Research On The Zaju Plays Of ZhuYou-dun And Relevant Issues
Date Issued
2008
Date
2008
Author(s)
Lu, Fang-Long
Abstract
Zhu You-dun (1379-1439), the exemplary prince of Zhou, was a significant playwright in the early Ming Dynasty. Not only did the prince identity made him unique in the Chinese-opera history, he was also, more importantly, the one whose total 31 Zaju plays have been passed down till modern times, the most complete collection among all the playwrights of Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. Furthermore, among all the printed zaju-play we can see now, with prefaces stating his writing motivations, the original woodblock edition of his plays is the oldest Zaju edition only second to The Thirty Zaju-Plays Printed in Yuan Dynasty. With his life, writings, and writing motivations able to be tracked, he was the first “comprehensive case” of the ancient Chinese-opera writers. This thesis therefore focuses on him and the complete collection of his plays. The Introduction is a literature review, discussing the evaluation transitions from dynasty to dynasty, deriving from this the targeted concern of this study. Chapter 1 first surveys generally the life experience and Zaju plays of Zhu You-dun, by which Zhu’s writing motivations are illustrated. Then, from the perspective of bibliology study and the characteristics of the preserved zaju-play editions, the preservation facetsof Zhu’s Zaju plays is discussed. Chapter 2 covers the connections between Zhu You-dun and the Chinese-opera history in the early Ming Dynasty, reflecting both from exteriorly the official policies on Chinese operas and interiorly the ethics and literature, including an overview on the playwrights of the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty includ. Chapter 3 and 4 discusses Zhu’s 31 plays respectively, categorizing these plays by its contents, elaborating plots, Zhu’s writing motivations, and his modificatory fruitage, and, through the prefaces of each play, inspecting the correspondence between his writing achievements and motivations. Plays covered in Chapter 3 belong to the categories which, in Yuan Dynasty, had prospered and developed fixed narrating styles, inclusive of plays of Liang-shan Marsh Outlaws, loyalty plays, prostitution plays, and deliverance plays. Zhu’s plays of the latter two categories were especially different from their Yuan precedents. The women and prostitutes in Zhu’s plays were often with extreme moral courage, willing to die to prove their own virtue. On the other hand, the personage in Zhu’s deliverance plays often keenly expected to become the immortal. Once the delivering missionary appeared, they would obey enthusiastically, followed by a great band of gods joyfully welcome them to join them in heaven, which was quite contrary to the humane commitment shown in Zaju plays of Yuan Dynasty. The ritual plays, celebrations plays, and flower-watching plays were actually new norms set by Zhu You-dun. While celebration plays showed obvious connection to the plays written by court entertainment bureau of the Ming Monarchy, the flower-watching plays were somewhat like hilarious musicals containing abundant singing, dancing, and humor. Chapter 5 discusses the performance art presented in Zhu You-dun’s Zaju plays. By going through the development of dances, such as Seventeen Variations Dance, Dance of Mara’s Sixteen Daughters, and The Band of Happy Villagers Singing a Song of Contentment, we can find that dancing scenes in Zhu’s plays infused the choreography of the early Ming Dynasty as well as inherited that of the Yuan Dynasty. And the buffoonery in the plays well spiced his works. Chapter 5 also tries to record the costumes and properties in his plays so that we can have a glimpse at the artistic criteria at that time. The following chapter is about the writing conventions and breakthrough of Zhu’s plays. The role-types Zhu exerted were basically similar to Yuan Zaju plays; however, he broke the convention of a sole leading singer from Yuan Dynasty so that he could arrange role-types at his will to go with the plots. Compared with the incomplete prose dialogues in zaju-play scripts of Yuan Dynasty, Zhu’s full device of prose dialogues made the Jing actors acquire more performing space. Then there follows the problems originated from the term “quan-bin (full prose dialogues).” This thesis holds the point of view that the Zaju plays printed in Yuan Dynasty were scripts more like “scenario drama,” a kind of scripts for the leading male and female only. Therefore, the commonly noted term “quan-bin” in Zhu’s plays makes it clear that his play scripts were more like “quan-guan-chuan” or “zong-jiang-ben,” scripts fully contains the lines of all roles. From this, it can be inferred that the play-writing process in Yuan Dynasty might begin with verses, with the prose dialogues added gradually by others. Generally speaking, Zhu You-dun was both a follower and pioneer in the development of Zaju plays. Although he instilled too much morals into his plays, which lessened his humanity concern and literature achievement, those plays infused with dancing, singing, and humor still made him an artist of his time.
Subjects
Zhou Xian-Wang(the exemplary prince of Zhou)
Zhu You-dun
Cheng-zhai Yue-fu
Cheng-zhai Zaju
Cheng-zhai Chuan-qi
Chinese-Opera History of the early Ming Dynasty
zaju(variety plays)
Type
thesis
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