The Story of Pipa was adapted by Gao Ming from the long-standing folk opera Zhao Zhennv Cai Erlang. According to Nanci's account, the original plot of Zhao Zhen's daughter Cai Erlang was to expose that once Cai Bozhen had a successful career, she betrayed her wife and prevented her from remarrying. Later, her daughter went to Beijing to find her husband, but Boyi was so heartless that she stepped on Zhao. As a result, he himself was punished and killed by Lei Zhen with violence. As the lyrics of the Peking Opera "Shang Xiao's Tomb" say: "The good five mothers were jumped by horses, and the last one who died was that Cai Bozhen." The whole plot is similar to "Wang Kui" and "Zhang Xie's No.1 Scholar", which are despicable acts of lashing ungrateful feudal scholars. However, when Gao Ming adapted Zhao Zhennv into The Story of the Pipa, he wrote Cai Bozhen as a positive figure, praised him as a typical example of loyalty, filial piety and righteousness, and changed the tragic ending into a happy ending.
The Story of Pipa says that Cai is a dutiful son and has a good relationship with Zhao Wuniang after marriage. The reasons for the drama contradiction are: he refused to go to Beijing for the exam, but his father refused; After he won the top prize in the exam, Niu Fu recruited him as his husband, and he resigned, but Niu Prime Minister refused to follow. He wanted to resign and return to his post, but the emperor refused. This is the so-called "three disobedience" or "three strong", which proves that "betraying parents and abandoning wives" is forced to cause, and the responsibility is not on Cai, which is the main purpose of defending Cai. Another clue in the play is that after Cai went to Beijing, his hometown Chen suffered a severe famine, and Zhao Wuniang struggled to maintain her family's livelihood. After Cai Po and Cai Gong starved to death, Zhao Wuniang played the pipa and begged all the way to Beijing to find her husband. Due to Niu Girl's kindness and generosity, Zhao Wuniang and Cai Bojie finally got together and got a reward from the court. The brilliant creative intention is obviously to promote feudal morality. At the beginning of the script, he declared: "It's not the problem of weathering, but the futility of being a good person." "Don't talk about gags, don't look for maids, just look at the filial piety of polygamous marriage." However, while pointing out its feudal dross, we should also see the essence of democracy in the play, mainly because the author successfully portrayed the tragic image of Zhao Wuniang, a working woman. Through Zhao Wuniang's tragic experience, the play condemns the harm of the imperial examination system to people's hearts, exposes the evils of feudal ethics, reflects the tragic situation in rural areas after the disaster, criticizes the atrocities committed by officials to fish and fish villagers, and highlights the social contradictions at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.
Generally speaking, the author subjectively hopes to "stand for the literati" and publicize the feudal morality of loyalty, filial piety, monarch and minister. But its ideological content is more complicated: it shows that loyalty and filial piety are difficult in feudal society, and there are some criticisms at the same time; While propagating feudal morality, he also criticized the dark reality at that time and exposed the darkness of feudal society such as the tyranny of Prime Minister Niu and the corruption of local officials.
Full-text translation of Pipa Story;
Enter the court as a dormitory for Tian, and stay overnight in Tianzitang.
Princes and princes are not born rich. Children from poor families can become pillars if they work hard. My hero should work hard.
If you don't endure the biting cold in winter, plum blossoms won't have a tangy aroma.
After studying hard at the cold window for ten years, no one knows your hard work. When you won the first prize in the exam, people all over the world began to worship you.
Originally, I dedicated my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon didn't care, just shining in the ditch without intuition.
The original text of Pipa Xing:
Pipa story
Gaoming in yuan dynasty
The court is Tian Shelang, and at dusk it is the palace of the son of heaven.
There are no seeds at home, and men should be self-reliant.
It's not freezing in the cold, so where does the plum blossom smell come from?
No one has asked under the window for ten years, and it is famous all over the world.
I turn my heart to the bright moon, which shines on the ditch.
Content summary:
Pipa tells the story of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Cai Bojie, a scholar, left his parents and wife to travel in Beijing, and never returned after years, which led to a family tragedy and finally glorified his ancestors. Chen Liudu, Cai Bozhen, married his wife Zhao Wuniang. They have been married for two months, and the husband and wife respect each other. Cai's parents are in good health and the family is harmonious and happy. On beautiful days in spring, the whole family spent some wine to celebrate their parents' birthdays.
Soon, the imperial court recruited talents on the yellow list, and all counties reported Cai Bozhen to their superiors. Abreu firmly refused, on the grounds that his parents were too old to leave. Cai's mother is also afraid of losing her dependence and doesn't want to go to Beijing to take the exam. But Cai's father thought it was a good opportunity to honor his ancestors and forced Berger to try. Neighbors also agreed and promised to take care of Cai's family. April is helpless, so he has to go to Beijing.
Reach the top in one fell swoop, and the official worships Lang. He misses his parents and is preparing to resign. Unexpectedly, Prime Minister Niu ordered Uncle to be his husband at this time. Uncle Bo refused because he had a wife and his parents were very old, and they all resigned. Niu Xiang was very angry and told the court that the imperial edict prohibited Abel from resigning from his post and marriage. April had to marry Miss Niu.
After April left, Zhao Wuniang went all out to serve her in-laws at home. At that time, it was in a famine year, and life was difficult. The Cai family was in trouble. Cai's mother complained that Cai's father shouldn't force Boyi to take the exam in Beijing. They quarreled all day. Wuniang tried every means to persuade her to sell hairpin jewelry for food and rice to support her in-laws. But she secretly ate bran, starved herself, and finally got some relief food, which was taken away by the bully.
Wu Niang's behavior of hiding in the kitchen to eat bran aroused the suspicion of Cai's parents. They think she is stealing delicious food behind her back. One day, Cai's parents suddenly broke into the kitchen and took Wuniang's food for inspection, only to know that his daughter-in-law was eating bran. In grief, Cai's mother died of grief, and Cai's father regretted not letting him enter Beijing. Soon, Cai Fu became ill. Before he died, he felt deeply guilty about the hard work of his daughter-in-law Zhao Wuniang. He wanted Wuniang to remarry, and left Guang Cai a crutch to wait for Abel to come back and drive him out of the house. When Cai's father died, Wuniang cut her hair and sold it, buried her father-in-law, built her own cemetery with a linen skirt, painted the portrait of her in-laws, carried a lute on her back, and went all the way to Beijing to find her husband.
Cai is playing the piano to express his worries. Because of his uneasy mind, he makes mistakes from time to time. He missed his parents and wife and asked someone to send a message back to his hometown. Unexpectedly, the person who sent the message was a liar and the letter was not sent out. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, I enjoyed the moon in the garden with cows. The moonlight is bright, and Niu Niu is in a happy mood. Bobo is sad to see the moon and misses his family. Niu saw through Bo Shu's mind, so he suggested that the Prime Minister allow himself and Bo Shu to visit relatives in Chen. After careful consideration, Prime Minister Niu decided to meet Chen's parents and wife in person and come to Beijing.
Zhao Wuniang went to Beijing alone, which coincided with the opening of the Buddhist meeting in Mituo Temple, and went to recommend her in-laws. In front of the temple, she sang with a portrait of her in-laws. At this time, Aibo also came to the Buddhist temple to pray for his parents to have a safe journey. Uncle's entourage drove Wuniang away because she was singing in the way, and Uncle took the portrait of his parents back to the house. Wuniang went to look for a portrait and met Niu Girl. They cherish each other, tell their hearts and stories, and then they know that "three things will not be a disaster."
Under Niu Girl's arrangement, Wu Nian and Wu Nian met and told each other in detail the situation after their departure. Hao Bo felt the pain that "the article was wrong about me, and I was wrong about my parents; The article blames me, I miss my wife's room. " The Prime Minister Niu also changed his mind and agreed that Boyi and Wuniang would return to Chen's tomb. Zhang Guangcai also knew that Abel was helpless and forgave him. At the end of the play, the prime minister Niu wrote a letter to let him see Cai's family.
About the author:
Gaoming (about 1307—— about 137 1 year) was a drama writer in Yuan Dynasty. The word "sincere" is called "Taoist Caigen". Zhejiang Ruian. Ryan is an ancient Yongjia county, and Yongjia is also called Dong Jia, so later people call it Gao Dong Jia. Born in a scholarly family, he traveled from the famous Confucian Huang Cheng. Yuan Shundi was a scholar of Zheng Zheng in the fifth year (1345), and successively served as the secretariat of Chuzhou, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Dong Zhe and Fujian. It's good that the official voice is clean and honest. In his later years, he lived in seclusion in the Oak Club in the east of Ningbo, entertaining himself with lyrics and songs. According to legend, in the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang admired his name and sent messengers to recruit him. He "couldn't pretend to be crazy" and soon died of illness. Represented by the southern opera Pipa. There are 20 volumes of poetry anthology "Rukezhai Collection", which has been lost. Mao Guangsheng, a close friend, once compiled 49 poems and one poem, which was published in the ancestral hall of Yongjia poets.
Creative background:
social context
The phenomenon that a scholar abandoned his wife after making a fortune in Thailand described in Pipa Story is closely related to the imperial examination system in Song Dynasty. According to the imperial examination system, no matter what family background, you can be an official as long as you take the Chinese exam. This provides a shortcut for the poor to get rich. "The imperial court is Tian Shelang and the Temple of Heaven at dusk" is a portrayal of this situation. When a scholar enters the official career, he needs to find a backer, and his family forces also need to attract new people to expand their power. Marriage became a means to combine their interests. However, when the scholar climbs the lofty branch and abandons the dross wife, it will inevitably conflict with the original concept of repaying the family and the citizen class, leading to family and moral tragedy. People don't like the impetuousness of literati, and they criticize them with words and strokes, which is also the reason why a large number of works condemning marriage and change have been produced in Song Dynasty. Marriage stories in Song Dynasty are generally aimed at literati, because at that time, they not only had a good social status, but also shouldered social responsibilities as moral inheritors who knew how to be polite. The contrast between identity and behavior naturally makes them the main targets of public condemnation, especially citizens.
In the Yuan Dynasty, the social situation changed greatly, and the situation of scholars fell from the sky to the ground. The imperial examination in Yuan Dynasty was interrupted for more than 70 years. At the end of Yuan Dynasty, the imperial examination system was good and bad. This makes many scholars lose their position in the world, and their social status drops sharply, which leads to the saying of "nine sons and ten beggars". In connection with this, the tragic works condemning the scholar's betrayal of marriage have gradually lost their realistic pertinence. Scholars with low status have become the object of sympathy. Therefore, the literati images in Yuan Zaju are either mediocre and timid, or pedantic and introverted. Although most of them lack luster, they are rarely used as whipping objects. By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, people felt more and more sorry for the scholar whose status could not be improved, and the works praising the scholar's sincerity gradually became the mainstream of traditional Chinese opera. The Story of Pipa depicts the image of Cai Bojie with sympathy and tolerance, reflecting the social model at that time.
creation time
Gao Ming was admitted to the Jinshi in Zheng Zhi, Yuan Shundi for five years (1345), and has since entered the official career. He has served as a state secretariat, Shaoxing Taoist judge and Qingyuan Taoist official. After resigning from his post, he lived in the Oak Club, 20 miles south of Ningbo, and lived in Shen Shi House, closed the door and thanked guests, immersed in the creation of poetry and drama. The Story of Pipa was written in Zheng Zheng from the 22nd year (1362) to the 25th year (1365).
Pipa Story belongs to the category of Southern Opera in Song and Yuan Dynasties. South Opera is the abbreviation of South Opera, which is a proper noun relative to North Opera. It originally originated in Wenzhou in the south, and was originally called "Wenzhou Zaju" or "Yongjia Zaju". According to Zhu Zhishan's Wretched Talk in Ming Dynasty, "Southern Opera is called Wenzhou Zaju after Xuanhe and Nandu. When I saw my hometown, there was a list of Zhao Hong's husbands, and quite a few names were mentioned, such as Zhao Zhen's daughter Cai Erlang. " Xu Wenchang's "Introduction to Southern Opera" said: "Southern Opera began in Song Guangzong, and Yongjia people's" Zhao Zhennv "and" Wang Kui "are two real firsts." It can be seen that South Opera originated from Huizong Xuanhe (119-1125) in the Northern Song Dynasty, and went through the sour period in the early Southern Song Dynasty until Guangzong (1190-/)
Story source
Pipa Story was adapted from Zhao Zhennv (Zhao Zhennv Cai Erlang), a folk southern opera, and there was a Jin and Yuan version of Cai Bojie earlier. According to records, the plot of Cai Erlang, the daughter of Zhao Zhen, a drama in the Song Dynasty, is roughly described as Cai Erlang taking the exam and winning the first place in the exam. He was greedy for fame and fortune, abandoned his parents and wife and became a married woman. In the famine years, his wife Zhao Zhennv supported her family independently, supported her in-laws and tried her best to be filial. After her in-laws' death, she wrapped her skirt in the soil, built a grave, and then carried the pipa on her back to Beijing to find her husband. But Cai Erlang not only refused to recognize each other, but also released his horse and kicked it, which made the immortals angry. Finally, Cai Erlang was killed by a thunderstorm.
Cai Erlang, also known as Cai Zhonglang, was written in the drama of the Song Dynasty and was also a famous scholar of the Han Dynasty, Cai Yong, whose name was Uncle. What is written in the play is only out of folklore. Lu You said in the poem "A boat swims near the thatched cottage, and the boat goes home": "The setting sun is ancient Liu Cun, and the drums are blind; Who's in charge after death? The whole village has heard about Cai Zhonglang! " It can be seen that as early as the early Southern Song Dynasty, the folk literature and art with Cai Erlang as the theme had been widely sung in urban and rural areas. Similar to this kind of theme, in the Song Dynasty, such as talking, drums, tunes and zaju, there are also Wang Kui's negative feelings, Chen's three negative feelings, Wang Zongdao's negative feelings and so on. This shows that the phenomenon of cheating on marriage by scholars was quite common at that time, and the behavior of scholars greedy for the new and abandoning the old and clinging to dragons and phoenixes was particularly concerned by the public.
Pipa Story basically inherits the framework of Zhao Zhennv's story, but it changes the image of Cai who abandoned his son behind his wife's back. It retains her daughter's chastity and fierceness, but completely transforms Cai's image, making her a "loyal and filial" scholar. In order to support his elderly parents, he was not keen on fame and fortune, but refused to try, resigned and resigned from his marriage. This "three disobedience" led to a series of misfortunes. Unfortunately, both parents starved to death and won the fame and fortune of their children.
Express the theme:
The Story of Pipa is a southern opera adapted and created by Gao Ming, a drama writer at the end of Yuan Dynasty, based on the long-standing folk opera Zhao Zhennv Cai Erlang, and it is a classic in ancient Chinese opera. The play tells the love story of Cai and Zhao Wuniang, talented people in the Eastern Han Dynasty. There are 42 plays, the structure is complete and ingenious, the language is elegant and vivid, showing the literati's delicate eyes and hearty techniques. It is a highly integrated work of China's lyric literature and drama art.
Influence of later generations:
What is described in Pipa Story is really the content of "filial piety and good wife". Gao Ming emphasized the importance of feudal ethics and hoped to educate the audience through the "moving" power of opera. In this respect, The Story of Pipa has had some negative effects. However, Gao Ming advocated that drama must be related to weathering and educational functions, and regarded South Opera, which was despised by literati at that time, as a tool for carrying Taoism, but it was intended to raise the status and value of South Opera. At the same time, face up to the truth of social life, while affirming the dutiful son and wife, expose the contradiction of feudal ethics, show the social tragedy caused by feudal ethics, and give the audience a strong shock.
The Story of Pipa positively affirms the feudal ethics, but shows the tragic fate of "full of loyalty and filial piety" Cai and "loyal and fierce" Zhao Wuniang, which can arouse doubts about the rationality of the feudal ethics. In feudal times, intellectuals who adhered to moral principles often fell into the conflict between emotion and reason, personal will and family ethics. The tragic implication of Pipa is profound and universal, which has more social value than simply condemning the theme of Sad Man.
Pipa Story is a work to persuade loyalty and filial piety, and it is also a work with rich ideological and polysemy. In thousands of years of ancient society, the social moral concepts such as loyalty, filial piety and righteousness, which have been formed and gradually developed by the Chinese nation for a long time, have both good and bad elements, and so does filial piety in ancient times. There are some foolish filial piety in ancient times, such as "the father wants his son to die, and the son is unfilial if he doesn't die" or "cutting shares to save his mother", which are all bad. It is good to have parents who love their parents and do good deeds, so as to repay their kindness and let them spend their old age safely. The Story of Pipa is intended to carry forward filial piety, the good side of filial piety and the excellent morality of the Chinese nation, which is of great practical significance to the construction of socialist spiritual civilization.
The literary achievement of Pipa has greatly surpassed the works in the three plays of Yongle Dadian. Gao Zecheng is an outstanding writer. On the basis of folk creation, he raised the creation of juggling scripts to a new level. His position in the development history of Southern Opera is quite similar to that of Guan Hanqing in the development history of Zaju. The artistic achievements of Pipa Story not only influenced the drama circle at that time, but also set a good example for the legends of Ming and Qing Dynasties. Therefore, it used to be called "the ancestor of Southern Opera".
The Narrative of Nanci records: "When I ascended the throne as the high emperor, I could not pretend to be crazy when I heard his name and asked him to levy it. The high emperor was no longer strong. Death, death. From time to time, people who offer stories about pipa laugh and say,' Five Classics and Four Books, cloth, silk, rice and millet, every family has it; The brilliant Pipa Story, such as delicacies, is indispensable for wealthy families. ""This shows the influence of Pipa and the author's reputation.
The story of pipa has been circulated for more than 600 years since it came out, and has been attracting worldwide attention. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, not only ordinary people recited family heirlooms, but also they were called "women's mirrors", and the operas of famous male scholars were often regarded as topics. In the process of inheritance, Pipa Story has been adapted by many dramas at the same time or later, and its communication forms are diverse. Such as Kunqu Opera Pipa, Yue Opera Pipa, Henan Opera Pipa, Sichuan Opera Pipa, Peking Opera Zhao Wuniang, Huai Opera Zhao Wuniang, etc. , all adapted from Gaoming Pipa. It has also been translated into French and Japanese and spread abroad. The Chinese Dramatists Association once held a seminar on evaluation and arrangement of pipa in Beijing.
Evaluation of works:
Wei Liangfu's The Melody of Pipa in Ming Dynasty was written by Gao Zecheng. Although written after the Moon Pavilion, it is a self-styled Qu Zu, with beautiful ancient meaning and exquisite rhyme, which is the program of all words.
In the Ming Dynasty, The Four Friends said, "During the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, people called the northern opera zaju and the southern opera operas. Modern people's zaju take Wang Shifu's The West Chamber and Gao Zecheng's The Pipa as their swan songs. "
Wang Shizhen's Art Garden in the Ming Dynasty said: "People who are so sincere must be the most expressive people, not only because of their work of writing sentences, but also because of the beauty of things. It is considerate and necessary. It describes the state of things as if it were life. Don't twist when answering questions, so good. "
Lu Tiancheng's Qupin in the Ming Dynasty: "It's very appropriate to insert strings, with mixed joys and sorrows, and the genre can be seen. You can learn from the law, but you can't reach it."
In the early Qing Dynasty, Zhu Yizun wrote a poem in a quiet place: "Smell it, and write sincerely. Light two candles at night, fill in the chaff when it comes out, and say' chaff rice Qi Fei'. If two candles are combined into one, there will be a difference. "
In the Qing Dynasty, Jue wrote a collection of idle pens in the Lushan Pavilion: "Pipa is the ancestor of Nanqu and Xixiang is the ancestor of Beiqu. Nourishing words are wonderful. "