Ancient Chinese dramas took drama and music as the main elements

Ancient Chinese drama is called "opera" because "drama" and "qu" are the main elements.

Chinese opera mainly includes Southern Opera of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Zaju of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, legends and legends of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, as well as traditional repertoires of Beijing Opera and other local operas in modern times. It is a general name for Chinese national drama culture.

Modern drama mainly refers to dramas, operas, dance dramas, etc. introduced from the West since the 20th century. Drama is the main body, and foreign drama generally refers specifically to drama.

Chinese opera has a long history. It first emerged from songs and dances that imitated labor.

(1) Pre-Qin - the budding period of opera.

The "Ode" in "The Book of Songs" and the "Nine Songs" in "Chu Ci" are the lyrics of songs and dances during sacrifices to gods.

From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty, songs and dances that entertained people gradually evolved from songs and dances that entertained gods.

From the Han and Wei dynasties to the mid-Tang Dynasty, there appeared successively the "Jiaodian" (i.e. Baixi), which was mainly based on competition, the "Joining the Army Opera" performed in the form of questions and answers, and the song and dance "Tawo Niang" which played short life stories, etc.

It's all drama in its infancy.

(2) Tang Dynasty (middle and late period) - the formative period of opera.

After the mid-Tang Dynasty, our country's drama developed rapidly and drama art gradually took shape.

(3) Song and Jin Dynasties - the development period of opera.

The "Zaju" of the Song Dynasty, the "Yuanben" of the Jin Dynasty and the "Zhugong Diao" in the form of speaking and singing, from music, structure to content, all laid the foundation for the Zaju of the Yuan Dynasty.

(4) Yuan Dynasty - the mature period of opera.

By the Yuan Dynasty, "Zaju" had greatly developed on the original basis and became a new type of drama.

It possesses the basic characteristics of drama and marks that our country's drama has entered a mature stage.

Characteristics of Chinese drama: 1. Chinese opera is a drama form centered on the comprehensive performance of singing, reading, acting and fighting. It has rich means of artistic expression and its comprehensiveness that is closely integrated with the performing arts makes Chinese opera special.

Charm.

It integrates the beauty of lyrics, music, art and performance into one, uses rhythm to control it in one play, achieves harmonious unity, fully mobilizes the appeal of various artistic means, and forms a performance with distinctive rhythm unique to China.

Art.

2. The most important feature of Chinese opera is virtuality.

Stage art does not simply imitate life, but selects, refines, exaggerates and beautifies the prototype of life, bringing the audience directly into the palace of art.

3. Another artistic feature of Chinese opera is its formulaic nature, such as closing doors, mounting horses, and riding boats, etc., all have a set of fixed procedures.

Programs in opera are both normative and flexible, so the art of opera is appropriately called free movement with rules.