Briefly describe the characteristics of modernization of traditional Chinese opera.

[drama; Drama used to refer to traditional operas in China, and later it was used as a general term for drama, drama, opera, ballet and poetic drama.

Greek theatre

Drama refers to the general name of stage performance art that achieves narrative purpose in the form of language, action, dance, music and puppet. The concept of drama in literature refers to the script created for drama performance, that is, the script. There are various forms of theatrical performances, including drama, opera, ballet, musical, puppet show and so on.

[Edit this paragraph] Specific meaning

A comprehensive art has two meanings: in a narrow sense, it refers to a stage performance form that started with ancient Greek tragedies and comedies, first developed in European countries, and then became popular all over the world. English is drama (American sound: ['drɑm? ] English sound: ['drɑ:m? ]), China called it a drama. Broadly speaking, it also includes the traditional stage performances of some countries and nationalities in the East, such as China's operas, Japanese kabuki, Indian classical dramas, and Korean singing operas.

The concept of drama

An art form that attracts the audience's senses through stage performance, the center of which is the performance of actors. Therefore, it is also called "stage art" or "actor art" around the performance of actors. Drama contains many factors, such as literary factors (scripts) and musical factors (music accompaniment, sound effects and singing). ), artistic factors (scenery, lighting, stage scenery), dance factors (graceful movements and gestures of actors) and so on. It is a comprehensive art. In dramatic works, the contradictions and struggles between characters are called dramatic conflicts because of their different purposes. Dramatic works are always completed through the presentation, development and resolution of conflicts. The success of drama conflict is the key to the failure of drama, and the so-called drama is formed because of the unique, novel and rich connotation of drama conflict resolution. Due to the limitation of performance time, space and audience, the contradictions and conflicts in drama should be more concentrated, concise and sharp to reflect the contradictions and conflicts in real life.

Drama essence

In the 4th century BC, Aristotle expressed his understanding of the essence of drama in Poetics. He believes that all art is imitation, and drama is imitation of human behavior. Two centuries later, India's first drama theory work, Dance Theory, also pointed out: "Drama is imitation." /kloc-after the 0/9th century, there have been different opinions about the essence of drama, including audience theory, conflict theory, radical change theory, situation theory and laboratory theory.

The audience said: identifying with the audience is a necessary condition and the essence of drama. French drama theorist F. Sasay is the representative of this concept. He asserted that no matter what kind of drama works, it is for the audience. "Without the audience, there would be no drama", therefore, all the organs of drama must adapt to the audience's appreciation.

Conflict theory: represented by the French drama theorist Brent. At the end of 19, Bruntel pointed out that the stage is the place where people's conscious will is exerted, and the exertion of characters' conscious will is bound to encounter obstacles, and the subject must fight against them in order to overcome them, which constitutes a "will conflict", and the essence of drama lies in this. J.H. Lawson, an American drama theorist, attributed the essence of drama to "social conflict in which consciousness and will play a role". He believes that because drama deals with social relations, people's conscious will is bound to be restricted by social inevitability, so the real drama conflict must be social conflict. This concept can be expressed in one sentence: "There is no drama without conflict."

Disaster theory: British drama theorist W Archer denied Brent's "conflict" theory. He compared the novel with the drama, thinking that the novel is a "gradual" art, while the drama is a "crisis" art, and the drama deals with the dramatic changes in people's fate and environment, which is the essence of the drama.

Situation and Laboratory Theory: As early as18th century, the French philosopher D Diderot regarded "situation" as the basis of drama works. When Hegel talked about the characteristics of drama, he also linked "situation" with "conflict" and emphasized the ontological significance of situation. The existentialist philosopher and playwright J.-P. Sartre called his drama "situational drama" and described the object of the drama as people's choice in the situation. B Brecht regards drama as a scientific method and thinks that drama is a laboratory to test human behavior in a specific situation. This concept also defines the essence of drama from a specific angle.

The origin of drama

A, singing and dancing, this theory can be analyzed into two kinds:

(1) In the Qing Dynasty, Nalan Xingde's Miscellaneous Knowledge of Lushuige, according to the court music and dance, "The joy of a big cloud in the Liang Dynasty was an old man who talked about the changes of the immortals in the Western Regions, and the actors really started here." According to the fact that ancient music and dance mostly appeared in characters, Liu thought that "the dramatist originated from ancient musicians and dancers" in "The Original Opera" ... but it was similar to later operas. In the book Primitive Music, Dance and Drama in China, the dramatic factors of primitive music and dance are often systematically investigated, and it is considered that "simple music and dance in primitive society is the predecessor of perfect drama". Zhou's A Long History of China's Plays traces the earliest source of China's plays to "Zhou Qin's Music and Dance".

(2) According to the ancient song and dance theory, the first sentence of A General History of China Opera edited by Zhang Geng and Guo Hancheng said: "The origin of China opera can be traced back to the song and dance of primitive times." We know that all art originates from labor, and China's songs and dances are no exception. Shun Dian said, "When a stone strikes, all animals dance together." The so-called animal dance is not as mysterious as later Confucianism. It is said that even animals came to worship and dance when saints were alive. This kind of dance is played by knocking on stones or knocking on stones with hands. There were no drums at that time, so it was primitive. It was only later that drums appeared, and the so-called "drum dance" went further. This dance may be a primitive religious ceremony before going out hunting, or it may be a celebration ceremony after returning from hunting. In the article Lu Chunqiu. Ancient music ",said:" The son of heaven stands tall, the quality is the joy of the valley, and the song is the voice of the valley. It is a drum with skin and a stone like the jade of god. " This is a legend about ancient music and dance in the Warring States period. Through the description of this song and dance, we can see a scene of a primitive hunter hunting in the mountains: "While whistling, all kinds of pottery tools threatened the beast, so the beast ran away like a wolf and was finally arrested." The primitive artist "Zhi" (actually not one person, but all people at that time) created hunting dance according to the reality of life. At this time, the so-called "beast", of course, the scenes at this time are artistic, and music and dance are rhythmic. This kind of dance has a strong sense of ceremony. It is to call the patron saint or ancestor of the clan to pray for this harvest, or to thank the gods when they come back from hunting. But no matter what ceremony, no matter how heavy the primitive religious cloak is, its practical significance is a kind of exercise and exercise for labor, which not only exercises the proficiency of hunters, but also cultivates young hunters. There is a record in Shun Dian that "Dian Yue teaches children". The annotation of Xunzi is aristocratic children, but there are no nobles in primitive society, so I'm afraid they are young warriors. What is it to teach young soldiers with music and dance instead of training them? Because its content is an imitation of the original hunting action.

Since it is imitating labor, it can be said to be the most primitive performance.

Primitive dance is always accompanied by songs. They never dance silently, but cheer and sing at the same time. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals. "Ancient Music" also said: "Ge Zhile, three people fuck oxtail. My mind is full of songs. " I can imagine the situation.

In primitive society, song and dance are not only hunting dances, but also war dances, which are similar in nature to hunting dances. In the farming era, a series of agricultural festivals such as "wax" and "Yu" came into being. Wax statues were held at the end of the year to reward eight gods related to agriculture. On this day, members of the commune enjoy themselves, drinking, singing and dancing. This trend remained until the Spring and Autumn Period. "Confucius' family conversation. "Visiting Hometown" said: "Zi Gong cares about wax. Confucius said: Is giving a gift a pleasure? Right: If people in a country are crazy, it's fun to give them something unknown. Confucius said: A hundred days' suffering, a day's pleasure and a day's benefit are beyond your knowledge. " It can be seen that this is entirely the joy of working farmers after a year of hard work.

According to legend, "waxing" was initiated by Yi Jia, and it is obvious that Yi Jia is a god farm, which is a custom closely related to the period of agricultural development. "Harmony" is a sacrifice for rain in drought. In Li Zhou Guan Chun's "Zongbo", it is recorded: "A wizard ... if the country is in a drought, he will dance handsomely." Although the record of Zhou Ji is a matter of slave society, it is obviously a custom left over from primitive times. In addition, it has been quoted in many festivals of primitive communes.

Dance. For example, when men and women fall in love, there is also a festival where people get together to sing and dance. In the Han nationality, this festival is a day to worship clan ancestors, and the dance is said to be called "Wan Dance". The so-called "jumping on the moon", "rocking the horse" and "singing the city" of the southwest nationalities may be the forms left over from this festival.

One of the main characteristics of primitive song and dance is its nationality. In slave society, with class, the artistic situation changed. At this time, the sacrificial ceremony is no longer a national festival song and dance, but has become exclusive to slave owners and nobles. Yu, the first to pass the world on to his son, immediately "appointed as the leader of the tribal alliance to show his achievements" after he successfully controlled the flood. According to legend, he went to heaven three times, stole "nine tricks" (namely "Jiu Shao") from the sky, and performed in "The Field of Damocles". From then on, the slave owners and nobles praised their achievements with songs and dances belonging to the whole people. There is a chapter in Lu Chunqiu. In Ancient Music, it was also said: "Tang Nai ordered Yi Yin to change the Nine Movements and Six Columns into songs of Dabao to see its goodness. However, the dance of "Great Martial Arts" is a tribute to Zhou Wuwang and Duke Zhou's martial arts in destroying merchants and quelling slave rebellion. This is the so-called "martial dance", dancing with shields and weapons in hand, and "Shao dance", praising how the rulers of the Zhou Dynasty managed the country in an orderly way and how the world was peaceful. This is called "Wen Dance".

Now, from the "Historical Records of Le Shu", I quote a passage about the martial arts dance as follows:

Bin Moujia sat in front of Confucius, who chatted with him and had a good time ... Confucius said, "... a happy man is like a successful man, who always works hard and stands on the mountain." The matter of the prince of Wu is also vigorous, and the ambition of the squire is also the rebellion of Wu. The rule of Wu, too, and Wu's "martial arts" started from the north, and later became a success, destroyed the business, and 30% went south. The Duke of Zhou left and right, and 60% recovered. He worshipped the son of heaven, clamped vibration and cut four times, and conquered Wei in China.

And into, things flea also, stand in compose for a long time, waiting for the governors. "

Judging from this explanation of Dawu dance, it contains a story. Although dance is not enough to express its content, it also tends to tell stories.

(3) Song and Dance Theory in Western Regions: Chen Cun and Huo Xuchu pointed out in Song and Dance Drama in Western Regions that during the Han and Tang Dynasties, with the development of east-west traffic and frequent economic and cultural exchanges, song and dance drama, a branch of western culture and art, gradually spread to the Central Plains and became one of the important sources of China drama. No matter whether it is the hundred dramas in Han Dynasty or the music and dance in Tang Dynasty, the elements of the western regions account for a considerable proportion. Especially in Tang Dynasty, when the drama elements infiltrated into the music and dance, the fusion of the music and dance in the western regions and the traditional drama in the Central Plains not only brought the prosperity of the music and dance varieties in Tang Dynasty, but also had a very far-reaching impact on later dramas. Ren Bantang, a scholar in China, pointed out more than half a century ago that music and dance in the Tang Dynasty "vertically inherited the origin of the Han, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and absorbed the sentiment of the western regions".

Opinions.

As for the song and dance dramas in the Tang Dynasty, it is recorded in the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty that the song and dance dramas include scenes such as big faces, shaking heads, stepping on mothers and grottoes. Mr. Ren Bantang thinks that all the "Nuo Opera Troupes" in Tang Dynasty are musical dramas. He also pointed out in the second chapter "Song and Dance Drama" of "Tang Dou": "Once the content is wrong, or the technique involves easy-to-understand speech, although the record is short, the performance is vague. I don't think singing and dancing is impossible. " Those who belong to the Western Region Song and Dance Troupe only cite the scene of "pulling the head" in the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty, saying that "pulling the head out of the Western Region, the Hu people were eaten by wild animals, and their sons begged the wild animals to kill them, so they danced like elephants." There are many operas in Ren Bantang's Song and Dance Examination, all of which are influenced by the Western Regions. It is clearly pointed out that there are "Xiliang geisha", "Xumi Zhe" and "Sharifu" which belong to the "drama style", such as "Potou" and "Playing Brahman". Stereotypes is a representative play in the western region song and dance drama. Su Mo's record is recorded in detail in Tang Huilin's "The Sound and Meaning of Classics": Su Mo's, Xirong Hu Yu is also a cloud whispering. This play originated in the country of West Qiuci, and it still exists today. This country is vigorous, with a wide face and so on, or an animal face or a ghost, pretending to be all kinds. According to local customs, this method is often used to repel disgust and drive away evil spirits in Luo Cha to eat people. "Sumo cover, also known as throwing cold drama, is in the Central Plains from the literature, mostly for the entertainment of rulers. I have watched/kloc-0 for more than 30 years from the first year of Emperor Xuandi's North Elephant to the first year of Emperor Xuanzong's Tang Dynasty, and it is often listed as a program to enjoy in the court. This naturally has to undergo numerous transformations and changes with the political situation. The most obvious example is that Shi Zhongshu ordered Zhang to write five "Su Mo Man" because he likes to "cast a cold Hu opera", and after each speech, he echoed "Hundred Million Years Old." Tong Zhang said that in the first year of Xuanzong's reign, he added: "I didn't hear allusions in the cold and Hu operas. I was naked, so I didn't care what I thought. I was embarrassed. "In order to ban this drama, Xuanzong originally loved music and dance of all ethnic groups and believed in Taoism because of political needs. In Tianbao, the policy of "turning Buddhism into Taoism" and "turning Hu into Han" was implemented, and cold-blooded Hu operas were banned. However, Su Mozhe's qupai was preserved, and the cold-blooded Hu Opera in the Tang Dynasty and the DPRK highlighted the political preaching and joking atmosphere of "loyalty and eternal celebration of life" and "national subjugation and surrender". Therefore, it is not enough to study and analyze the sumo song and dance drama only from the records in the history books. Sumo splashing water is a Persian folk custom to worship the immortal god, and the clear water symbolizes the holy water of sumo. Zhang said that the third sumo poem "If there is an oil bag in the sky, you must add a longevity cup, which is hundreds of millions of years old". Isn't it the meaning of "sumo fairy wine"? It can be seen that throwing water at people is the most critical plot of Su Mozhe, the essence of the play and the basis of its original form. Therefore, although there have been additions and deletions in communication, this core plot has always been retained.

Another feature of the play is that the actors of Su Mozhe wear various masks. In Youyang Za, the mask performance of Qiuci Sumo's song and dance drama is clearly recorded. Mask not only depicts the characters in the play, but also is a means to interpret the content, which is an important symbol of the play. The diversity of Qiuci's Mask of Plain Question shows the development and maturity of drama, that is, the enlightening function of "touching people". according to

According to the sounds and meanings of various classics, Qiuci performed with a mask, and besides the cover of sumo, there were "bedding face", "mixed support" and "headline number". Regarding bedding face, the name of the Tang Dynasty drama is "The Heroes of Lanling", and bedding face is called a mask. "The bed is from Beiqi, and the warrior Lanling is brave and beautiful. He often wears a mask to fight the enemy and tries to attack Zhou Shi.

The plot of "The Warrior Lan Ling" mainly praises "the ability to command and stab." Dressing as a mask, of course, is not a simple dance, but a theatrical performance. "The Warrior of Lanling" is influenced by the Western Regions, also known as the Western Song and Dance Drama, which has long been demonstrated by scholars. Mr. Wang Guowei once said: "If the translation of" Tiaodou Tiaodou "is homophonic, and this drama comes from the country of Tiaodou, or from Qiuci and other countries, there should be no more dramas since Sui and Tang Dynasties, or since the Northern Qi Dynasty, such as" Warrior Lan Ling "and" Step on the Girl ",which are imitators." In the Tang Dynasty, Cui's "Jiao Fang Ji" contains "stepping on a mother": in the Northern Qi Dynasty, there was a man named Su who refused to be an official, called himself a doctor and was addicted to alcohol. Beating my wife every time I get drunk makes her sad. He was abandoned when he complained to his neighbors. The husband, dressed in women's clothes, came into the room and sang songs. Every time, others sing in unison: "Come on! Come on! " Sing a song step by step.

Therefore, it is called "stepping on rumors"; It is called injustice, so it is bitter. When her husband arrived, he had a fight and thought he was laughing. Walking Niang is a musical, not a simple dance.

Second, the guide said

Wax sacrifice prevailed in Zhou Dynasty in China, which was quite dramatic in the sacrificial ceremony. This statement was first seen in the Song Dynasty poet Su Shi's "Dongpo Linzhi" (Volume II), where eight waxes and three generations of drama ceremonies finally met at the age of 18, which is inevitable. Because of the etiquette attached, it is said that there is no drama, and there must be corpses in the sacrifice, so it is called "offering wine" ... Today, wax refers to "sacrifice" and corpses, and the corpses of cats or tigers. Who should do it? Who should the deer and the woman be? Who doesn't advocate Excellence? "ge

Bring a hazel stick to mourn the old and the things; "Huang Guan" and "Cao Li" admire wild clothes, which are all ways of playing.

Yang Shen, an Amin poet, said in the Collection of Ascending to the Temple (Volume 44): "The prosperity of women's music was originally caused by witchcraft ... Observing the witchcraft in Nine Songs of Chu, what is the difference between the modality of clothes and the worship of sages today!" Wang Guowei put forward in "An Examination of Song and Yuan Opera": Did the prosperity of song and dance begin with ancient witchcraft? The rise of witchcraft was also established in ancient times. "Songs of the South": "The ancients were not mixed, and the essence of man was not accompanied by two people, but could be sincere ... so, the wise God would give it up. In men, witchcraft is in women, the decline of the young and the high, the confusion of morality, and the confusion of gods and gods. The wife is happy, and the family is a witch history. " Witchcraft, god will use song and dance. He believes that the occupation of ancient witches is to entertain ghosts and gods by singing and dancing, and at the same time, ancient worshippers of ghosts and gods need people to dress up as "Lingbao" or "corpse" as the entity on which ghosts and gods depend, and it is witches who dress up as "Lingbao". He concluded, "among witches, there must be actors who look like gods." This practice is' the bud of later drama'. Therefore, Wang Guowei believes that.

Wen Yiduo thought in What is Nine Songs: "Strictly speaking, there was no difference in people's attitude towards Nine Songs in the era of Chu Ci two thousand years ago. They all appreciate art, but the difference is that they watch the drama in front of the altar-a rudimentary musical. We can only appreciate the lyrics from the paper. " He also suspended nine songs into a large musical. Dong Kang's Preface to Qu Hai: "The play originated in the hometown of ancient Nuo" is an ancient ritual to chase ghosts and ward off evil spirits, especially on New Year's Eve, dancers wear masks.

"Lich theory" is similar to "religious ceremony theory". China's plays originated from "religious ceremony", which was systematically discussed by Peter Long, a professor at Oxford University in England. He thinks: "In China, like anywhere else in the world, religious ceremonies may develop into drama at any time, including modern times, and various factors that determine the development of drama do not need to refer to the distant past. They are still active today. " In China Opera and China Religion, Zhou Yude thinks that primitive religion opened the source of opera, pre-Qin religion gave birth to the embryo of opera, and Qin and Han religions gave birth to the embryonic form of opera, and systematically discusses the role of religion in the occurrence stage of opera.

Third, Xi, you say

According to Zhang Geng and A General History of China Opera, at the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, a professional artist "You" appeared, sometimes called "You-worshipping" or "You-loving". "Excellence" is filled by men. It is said that excellence was advocated in the Xia Jie era. Liu Xiang's "Biography of Ancient Women, Biography of Evil and Xia Jie's Last Happiness" records: "Jie ... accepting and advocating outstanding dwarfs and disciples can become excellent performers, gather around them and create brilliant fun." Excellent records were first seen in Mandarin. JUNG WOO. Shi Bo told Zheng Huangong that Zhou Youwang "dwarfs and strange stones are on the same side". Zhao Wei said: "People who are both dwarfs and strange stones are good at laughing, so it is obvious that they were excellent at that time. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Meng posing as Sun Bin to ask questions has always been regarded as the beginning of China's drama. Song Gaocheng quoted Biography of Lienv from Ji You: "It is a strange play to abandon etiquette and advocate Excellence as a dwarf. Jiao Xun, a person of A Qing Dynasty, also said, "Excellence is a play, and describing excellent people is excellent, and that moving laughter is no different from today. "Wang Guowei's textual research on the Song and Yuan operas not only thinks that witchcraft is the source of opera, but also thinks that witchcraft is good for entertaining people, mainly for singing and dancing, mainly for teasing, mainly for women and men. "If the dream is Sun Shuai's clothes, the king of Chu will dance if he wants to think of it, and Zi Yue laughs at the king, and his ridicule is also like the best of later generations." From this, it is concluded that "the drama of later generations should be superior to others".

"The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, such as the excellent application of Jin and the excellent Meng of Chu, are the origins of drama. Gu takes singing and dancing as a joke and has not yet performed historical stories. It has been performing since the Han Dynasty. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, song and dance combined to perform one thing, but if the facts were simple and there was only a dramatic outline, it would be better to call it a play. " (Excerpted from folklorist Huang Xianfan's Introduction to the Society of the Tang Dynasty, the Commercial Press, the first edition in March, 1936).

Fourth, the puppet said

This statement can be found in Sun Jiedi's Textual Research on Puppet Show. He traced the origin of the puppet show back to the "Golden Four Eyes" mask worn on Nuo ceremonies in the Western Zhou Dynasty, because Fang Xiangyi was dressed as a real person, and every time he gave a funeral, he first cleared the way, which was related to the "grottoes" in the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty. However, because Fang was dressed as a real person, he paused to say that "there are two schools of contemporary puppet show: one is dressed as a real person, and the other is dressed as a real person. The two are different in nature and are called puppets. " The book also said, "What I said in this article is based on the puppet show and shadow play in the Song Dynasty, and I think all the operas and dramas since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, as well as all the great dramas in later generations, originated from this."

V. Foreign theories

Xu Dishan's The Style of Brahma Drama and Its Bits and Bits in China's Dramas draws a conclusion from the * * nature of the contents and forms of Chinese and Indian dramas: "If it were not for the influence of India, the changes in China's dramas could be regarded as a coincidence between the two countries." Zheng Zhenduo's illustrated History of China Literature and Ji Xianlin's Comparative Literature and Folk Literature all hold this view.

Sixth, folk theory.

In the History of China's Ancient Drama, Tang Wenbiao said: "I think the main origin of China's drama comes from the folk, and the ancient drama started so late, so it is mixed with many folk acrobatics, its popular content and popular tone form, its mediocre thoughts and secular themes. The reason why it is very different from Greek tragedy and Indian Brahma drama in the world is that it comes from the people and takes the entertainment and leisure of the civilian class as the first point, so its maturity has to wait for the result of the evolution of China's agricultural society. " In the Song Dynasty, a concrete and tiny civil society appeared. "

Seven, literary theory

This view holds that literature is an important factor in inducing China's plays, and there are several different views:

1, rap literature. Ren Guangwei's Discrimination of Mulian Opera in the Northern Song Dynasty said: "The art of China opera is composed of many kinds of arts, and its production needs the maturity of various factors, but the decisive factor lies in literature, and the large-scale zaju in the Northern Song Dynasty is produced from rap literature."

2. Huang Tianji's speech at the "China Drama Origin Seminar" said: "Talking about China's drama is inseparable from narrative factors ... Dunhuang Bianwen is an important factor that induces drama ... After careful study, it is actually a very rough source of China's drama."

3. Theory born out of novels. Liu Hui's speech at the seminar on the origin of China drama in Urumqi said: "The origin of China opera is closely related to China's religion, folk customs, singing and dancing, especially rap ... After the distinction between China's opera and novel, it must be performed in the first person instead of the third person. Without this, China's opera would be impossible, and there must be role behavior. Without this, it is not an opera. "

Eight, the cradle of a hundred plays.

Zhu and Peng Longxing's book "The Cradle of China Drama" says: "Drama is conceived in the middle of" Hundred Drama ",and" Corner Drama "is directly the mother of drama. Wu clearly said in "Washe Culture and the Formation of China's Drama": "I think drama was formed in the Han Dynasty, and drama entities have appeared in hundreds of dramas in the Han Dynasty. Programs such as "East China Sea Huang Gong" and "Always Singing Immortals" are early dramas. It's all drama performances, actor performances, story running through and audience participation. Zhang Heng's "Xijing Fu" is recorded in this way: the East China Sea Huang Gong, the red knife and Zhu Yue, leaning on the tired (crouching tiger) white tiger, the pawn is hopeless, and the narrow evil is a cup, so they don't sell it. Ge Hong's Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty also recorded that there was a native of the East China Sea, Huang Gong, who learned art as a teenager and could make snakes and tigers ... White tigers were found in the East China Sea at the end of Qin Dynasty, and Huang Gong hated his red knife. He was not good at art, but he was killed by a tiger. Popular use is considered as drama, and Emperor Xiandi of Han Dynasty also regarded it as a horn play. Huang Gong's performance in the East China Sea is a corner play. The actor wears a white tiger mask to perform a story of wrestling and sumo wrestling. Obviously, it is not a simple competitive competition, but a "play", because the arena is completed in a designated scene, and winning or losing has already been decided. Baccarat in Han Dynasty, also known as Sanle, is the general name of songs, dances, plays, acrobatics and juggling programs performed by people at that time. It is in this "mixed performance environment" that China traditional opera was bred, which absorbed the advantages of various sister arts and formed its own genes in the matrix.

The Birth of China's Drama

According to the western definition, China has no tradition of "drama". But generally speaking, when discussing China's plays, if it is not strictly defined, China's ancient plays should be classified into the major categories of plays.

The roots of China's traditional operas can be traced back to the witchcraft ceremony from pre-Qin to Han Dynasty, but the development of Southern Opera in Song Dynasty led to the complete creation of drama texts. The earliest extant script of China's ancient drama is Zhang Xie's champion in the Southern Song Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty was centered on Dadu, Pingyang and Hangzhou, and Yuan Zaju was brilliant for a while. Later generations formed many forms of drama, that is, various dramas. After the development of Kunqu Opera in Ming Dynasty, it was first sought after and loved by gentry doctors. They created a large number of scripts, constantly revised the score, and at the same time revised the drama theory of Kunqu opera, making legendary scripts a new mainstream literary form. Later, Kunqu opera was loved by the court in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, became a part of aristocratic life and became an officially recognized drama art, so it was called "elegance"; Based on the local dialect, the local opera, which is deeply loved by the people, is called "Flower". So in the Qing dynasty, a "dispute between elegance and vulgarity" was formed, which was actually a situation in which traditional operas prospered together. This enriches the category of China traditional opera art and forms its own artistic characteristics.

In recent years, Zeng Yongyi, a drama researcher in Taiwan Province Province, put forward a set of viewpoints, that is, when discussing the origin of China's drama, we should distinguish between "big drama" and "small drama". The drama is a mature drama, and the drama is the prototype of the drama. The drama was developed after the Zaju in Jin and Yuan Dynasties, while the previous Zaju in Song Dynasty, Mian in Tang Dynasty, Picking Mothers, Potou, Joining the Army, Fan Kuai's Defeated King, etc. Can be included in the ranks of short plays, and China has long had short plays.

Before China came into cultural contact with the modern west, there was no "drama" (mainly drama) tradition in the western sense. China's traditional drama is a comprehensive art form with plot as the main line and "song and dance as the story", which integrates music, singing, dancing, martial arts and acrobatics, that is, traditional opera quyi.

Drama as literature

Dramatic text (namely "script") is the basic element and premise of a drama.

The most important thing about the script is that it can be put on the stage. Drama text is not the completion of art, and it is not the presentation of the final art until after the stage performance (that is, "performance text"). Some scholars in the past dynasties wrote plays that were not suitable for stage performance or even impossible to perform at all. This kind of drama text is called desk drama (also called study drama) (such as Wilde's poetic drama Salome). There are also examples of scriptless performances in modern dramas.

The literary version of drama can be enjoyed as an independent literary style when it is not being performed.

Drama as a performing art

With the practice of modern western drama in the training system of directors and actors, drama theory has gradually expanded from the discussion of drama texts to the whole theater, and then new concepts such as "scene scheduling" have emerged. Among them, the famous formulation is the concept put forward by British drama director peter brooke in his monograph "Empty Space" in the 1970s: "An actor walks through an empty stage, which is the whole of a play. 」

Drama type

Drama literature can be divided into long plays, one-act plays and sketches according to capacity;

According to the forms of expression, it can be divided into drama, opera, poetic drama, ballet, opera and so on.

According to the theme, it can be divided into drama, historical drama, legendary drama, civic drama, social drama, family drama, science fiction drama and so on.

According to the nature and effect of drama conflict, it can be divided into tragedy, comedy and drama.

But the most basic and commonly used categories are tragedy, comedy and drama, in which tragedy appeared earlier than comedy, and drama is also called tragicomedy.

Tragedy: the essence of conflict: "the inevitable requirement of history and the fact that this requirement cannot be realized" The aesthetic value of tragedy: "Destroy the valuable things in life for people to see".

Comedy: Aesthetic Value: "Tear the worthless to others".

Drama: a profound way to integrate tragedy and comedy into a new whole.