Zhaoguan Stories. There are also some works by Yiyang Zhu Qiang, which are adapted or created according to note novels, rap art and folklore. Such as Ascending Immortal, Parrot, Excavate, Xiangshan, Su six niang, He Wenxiu, etc. These plays constitute the colorful stage features of Yiyang operas, showing a wide range of themes and styles, and showing the expressive ability of folk operas in many aspects.

Except for a few known authors (about 25 people), most of Zhu Qiang's works are anonymous, and most of them may be the products of collective creation. This is a major feature of Yi Yang's works. Among the poets who know their names, most of them are obscure lower-class literati, who are "poets with little knowledge". The literary accomplishment of these ci writers may not be as good as that of Kunshan dialect writers, but they are close to the working people and familiar with folk art ... So the works they write often reflect the views and artistic interests of the general public. Of course, there are also scripts that promote feudal ethics or superstition, such as Parrot and Xiangshan, which should be abandoned.

In addition, Kunshan cavity system:

After the reform of Kunshan Opera, it was widely welcomed, thus creating a new prosperous era of China opera literature creation. From the 1960s (the end of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty) to the 1960s (the beginning of Qianlong in Qing Dynasty), it was an era of legendary masters and masterpieces. In the first, second and third series of Ancient Opera Series compiled by * * and the Ministry of Culture, there are more than 300 kinds of Ming Dynasty legends, most of which are Kunshan dialect legends. These works have a wide range of ideological contents: realistic themes, historical themes, social life themes, family and marriage themes and so on. Its greatest feature is "telling current events with legends". Such as "current affairs drama" reflecting major political events, The Journey to the West of Xu, "Rebellion against Lu" and "political drama" against power and eunuchs. This started with Liang Chenyu's "Huansha Ji", which is the pioneering work of the new Kunshan dialect, and then a large number of anti-power rape dramas appeared. For example, Wang Shizhen's Gathering Against Yan (Song) Party, Qiujiaozi's Flying Pills, and Li Yu's A handful of snow, as well as Guang Ai Shu, Li Yu's Zhong Qing Pu and Qing's Happy Spring, all belong to this kind of works. In opposing the power rape in history, there are Zhu Zuochao's "The Fisherman's Joy" and Zhou Chaojun's "Hong Mei Ji". , are very popular dramas. There are also "official dramas" against dark bureaucrats, such as Zhu's Fifteen Passes, which are also very realistic. It is particularly noteworthy that many plays, represented by Tang Xianzu's immortal masterpiece Peony Pavilion, criticize feudal ethics through the theme of marriage. For example, The Story of Yu Pei tells the story of a niece, Chen Miaochang, and a scholar, Pan Bizheng, while The Story of Burning Incense and The Story of Embroidery by Xue are adapted from the Biography of Li Wa in Bai Xingjian of the Tang Dynasty, all of which belong to this category. These Kunqu legends not only had a wide and profound influence at that time, but also had a direct or indirect reference to today's operas. The opera film Fifteen Passes and Li Huiniang based on the story of Hongmei are good examples.