First, the richness of language art in The West Chamber.
Most people who have seen The West Chamber think that the language of this drama is beautiful, which makes people feel as if they have entered a fascinating treasure house of language and art, and feel colorful, dazzling and breathtaking. This drama contains a variety of artistic languages with different styles, which are integrated without leaving any traces of carving. Therefore, to study the language art of The West Chamber, we should first pay attention to the richness of its language art. ..
There are bold lyrics in the play: "Where are the nine storms of [oil gourd]?" ..... This river is divided into Qin Jin Pass and Youyan. Snow waves beat the sky and autumn clouds rolled in the sky; Bamboo cable pontoon bridge, black dragon swallow on the water; East and west collapse Kyushu, and north and south string hundreds of rivers. How to see if the ship is tight? But it's like an arrow leaving the string. "(1) (the first book to fold)
Here, how magnificent the nine Yellow Rivers are and how they flow thousands of miles. There are also beautiful and smooth words in the play: "[Zhong Lu] [Pink Butterfly] is quiet and carefree,
Through the screen window, musk orchid scattered, Zhu Fei shook the double ring. The tower is high, the golden lotus is small, and the silver town is still bright. Instead of brushing away the warm account, lift the soft curtain of May and peek first. "(the third and second fold)
There is a beautiful and profound poetic atmosphere here.
But the lyrics written by monk Huiming in the play are another impassioned "King Kong glare" style. Please look at the second book of the play "Wedge":
[Official] [Correct] Don't read "Hokkekyo", don't pay tribute to "Liang", and wear my shirt. Fight a hero and make a steel rafter with both hands.
[Ending] You and I cheered, the wind played a few drums, and the Buddha shouted. The embroidery team saw the heroes from a distance, and I taught 500 thousand thieves to scare them to death.
This is a heroic oath to beat the floor.
There are also many humorous words in the script. Please look at a song in Copy Hong Jiu Fold (the second fold of the fourth book):
[Ghost Three] Sitting at night, I don't do needlework. * * * elder sister idle, said Zhang's brother was ill for a long time, the two of us called the study behind.
(Ms. Yun) Hello. What did he say?
(Hongyun) He said,' The old man has retired, turning kindness into hatred, and the young man has turned joy into sorrow'. He said, "matchmaker, you go first, but you are behind in teaching young ladies their rights."
Mrs. Yun: He is a girl's family. Why does she lag behind?
(Red singing) [Bald guy] I'm a Taoist acupuncturist. Who wants to see a couple of birds? After this month, they will both live in the same place. Why do you need to ask the reasons one by one?
The lyrics of this passage are very wonderful, especially the matchmaker's witty "confession", which vividly shows the matchmaker's extreme intelligence and the old lady's helplessness, and has a good comedy effect.
The above examples can give us a glimpse of the richness of language art in The West Chamber. The description of the environment and the characterization of the temperament in The West Chamber make us better understand the richness of its language and art ... The description of the environment and atmosphere in the play plays a role in setting off the activities of the characters. The script is Cui Zhang's love poetic drama. The writer describes the environment, highlights poetry, and combines the activities of characters to achieve the realm of scene blending, which is a wonderful pen. In the play, the plot conflict is set in Pujiu Temple, the home of a monk. In poetic language, the author idealizes Pujiu Temple as a "elegant and refreshing" poetic scenic spot. Please see: "The Liulitang is near the blue sky, and the stupa directly invades Han Yun". "There are few people in the lonely monk's room and the moss is full of flowers." Here, there is often a gloomy and solemn atmosphere in the Buddhist temple, listing the guarded Lohan Bodhisattva, the vulgar women who burn incense and the monks who recite the scriptures. They are sketchy and wooden, but only the glazed hall, the quiet monk's room, the moss and the red fallen flowers close to the sky can make the hero and heroine start a romantic story that will last forever in such a poetic environment. Look at the second fold of the third book, and write Yingying's boudoir, "The wind is quiet and the curtains are idle, and the musk is scattered through the screen window, and the double rings ring." The platform is high, the golden lotus is small, and the silver nail is still bright. "Here, by describing Yingying's boudoir, an atmosphere of fragrance is created, which is consistent with Rong Rong's demure, deep and subtle and sentimental character. Even the tragic scenes of individual plots in the play, the author's description still hangs over the poetic atmosphere. For example, the fourth book "Farewell to the Pavilion" has a third fold: "The blue sky and yellow flowers are tight in the west wind, flying north and south. Who is drunk in Xiao Lai's frost forest? Always in tears. "Its language is rendered with the help of the unique expression technique of describing parting feelings in classical poetry, and expresses the sadness of the protagonist when he leaves with that shallow sadness and helpless poetic tone.
When describing the feelings of the characters, the author's genius in mastering the language won the reader's nod again. If we carefully read the language describing the characters in the play, we will feel that the emotions (or typical personalities) of the characters are highlighted one by one, making people feel that their voices are as loud as their mouths. From a linguistic point of view, drama is different from novels or other literary forms. The latter often tells stories in the third person, but the drama must describe the characters in personalized language through the different voices of various characters in the play. The West Chamber is a model in this respect.
Look at the first page of the second book. Sun Feihu soldiers surrounded Pujiu Temple, trying to seize Yingying as Zhazhai's wife, and everyone fell into a panic. Yingying put forward the famous "five conveniences and three schemes": the first scheme is to devote oneself to the thief, the second scheme is to sacrifice one's body to the thief, but the old lady thought it impossible, so she came up with the third scheme: "Don't choose anyone, make meritorious deeds, kill the thief army, sweep away the evil spirit, follow the example of accompanying family members, and would rather marry a hero and become Qin Jin". The old lady thought it was a trivial matter. Although it was inappropriate, it was also caught by a thief. At this point, an excellent Zhang Sheng appeared in front of everyone: "(applause) I have a plan to retreat, why don't you ask me!" Why don't you ask me! It effectively shows Zhang Xiucai's wisdom and courage, which makes people feel that this spoony scholar is not an incompetent coward, but a brave man who is fearless in times of crisis. As a result, Zhang Sheng left a beautiful and deep impression on the hearts of all monks, Yingying and matchmakers.
It should be said that in The Romance of the West Chamber, there are many languages that are emotional and fit the characters. Look at the beginning of the third book "Wedge"-
Yingying: "I heard that Zhang Sheng was ill after listening to the piano that night. Now I'll take the matchmaker to the academy and see what he says? " (Calling Matchmaker)
Matchmaker: "My sister called me. I don't know what happened. I have to ask for it. "
Yingying: "You are so unhappy. Why don't you come to see me? "
Matchmaker: "Do you want a ..."
Yingying: "Zhang what?"
Matchmaker: "My sister Zhang Zhu."
These lines are nothing more than Yingying sending the matchmaker to Zhang Sheng, but the characters speak loudly and see sex. Yingying was not feeling well, but she first blamed the matchmaker for not coming to see her. The matchmaker knew the lady's heart disease like the back of his hand, so he spoke quickly and felt too blunt when he opened his mouth. She was worried that it would be difficult for the lady to step down. After only half a sentence, she paused: "Do you want Zhang ..." Yingying was sensitive to the word "Zhang" and immediately asked. The matchmaker eagerly changed her mouth: "I am Zhang. It shows that the matchmaker is clever and cunning, and is good at dealing with it. This conversation certainly illustrates the close relationship between Yingying and Matchmaker. But Yingying is talking about Yingying's identity, and her words are flashing and unpredictable. Although the matchmaker is a servant, he is alert and resourceful, which makes people fondle it. There are countless such wonderful personalized language dialogues in The West Chamber. Describing characters' personalities through language dialogue is a major feature of the language art of The West Chamber.
The richness of the language in The West Chamber is also reflected in the absorption and application of folk proverbs in the works. Of course, this is also to depict the different personalities of various characters. Throughout the play, playwrights often use elegant language for people with high cultural literacy, such as Zhang Sheng and Yingying, while for people with low cultural literacy, such as Hui Ming monk and matchmaker, they often use colloquial expressions. Please see the second book, Wedge. When monk Huiming went out to sing: [Rolling hydrangea] It's not that I'm greedy, it's not that I dare. I know how he called himself a ginseng fighter and strode straight out of the den. ……
[Playboy] I have never refuted inferiority. I have never been too timid in this world, I dare to fight. I have never decided to live in the same place, and I don't seem to care how to have sex. ……
There are colloquial expressions in the above tunes, such as "Shen Da", "refuting the bad", "Te Te Tan", "Born Dare" and "Not Picking Three", and there are idioms such as "Tiger Cave and Dragon Pool", "Decisiveness" and "Picking Flowers". Through the use of these colloquial idioms, the straightforward character of monk Huiming is portrayed.
Please also look at some songs in the second fold of the fourth "Copying Red": [Yue Diao] [Fighting Quail] I will take you to the Ming Dynasty at night, but it will last forever; It's really you holding the rain and carrying the clouds, which often worries me. Then take the moon and stars, who will take you to sleep all night? There are many old ladies, and there is a temperament of being blocked. I can't do anything without being glib. "
There are many idioms in the above songs, such as "forever", "put your heart in your mouth", "wear the stars with the moon" and "witty remarks". At that time, there were also folk sayings, such as "having a lot of ideas", "temperament" and "doing nothing", all of which were revealed from the mouth of the matchmaker. These well show the matchmaker's enthusiasm, provocation, intelligence and alertness. The use of these idioms and proverbs in the lyrics not only vividly depicts the characters' personalities, but also makes the lyrics easy to understand and catchy, which makes the whole drama achieve the harmonious unity of gorgeous and popular. The author of The Romance of the West Chamber is good at learning and successfully using folk colloquial proverbs, which is one of the factors that make the language of the play colorful.
Second, the literary talent of the language art of The West Chamber
The development of classical opera in the Yuan Dynasty can be said to have reached a peak. As we all know, Yuan Qu, like Tang Poetry and Song Poetry, is a treasure representing a dynasty, which is inseparable from Yuan Qu's achievements in language and art. Yuan Zaju can be divided into two schools: natural school and literary school. Naturalism is characterized by simplicity and fluency; Literary school is characterized by gorgeous writing, brilliant literary talent, great emphasis on modifying words, and good rhetorical skills. Guan Hanqing is a master of natural language, and Wang Shifu is an outstanding representative of literary schools. His masterpiece The West Chamber is a model of literary genre. This work is almost perfect in art, with gorgeous wording, tortuous story, exquisite writing and vivid characters. "Gorgeous language" is the characteristic of the language art in The West Chamber. The characteristic of this language is to form the style of "beauty among flowers" in the script, emphasizing that [earning evil spirits] is hungry and greedy, and I miss my bones. How can I when she wants to turn the corner? Xiu Tao is a minority, even a stone man.
Meaning evokes emotion.
Turn of the Eye is the eye in the song, beautiful and vivid.
The third book is the second, through the mouth of the matchmaker, positive wrote:
[Drunk Spring Breeze] Then I saw his hairpin, cicada, jade and hair hanging in the clouds. Lazy is lazy when the sun is high and your eyes don't know.
T Pu Tianle] The evening makeup is incomplete, the dark clouds are dusty, the pink face is lightly wiped, and the clouds are messy. Stick on Jane, press the cosmetic box, open the cover and read carefully. It doesn't hurt to toss and turn.
This lyric depicts Yingying's lazy and demure appearance in beautiful artistic language, but her inner anxiety and waiting for the news that Zhang Sheng is ill, as well as her happy mood after seeing a simple post. It can be seen that the author of the script, like the object, has gorgeous and beautiful language and maintained the artistic style of "beauty among flowers", which can also be seen everywhere when writing other characters in the play, such as Zhang Sheng, matchmaker, old lady, Huiming monk and so on. Without this colorful beauty in language, "beauty in flowers" will be eclipsed. Let's take a look at some famous sentences (poems) in The West Chamber, so as to better appreciate the brilliant literary talent of "Beauty among Flowers".
Butterfly powder is lightly stained with flying snow, and the smell of Yan mud makes the dust fall. In spring, the mood is short and the willows are long, and the distance between people is far away. (The first discount of the second book)
Surrounded by mountains, a whip is still shining. (The third discount of the fourth book)
Under the west wing of the moon, the windward door was half open and the partition moved. Suspected to be a jade man. (The second discount for the third book)
These witticisms can be seen everywhere in The West Chamber, which is really beautiful. There is no need to give examples here. It is the artistic language of "admonishing people, fragrant and full of words" that makes The West Chamber full of poetry and become a poetic drama that has been sung for hundreds of generations.
When it comes to poetry, if the words are gorgeous and brilliant, there is no better way than Tang poetry and Song poetry. The success of the playwright of The West Chamber lies in that he absorbed the exquisite language of Tang poetry and Song poetry, making the language of the play more literary. For example, in the first book, Zhang Sheng's lyrics: "[Happiness on earth] only suspects that the Milky Way will fall for nine days." It is a sentence from the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai's "Looking at Lushan Waterfall": "Flying down three thousands of feet, it is suspected that the Milky Way has set for nine days." Another example is the lyrics of the second book: "[Hunjianglong] ... is far from Huayin people." It is to use the words of Zhu, a poetess in the Song Dynasty, in the poem "Health Mistakes": "If you think about Chu from afar, people are far away." Another example is Zhang Sheng's lyrics in the fourth fold of the first book: "[Yuanyangsha] has the meaning of fighting for grace, but affection is ruthless." Here is the sentence in Su Song Dongpo's poem "Die Lian Hua": "Laughter fades away, passion is ruthless." You can cite more such examples. Obviously, playwrights
His love for Tang poetry and Song poetry makes him not only happy to use the artistic expression technique of blending poetry and scenery in his plays, but also happy to use the classic famous sentences in these poems to make them fit in with the characters, feelings and environment in the play, thus adding colorful and brilliant literary talent to this dramatic increase.
The literary talent of The West Chamber is unparalleled in terms of beauty, beauty and moving. On the other hand, the literary talent of this drama is also reflected in its rich rhetorical skills, so the language modification of this drama has reached a beautiful realm. According to the statistics of General History of China Opera edited by Zhang Geng and Guo Hancheng, there are as many as 34 rhetorical devices used in the whole drama. There is only one figure of speech here-the use of reduplicated words in Reduplicated Words, such as the fourth fold of the fourth volume in the play, "[Wild geese fall] with blue walls and high willows, the quiet door covers the autumn night, the fallen leaves scatter on the top of the forest, and the clouds wear the window and the moon." The use of overlapping words such as "green meaning", "tranquility", "sparse thorn" and "faint sadness" here has played a great role in strengthening the expressive force of language and enhancing the rendering of environment. Look at the third fold of the first book in the play. How does the author vividly use reduplication to express Zhang Sheng's actions and mood?
[Cantonese Tune] [Fighting Quail] ... Listen with your ears sideways and walk on tiptoe; Quietly, dive and so on.
[Purple Inflorescence] Waiting for Sister Yingying, who is neat and graceful.
"Quiet" and other overlapping words vividly describe Zhang Sheng's love for Yingying and the protagonist's uneasy mood at first love. There are many similar subtle reduplications in the play, and the clever use of such reduplications makes the works wonderful in drawing pictures, writing feelings and saying things. There are more than 30 other rhetorical techniques.
"Ask the canal that clear? Because there is running water at the source. " It is these rhetorical lyrics that make people feel the exquisiteness of the language in The West Chamber. From this point of view, the literary grace of the language in The West Chamber is the result of careful carving by the author. It must be pointed out that the brilliant language feature of The West Chamber is by no means formalism, which makes people difficult to understand. The language of the whole drama is gorgeous, beautiful, smooth and natural, which has reached the realm of "clear water makes beautiful scenery and natural carving", which is beyond the reach of contemporary and other famous opera writers.
It must also be pointed out that The Romance of the West Chamber is a dramatic work with strict rhythm restrictions. It is not easy to make beautiful lyrics that conform to the characters' environment and rhythm within certain rules. For example, Zhang Sheng sang in the third compromise of the first book: "[What] I suddenly heard it, screamed and was shocked. Yuanlai is a flying bird, rocking around and getting red all the way. " The second book, the fourth compromise, sings ying ying: "... my palace is always different." It's not "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", "Crying for the Forest" or "Sad Phoenix". Six characters and three rhymes are extremely difficult to write. Playwrights fill in rhymes and imitate sounds to write feelings, which are exquisite and wonderful, and really generous. In the Ming Dynasty, He's Four Friends Theory thought that "Wang Shifu is versatile and speaks the truth", which is actually true.
Third, the conclusion
The Romance of the West Chamber is a masterpiece of China's classical opera and even the whole field of classical literature creation. Its profound ideological content and exquisite artistic style make this work occupy the first-class throne for 700 years. The artistic style of a work depends largely on the language art of the work. It can be said that what kind of language is used, what kind of artistic style the work has. The language art of The West Chamber is unparalleled. It inherited the exquisite language art of Tang poetry and Song poetry, absorbed the essence of these classical poems and absorbed the lively spoken language of the people at that time (Yuan Dynasty). After refining and processing, it learned from others, thus forming its own colorful language and artistic characteristics. Therefore, the language art of The West Chamber is not only colorful, but also very elegant. The perfect combination of the two represents the highest achievement of the "literary school" language art of China classical opera.
(1) See China Classical Literature Series The West Chamber, pp. 7-8, edited by Wang Shifu and proofread by Zhang Yanjin, People's Literature Publishing House, 1997. See this book for all the quotations from The West Chamber below.
(2)[ Song] Zhu Pengshi's Random Thoughts on Reading, see (Song Poetry Appreciation Dictionary), Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, 1987, p. 1 17.
(3)[ Tang] Li Bai's poem "After the chaos, Tian En Liu Yelang recalled the past and gave Jiang Geng a good slaughter", "All Tang Poems" Volume 170, page 1752.