Theatre of China
Theatre of China has a long and complex history. Traditional Chinese theatre, generally in the form of Chinese opera, is musical in nature. Chinese theatre can trace its origin back a few millennia to ancient China, but the Chinese opera started to develop in the 12th century. Western forms like the spoken drama, western-style opera, and ballet did not arrive in China until the 20th century.[1]
History
[edit]Theatre in China dates back to as early as the Shang dynasty (16th century BC?–c. 1046 BC). Oracle bone records reference rain dances performed by shamans,[2] while the Book of Documents mentions shamanistic dancing and singing.[3] For the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046 BC – 256 BC), evidence from the Chu Ci suggests that in the 4th or 3rd century BC State of Chu, shamans performed with music and costumes.[4] Some scholars have identified poems from the Classic of Poetry as possible lyrics of songs accompanying court dances from the early or mid-Zhou dynasty.[5]
The Zhou royal court as well as the various ancient states employed professional entertainers which included not only dancers and musicians but also actors. The earliest court actors were likely clowns who pantomimed, danced, sang, and performed comedy.[6] One of the most famous actors from this period was You Meng or Jester Meng (
Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian contains a passage about Confucius (551–479 BC) explaining the Great Warrior Dance or Dawu Dance (Chinese:
When they dance in two rows and lunge in all directions with their weapons, they are spreading the awe of his military might throughout the Central States. When they divide up and advance in twos, it indicates that the enterprise has now been successfully accomplished. When they stand for a long time in their dancing positions, they are waiting for the arrival of the rulers of the various states.
During the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), a wrestling show called Horn-Butting Show (Chinese:
Six Dynasties, Tang dynasty, and Five Dynasties
[edit]An early form of Chinese drama is the Canjun Opera (
Various song and dance dramas developed during the Six Dynasties period. During the Northern Qi dynasty, a masked dance called the Big Face (
The Later Tang (923–937) founding emperor Li Cunxu (885–926) — who was of Shatuo extraction — was so passionate about theatre that he enjoyed acting himself. During his reign, he appointed three actors to prefect-ship and in the process alienated his army. In 926, after just 3 years on the throne, he was killed in a mutiny led by a former actor named Guo Congqian.
Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties
[edit]In the Song dynasty, popular plays involving drama and music began to be developed, and by the 12th century, the term xìqǔ (
In Southern Song, a form of play called nanxi or Xiwen (
A form of theatre known as zaju began to be developed in the Song and Jin dynasties. Song and Jin zaju was a small-scale comic form of theatre, and was distinct from Yuan zaju with its own independent development. Music is incidental to Song Jin zaju with incomplete narratives.[25]
Zaju became the dominant form of theatre during the Yuan dynasty in major cities such as Kaifeng, Luoyang and Lin'an. Yuan dynasty zaju was also known as Northern tune (
Among the best-known dramatists of the period were Guan Hanqing (many of his works survive, including The Injustice to Dou E), Wang Shifu (who wrote Romance of the Western Chamber), Ma Zhiyuan (whose representative work is Autumn in Han Palace,
Ming dynasty
[edit]The nanxi of the Song and Yuan dynasties was considered a low art form due to its unsophisticated literary style, and its plays were often written by anonymous authors. The first nanxi work with a known author is Tale of the Pipa by Gao Ming, written in the late Yuan period. Tale of the Pipa elevated the status of nanxi, and was highly regarded by the first Ming Emperor Hongwu. It became a model for Ming dynasty drama.[28] Nanxi and other regional forms, such as such as Haiyan, Yuyao, an Yiyang tunes developed in Zhejiang, gradually replaced the northern zaju, and by the middle of the Ming dynasty, nanxi had developed into a more complex dramatic form known as chuanqi, which further developed into Kunqu Opera.[29]
The Ming dynasty play writers were mostly educated and hold relatively high social status,[30] and chuanqi works were created mainly by scholars. Wei Liangfu created Kunshan tunes modified from tunes of Haiyan from near Hangzhou and Yiyang of Jiangxi, and he combined the nanxi rhythms which often used flute, and the northern zaju where plucked string instruments are preferred. The first Kunqu opera, Washing Silken Gauze (浣紗
In the Ming dynasty, southern yiyang tunes fused with Kunqu and spread widely. Yiyang tunes lacked formal rules, was more uninhibited and exciting, therefore more appealing to the local classes and easily fused with local musical styles and produced many high-pitched tunes in numerous local operas. Another important development was the emergence of Shaanxi Opera in the Northwest with a two-phrase structure and clapper-based instrumentation, introducing a new form of musical style called banqiang (
During the Ming period (1368-1644), Chinese theatre may be divided into three categories by audience: imperial court, social elite, and the general public.[34]
The Ming imperial court enjoyed opera, and Ming emperors generally kept their music entertainments within the palace.[35] Ming theatre, however, had less freedom than the previous dynasty, Yuan.[36] In the Yuan and early Song period, some plays may include a role of the emperor,[37] however, Ming Emperor Taizu prohibited actors from impersonating any imperial members, high officials, or well-respected figures,[37] although such restrictions were not always observed by opera troupes who performed for commoners in public theatre.[38]
Private theatre troupes featured prominently during Ming China, and government officials, rich merchants, and eunuchs may manage private theatre troupes to entertainment guests in stages built in their private residences, or a sign of status.[39][40] A female courtesan in late Ming named Ma Xianglan was the only woman known to have owned a private theatre troupe.[41] Developing a private theatre troupe represented a huge investment; the owners first pick potential actors from poor families or slave households and from performing schools, with more emphasis on their looks.[42] and the owners would invest in further training for these people.[43][44] The troupe leaders may hire retired actors to teach the actors, and some were trained actors themselves.[45] The actors underwent strict training in singing, dancing, and role-playing techniques, which may take as long as eight years.[34][46] While the performers were highly skilled, they were also regarded to be of low status in Ming society, as it was common practice for them to provide sexual services, both heterosexual and homosexual.[47] Some actresses become their owners' wives or concubines[47] The common career span for actors were ten years. When actors passed their teenage years, they had the freedom to retire.[48]
Professional public troupes did not thrive until Ming elite class started to collapse.[49] Due to the Ming's Confucian influence of gender separation, public theatres were dominated by males.[50] Confucian influences extended to the plays; Ming plays often conveyed Confucian teachings, especially in private theatre troupes.[30] For instance, as women desired more equality towards late Ming, Wang Tingne wrote a play called Shi Hou Ji (狮吼记) that emphasized male authority over women.[30]
The standard types of Ming actors includes Cai, Hui, and Zhi.[49] Cai is extraordinary talent, and Hui is the wisdom that enables them to utilize their skills with flexibility. The most important one is Zhi, the ability to combine practical and abstract beauty on stage.[49] As for techniques, the actors needed to excel in singing, dancing, and role-playing. These actors developed outstanding singing and dancing techniques to serve the ultimate goal of creating a character.[51]
Qing dynasty
[edit]During the Qing dynasty, Peking opera became popular. Peking opera developed from different opera styles. In 1790. various local opera troupes performed in Beijing in celebration of the 55th year of Qianlong Emperor's reign. The Huizhou opera troupes, which performed operas with diverse tune patterns including Kunqu, Clapper Opera and the Erhuang melody prove to be the most popular. Hanju Opera, popular along the Yangtze River and Hanshui, also became popular, and the mixing of Huizhou and Hanju produced the Peking Opera.[52] Peking opera inherited many stories form Kunqu opera, but other styles of opera, such as the Clapper opera, which were popular with the common people had greater influence on its development. Teahouses which sprang up in Beijing staged Peking operas. The popularity of Kunqu, referred to as Yabu (
In various regions, local forms of opera flourished, and became popular in major cities by the end of the Qing dynasty and early Republican era. Some of these may developed from folk song-and-dance performances that evolved from "The Dancing Singing Woman" (踏謡
20th century
[edit]By the early 20th century, non-singing theatrical forms began to appear under the influence of Western dramas and stage plays.[54] Shanghai, where Western drama was first staged by Western expatriate communities in China in 1850, was the birthplace of modern Chinese stage plays. Students of St. John's College were known to have performed the first modern Chinese play A Shameful Story About Officialdom (
In the Republican era, Cantonese opera entered a golden age, with numerous new plays being written. Peking Opera also became popular in Shanghai, where new dramas in the form serialized dramas emerged. The best-known actor of Peking opera was Mei Lanfang, whose performances spread the fame of Peking opera worldwide.
In the People's Republic of China era, the government set up a special department for the improvement of drama. The first national opera festival was organized where numerous operas from around country as well as operas identified as "model plays" were performed. Opera was modified, and Model opera with political message was created. The first Model Opera was Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy. By the Cultural Revolution, Model opera had monopolized the theatre. However, after the Cultural Revolution, traditional forms were revived and with less restrictions, new plays influenced by Western theatre also began to be staged.
Modern Chinese theatre
[edit]Modern Chinese theatre and drama has changed quite a lot compared to the past. The influences of the modern world affected the form of music/ theatre/ drama the Chinese were having. The rapid development of the country affected theater plays. The current Chinese theater has been developed to a new form: people do not watch plays from theater, they watch it at homes or on their TV. In addition to music theater, the modern world inspired new forms of drama, including what became known as the spoken drama (simplified Chinese: 话剧; traditional Chinese:
Hsiu, sleeve movement
[edit]Sleeve movements were an important feature of dancing technique in ancient China and were considered essential to add the grace of the performer. There are many references to the beauty of a dancer's sleeves to be found in old Chinese poems.[57]
"What festival is this, with lamps filling in the hall, And golden hair pins dancing by night alongside of flowery lutes? A fragrance breeze flutters the sleeve and a red haze arises, While jade wrists flit round and round in mazy flight."
Shadow play
[edit]During the dynasty of Empress Ping, shadow puppetry first emerged as a recognized form of theatre in China[citation needed]. There were two distinct forms of shadow puppetry, Pekingese (northern) and Cantonese (southern). The two styles were differentiated by the method of making the puppets and the positioning of the rods on the puppets, as opposed to the type of play performed by the puppets. Both styles generally performed plays depicting great adventure and fantasy, rarely was this very stylized form of theatre used for political propaganda. Cantonese shadow puppets were the larger of the two. They were built using thick leather which created more substantial shadows. Symbolic color was also very prevalent; a black face represented honesty, a red one bravery. The rods used to control Cantonese puppets were attached perpendicular to the puppets' heads. Thus, they were not seen by the audience when the shadow was created. Pekingese puppets were more delicate and smaller. They were created out of thin, translucent leather (usually taken from the belly of a peacock). They were painted with vibrant paints, thus they cast a very colorful shadow. The thin rods which controlled their movements were attached to a leather collar at the neck of the puppet. The rods ran parallel to the bodies of the puppet then turned at a ninety degree angle to connect to the neck. While these rods were visible when the shadow was cast, they laid outside the shadow of the puppet; thus they did not interfere with the appearance of the figure. The rods attached at the necks to facilitate the use of multiple heads with one body. When the heads were not being used, they were stored in a muslin book or fabric lined box. The heads were always removed at night. This was in keeping with the old superstition that if left intact, the puppets would come to life at night. Some puppeteers went so far as to store the heads in one box and the bodies in another, to further reduce the possibility of reanimating puppets. Shadow puppetry is said to have reached its highest point of artistic development in the seventh century before becoming a tool of the government.[citation needed]
Xiangsheng
[edit]Xiangsheng is a style of traditional Chinese comedic performance in the form of a monologue or dialogue. Chinese performers usually clap with the audience at the end of a performance; the return applause is a sign of appreciation to the audience.[58]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Fu 2012, pp. 1–6.
- ^ Siu and Lovrick, p. 4.
- ^ Dolby, p. 8.
- ^ Dolby, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Dolby, p. 9.
- ^ Dolby, pp. 10–11.
- ^ Siu and Lovrick, p. 5.
- ^ Dolby, p. 11.
- ^ Dolby, pp. 9–10.
- ^ Dolby, pp. 11–12.
- ^ Dolby, p. 12.
- ^ a b Ye, p. 3.
- ^ "
唐 代參 軍 戲 ".中國 文化 研究 院 . - ^ "Sichuan Opera". Archived from the original on February 24, 2007.
- ^ "The Tang Dynasty (618–907)". Asian Traditional Theatre and Dance.
- ^ Laurence Picken, ed. (1985). Music from the Tang Court: Volume 5. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–12. ISBN 978-0521347761.
- ^ a b c Faye Chunfang Fei, ed. (2002). Chinese Theories of Theater and Performance from Confucius to the Present. University of Michigan Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0472089239.
- ^ Ye, p. 336.
- ^ "Theatre". China Culture Information Net. Archived from the original on December 25, 2013.
- ^ "The Early History of Chinese Theatre". Asian Traditional Theatre and Dance.
- ^ Colin Mackerras, ed. (1988). Chinese Theater: From Its Origins to the Present Day. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9787310049905 – via Google Books.
- ^ Fu 2012, pp. 12–13.
- ^ Fu 2012, pp. 16–18.
- ^ Fu 2012, pp. 20–23.
- ^ Fu 2012, p. 23.
- ^ Fu 2012, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Fu 2012, pp. 22–33.
- ^ Faye Chunfang Fei, ed. (2002). Chinese Theories of Theater and Performance from Confucius to the Present. University of Michigan Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0472089239.
- ^ Sun, Mei (1998). "The Division between 'Nanxi' and 'Chuanqi". American Journal of Chinese Studies. 5 (2): 248–56. JSTOR 44288587.
- ^ a b c
王 园园, “明代 戏曲中 女性 德行 意 识” (Female Virtue Consciousness in the Opera of Ming Dynasty), 闽西职业技 术学院 学 报(Journal of Minxi Vocational and Technical College) 2018, 20(04), 80-84 (April 2018). - ^ Fu 2012, pp. 48–50.
- ^ Fu 2012, pp. 66.
- ^ Fu 2012, pp. 68–73.
- ^ a b Shen, Grant. "Acting in the Private Theatre of the Ming Dynasty," in HIEA 124 Life in Ming China, edited by Sarah Schneewind, p. 289-311 (Imprints, 2019, p. 290.
- ^ Lam, Joseph. Culture, Courtiers, and Competition. p. 290
- ^ Tian Yuan Tan, “The Sovereign and the Theatre,” in Long Live the Emperor, edited by Sarah Schneewind, p. 149-69 (The United States of America: Society for Ming Studies), p. 150
- ^ a b Tian Yuan Tan, “The Sovereign and the Theatre,” in Long Live the Emperor, edited by Sarah Schneewind, p. 149-69 (The United States of America: Society for Ming Studies), p.151
- ^ Tian Yuan Tan, "The Sovereign and the Theatre," in Long Live the Emperor, edited by Sarah Schneewind, p. 149-69 (The United States of America: Society for Ming Studies), p. 154-62
- ^ Shen, pp. 28–29.
- ^ Shen, pp. 129, 132.
- ^ Mi Zhao, “Ma Xianglan and Wang Zhideng Onstage and Offstage,” Asian Theatre Journal 34 #1 (Spring 2017).
- ^ Shen, pp. 36-40.
- ^ Shen, p. 38.
- ^ Xu, Peng (2015). "The Music Teacher: The Professionalization of Singing and the Development of Erotic Vocal Style During Late Ming China". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 75 (2): 259–297. doi:10.1353/jas.2015.0016. S2CID 193410120.
- ^ Shen, pp. 49–51.
- ^ Shen, p. 45.
- ^ a b Shen, pp. 59, 63.
- ^ Shen, p. 67.
- ^ a b c Liu Xuan刘轩,《
牡丹 亭 ·写真 》昆 剧舞台 演出 史 考 略 (On A History of the Performance of Kunqu Opera Portrait in The Peony Pavilion),中 华戏曲 (Chinese Traditional Opera) 2017, (02), 197-213 (February 2017) - ^ Leung Li, Siu. Cross Dressing in Chinese Opera. p. 57
- ^ Shen, p. 99.
- ^ a b Fu 2012, pp. 75–75.
- ^ Fu 2012, pp. 79–81.
- ^ Fu 2012, pp. 3–4.
- ^
施 清 婧 (2015).中国 舞台 上 的 塞 缪尔·贝克特 :跨 文化 戏剧演出 研究 :1964~2011.南 开大学 出版 社 . ISBN 9787310049905 – via Google Books. - ^ "Modern Chinese Drama".
- ^ Scott, A.C. (1957). The Classical Theatre Of China. London: Simson Shand LTD. p. 96.
- ^ Brown, Ju; Brown, John (2006). China, Japan, Korea Culture and Customs. North Charleston: BookSurge. p. 55. ISBN 1-4196-4893-4.
Bibliography
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