The main achievements of the drama improvement movement

The reform movement of traditional Chinese opera has pushed the creation of legendary zaju into a new prosperous period, with a large number of works and a wide range of themes, many of which are related to current events. Content or writing loyal revolutionary heroes, such as "Goshawk Strike" written by Xu Xilin who assassinated Ming and sacrificed heroically, and "June Frost" written by Qiu Jin who sacrificed generously; Or honor the national heroes who fought against aggression in history, such as Wen Tianxiang's patriotic soul, Qu's wind tunnel mountain defeated by Guilin in the late Ming Dynasty, and Zhang Huangyan's hanging ape who died alone. Or eulogize the great men of the Western bourgeois revolution, such as New Rome written by the Italian National Unity Movement and the "Young Italy" Party, The Guillotine written by Louis XVI executed in the French Revolution, and Flowers of Blood written by madame roland in France. Or reveal the crisis of national decline, such as "Zhong" and "Hou", and expound the theory of survival of the fittest, unity and opposition to aggression based on the survival situation of bees and ants. Zheng Zhenduo called these dramas "passionate and generous, exchanged with blood and tears, masterpieces of national literature and monuments of political dramas" (Zheng Zhenduo Su Aying's Catalogue of Drama Novels in the Late Qing Dynasty).

In order to meet the needs of writing new content, the traditional legendary drama system has also begun to be surpassed. The new work breaks the legendary convention that life is perfect as the protagonist throughout the whole play. For example, the protagonists in Liang Qichao's New Rome are all men. The tendency of political discussion in news is strengthened, which dispels the drama plot mode of joys and sorrows. For example, only one person spoke in the drama "Youth Appears", exposing the falsification of the Constitution and advocating the revolution, which set a precedent for "small remarks". This kind of scripts often break through the shackles of melody, such as the third part of Party Prison, New Rome, and two songs of Half-Blood, all of which are hundreds of sentences. At the same time, colloquialism has increased, lyrics have decreased, and costumes, props and movements have also begun to change from classicalization and stylization to modernization and realism. Such as "New Rome", "Students dressed as Ma Zhini's ink clothes", greeted their mother and "kissed Lao Dan on the forehead". Most of the legendary zaju creations were published in newspapers and magazines, and most of them were not suitable for performances, which became a kind of newspaper drama produced in a specific period. However, some performing artists of Peking Opera and local operas have pushed drama improvement from desks and newspapers to the stage. Wang Xiaonong (1858 ~ 19 18) is a pioneer in the improvement of Peking Opera. He cares about the country and the people and advocates inspiring the people with drama. His poem "Self-titled Portrait" said: "The handheld has been greatly improved, and the melody has become magnificent. Be an old singer if you want to be reborn. " He wrote and performed many plays in his life, including his own creation, transplanting and adapting from legends, sorting out and processing old versions of Peking Opera. Most of his works use the past as a metaphor for the present, alluding to current politics and expressing the passionate voice of the people. For example, Crying for Ancestral Temple is about the subjugation of Shu and Han in the Three Kingdoms, and Wei Jun is under pressure. Liu Chan, the late ruler, was determined to surrender, but his son, Liu Chen, refused to listen to the advice, returned to the palace with his sword, killed his wife and son, cried and sacrificed his ancestors, and committed suicide. The play said: "Since Pangu, there has only been a battle between mountains and rivers. How can there be a good reason? " In order to inspire people's fighting spirit. "Dangren Monument" actually tells the story of scholar Xie Qiongxian's anger and destruction of Dangren Monument, mourning the six gentlemen of the 1898 Movement. "Braun Cone" was written by Yuan Shikai when he proclaimed himself emperor, aiming at thieves with the story of Zhang Liangmou stabbing Qin Shihuang. Wang Xiaonong is best at performing tragedies, and his singing is old and vigorous. "Sobbing in a low voice and being generous, I will tell you the whole story with deep affection" (Plough in the Dust House). At the same time, he also actively participated in the performance of fashionable Peking Opera. His "Melody in the Melon" (the tragedy of Poland's national subjugation) tells the story of Poland's war with Turkey and its defeat being divided up by other countries. He used the painful history of Poland's subjugation to warn the people and denounce the traitorous government. 1908 (the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu), patriotic artists Pan, Xia Yuerun and Xia Yueshan set up a "new stage" in Shanghai, which was the first important place in China to adopt a new stage, set up and stage a new drama. A large number of fashionable Peking Opera emerged, and the Peking Opera improvement movement reached its climax. He has performed such plays as "Pan Martyr Throwing into the Sea" and "Rose". In addition, Liu Yizhou wrote and performed The Emperor's Dream (also known as Xinhua Palace) in Hankou, mocking Hong Xian's ugly drama of claiming to be the emperor, and Mei Lanfang wrote and performed A wisp of hemp and Deng in Beijing.

Other local operas have also carried out drama improvement movements. From 65438 to 0905 (thirty-one year of Guangxu), Zhou Shanpei established the "Opera Reform Association" and proposed to guide the improvement of Sichuan Opera with creation. Playwright Huang Jian (1836 ~ 1924) has created and adapted hundreds of plays, some of which are borrowed from the past to illustrate the present, such as Chai's Sacrifice, Three Loyalties and Zhuxian Town. Some works are closely related to common life, such as Breaking Two Guns to Stop Opium, LingYunBu to Stop Foot-binding, and Shui Ye's Throwing Pots to Stop Superstition. Yi Sushe, 19 12, founded in Xi 'an, composed, created and performed excellent Shaanxi opera. Cheng is a native of Hebei Province. Based on the folk rap art Lotus Falls, he drew lessons from other operas and created Pingju. In his life, he wrote, arranged and adapted nearly 100 kinds of Pingju scripts, including Pearl Shirt, Flowers as Media, Wang Shaoan's Catch the Boat, Zhou's Night Trial, and Zhou's Complaining. Drama is a new type of drama in China, which is different from traditional drama. There is no need to sing, dialogue and action are the main means of expression, fashion is worn, scenes are divided, and lighting sets are used. , and belongs to the realistic drama type. The birth of China's early dramas should be marked by the establishment of the Liu Chun Society. 1at the end of 906 (in the thirty-second year of Guangxu reign), China students Zeng Xiaogu and Li Shutong organized the first drama group in China-Spring Willow Society in Tokyo. At that time, it was the time when new Japanese dramas came forth in large numbers, and China students were deeply influenced by it. In the following spring, Liu Chun performed the third act of La Traviata by French Dumas at the relief benefit held by the YMCA of China. Zhang Geng said: "This is the first drama really performed by China people in Chinese." (The First Draft of the History of China's Dramatic Movement) In early June of the same year, Chunliushe staged The Record of the Black Slave, which was adapted from Lin's translation of the novel of the same name, at the Tokyo Grand Theatre. Ou Yangyuqian thinks that this "can be regarded as the first script of China's drama creation, because before that, China had not written such neat scripts for several scenes" (Recalling the Spring Willow). The performance not only sensationalized international students, but also won wide acclaim from Japanese media. Waseda Literature has published more than 20 pages of drama reviews. The fighting spirit of getting rid of the miserable fate of slaves and striving for independence and freedom and its brand-new realistic manifestations have aroused strong repercussions at home and abroad. Since then, the ranks of Liu Chun societies have been expanding, and dramas such as Hot Blood have been staged one after another.

1907 (thirty-three years of Guangxu), influenced by Liu Chunshe, Wang Zhongsheng organized Chunyang Society in Shanghai. In the same year, the club premiered "Black Slave Calling Heaven" at Lanxin Grand Theatre. The performance was not very successful because of the mix of old and new artistic expressions. The following year, Wang Zhongsheng and Ren Tianzhi co-founded Tongjian School (a school for cultivating drama talents) and performed "The Legend of Jiayin" in Chunxian Tea Garden. The form of drama is relatively clear. Zhang Geng called it "real drama", which was first seen in China (the first draft of the history of drama movement in China). At the climax of the Revolution of 1911, at the end of 19 10, Ren Tianzhi organized an evolution group in Shanghai, and went to Nanjing in the following year to perform plays such as Blood Hemp, An Zhonggen Stay in Ito, New Camellia, etc., under the banner of "a new drama of the Tianzhi School". After the recovery of Shanghai, the Evolution Group returned to Shanghai to perform Long Live * * * in Bird, praising the recovery of Nanjing, and Golden Blood appealed to the people to support the revolution. At this time, the evolutionary group reached its peak. 19 12 Lu jingruo called members of the Shanghai Liu Chun society and organized a new drama comrades' meeting. When Ou Yangyuqian, Chun Wu and Ma Jiang were in attendance, Feng Shuluan and others attended. He went to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai to perform, and 19 14 returned to Shanghai and was renamed Liu Chun Theatre. There are more than 80 plays, such as family enjoyment and hatred, better going home, looking back, social clock and so on. The script does not adopt the propaganda mode of "old school of speech" and the scriptwriting mode of "off-screen play", which is unique in the drama world. The rigorous attitude of Liu Chun society in art had a good influence on the development of China's early dramas. After that, Luo Jialun translated Ibsen's Nora and Hu Shi's Lifelong Event during the May 4th literary revolution.