At the beginning of the 20th century, China was on the eve of the bourgeois revolution, and some aspiring young people painstakingly sought the truth and the remedy for saving the country. At that time, Japan produced a kind of drama called new drama in the civil rights movement, in which the democratic spirit and novel form deeply attracted the attention and interest of some students studying in Japan who loved drama. Under its influence, in the winter of 1906, Li Shutong, Zeng Xiaogu and other Japanese students studying in established the literary and art group Chunliu Society in Tokyo. Li Shutong, a native of Pinghu, Zhejiang Province, lived in Tianjin, traveled to Japan in 1905, and went to Japan National School of Fine Arts in Tokyo to study painting and enjoy music. 19 10 returned to China after studying abroad, 19 12 joined the bourgeois revolutionary group nanshe, 19 18 converted to Buddhism and took the legal name hongyi. Zeng Xiaogu, a native of Chengdu, Sichuan, studied in Japan and also studied at Tokyo National School of Fine Arts. Later, Ou Yangyuqian, a liberal arts student at Waseda University, Lv Jingruo, Wu Wozun, Huang, Mark, Ma Jiang Shi, Xie and Zhuang Yunshi, all joined the Liu Chun Institution. With the aim of studying all kinds of literature and art, Chunliu Society was the first to establish the Department of Performing Arts. The purpose of the Performing Arts Department of Chunliu Society is to "improve Chinese opera, help change the atmosphere, perform old and new operas with a fair purpose, and focus on inspiring knowledge and inspiring spirit".
1907 In February, Liu Chunshe staged the third act of the drama La Traviata in the disaster relief casino in the auditorium of the Chinese YMCA in Tokyo. The main plot is that Yameng's father visits La Traviata, and La Traviata reluctantly agrees to leave Yameng. Play Mo Feng (La Traviata), play Yameng, Zeng Xiaogu play Yameng's father, and Sun Gansan and Tang play Mo Feng's girlfriend. Among them, Zeng Xiaogu played Yameng's father, which was particularly successful. The famous Japanese new drama Kenjiro Fujisawa not only supports the performance, but also gives guidance. This is the first performance of the Spring Willow Society after its establishment, and it can also be called the first official performance of China's drama, which has a great influence on the drama activities being nurtured in China. Later, Ou Yangyuqian said in Since I Played: "This performance can be said to be the first time for China people to play a drama."
In June of the same year, the Spring Willow Club held the "Ding Wei Performing Arts Conference" in Tokyo, and officially premiered the five-act drama "Black Slave Record" adapted by Zeng Xiaogu according to the Chinese translation of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by the American woman writer Mrs. Stowe (translated by Lin Qinnan and Wei). The protagonist Zhe Hezhi is a "strong and talented" slave. In the play, Zhe Hezhi was rented to Williamson factory by owner Han Degen. He invented a machine and got a prize from Williamson. Han Degen was very angry. He took Zhe Zhi Zhi home and abused him more. Zhe Zhi Zhi managed to escape. Zheji's wife Eliza is a slave in a white family, and their son Xiao Hai, like another old slave Tom, was released and mortgaged to the slave dealer Liu Hai. They also escaped. These slaves met on a snowy cliff in the deep mountain. At this time, Han Degen led people to hunt down and struggled with wisdom, and finally killed the slave trader, and everyone escaped. The Record of the Black Slave Calling Heaven exposes the evils of buying and selling black people and racial oppression in Zeng Xiaogu's adaptation, especially highlights the slave's rebellious spirit and reflects the rising national democratic thought of China people. The main actors are Zeng Xiaogu, Huang Muqiang and Xie. Play George Jr., the son of Xie. This is the first play written by China. The whole play adopts the split-act method of western drama, and there is no drama between scenes. Oral dialogue and action are the main means of performance, which fully embodies the performance style of the play. His performance caused a great sensation in Tokyo and attracted the attention of Japanese cultural and drama circles. Famous writers, such as Hirauchi Xiaoyao and Xiao Shajing Xun, came to watch the performance. Waseda Literature, an influential Japanese magazine, published a 20-page drama review, which spoke highly of the performance and its positive significance. /kloc-in the summer of 0/909, Chunliu Society staged a four-act drama "Hot Blood" in the name of Shen, starring Lu Jingruo and others. This play is based on the works of the French writer Sadou. In the play, the revolutionaries escaped from prison, fought bravely against the reactionary authorities and died generously, which strongly infected the young audience. The script of this play is complete, the dramatic action runs through, and the stage image is relatively unified. Due to the interference of the China legation, the play was stopped.
The activities of the Liu Chun Institution not only caused a sensation in the East, but also affected the whole country. 1907 10 Influenced by Liu Chunshe, Wang Zhongsheng founded the drama group Chunyang Society in Shanghai. The main members are Xiao,, and so on. The drama club is funded by Ma and Shen Zhongli. Wang Zhongsheng studied law in Germany in his early years and returned to China in 1906. He taught in Hunan and Guangxi and was a member of the League. He 1907 went to Shanghai because the authorities wanted to arrest him. I met the famous Peking Opera actor Wang Xiaonong. At first, he performed some plays with Peking Opera actors, and later he founded Chunyang Society. In September of the same year, Black Slave Xu Tianlu was also staged in Shanghai Lanxin Grand Theatre. Influenced by the Spring Willow Society, he wrote a script for the first time, used scenery and made a large-scale performance in the theater. The script was adapted by Xu. Later, Ou Yangyuqian called this performance "the beginning of China's drama". Soon, Chunyangshe performed "Wenxiang Zhang Pricking Horse" and other plays in Shanghai Xinjiayuan. In the second half of this year, Wang Zhongsheng and Ren Tianzhi also founded Tongjian School, the first school in China to train new drama talents. During 1908, Wang Zhongsheng led a delegation to perform Qiu Jin and Xu Xilin in Beijing and Tianjin, which expanded the influence of the new drama. Wang Zhongsheng is a revolutionary playwright. During the Revolution of 1911, he was the chief of staff of the military government. When he went to Tianjin to lead the uprising, he was arrested and killed by the Qing government. Therefore, Wang Zhongsheng was also the pioneer and pioneer of China's early drama movement.
Interestingly, in the early days when drama was introduced to China, its performances were sometimes combined with Peking Opera, which was called "Erguotou" at that time. The performance of "The Record of Black Slaves Calling Heaven" by Chunyang Society is really a drama performance. It uses dramatic scenes and dialogues. The characters wear suits and boots, and the faces of the slaves in the play are not blackened. However, some elements of Peking Opera were used in the performance, such as beating gongs and drums, singing Xipi and Huanger, reciting introductions, playing poems or counting boards. In addition, Shanghai Peking Opera actors also performed a Peking Opera version of "Days of the Negro" in April, 19 13. The performance venue is on the new stage, starring Pan, Feng, Xia Yuerun, Qiu Zhiyun, Zhao Wenlian and Zhou. It can be seen that the influence of the play "The Record of the Black Slave" is great. Therefore, later generations called it the pioneering work of China's drama.
Spring Willow Society started its activities in Tokyo, and its influence has spread to China. Later, as members of the Liu Chun community returned to China, their activities also expanded to China. 19 10, Lu Jingruo returned to China for a holiday, stayed in Shanghai with Wang Zhongsheng and Xu Zhuo, set up a new theater for literature and art, and performed new plays such as Turn Back, Patriotic Passion and Xu Xilin. 19 12 At the beginning of this year, Lu Jingruo returned to China. In April, Ou Yangyuqian, Chun Wu, Ma Jiang and other former members of Shanghai Liu Chun Society were invited to absorb some young dramatists in Shanghai, organize a new drama comrades' meeting, and formally engage in professional drama activities. First of all, they performed "Family Bitterness" written by Lv Jingruo, described the family changes in feudal society, and castigated the decadent life of the officer Wang family. Lv Jingruo plays Wang, Wu Huiren and the prostitute Xiao Taohong, Ma Jiangshi plays Mei Xian, and Romance plays Wang Fusheng. In addition to family hatred, he also performed Huanghuagang, sports power, social clock, blood, mandarin duck sword and so on. 19 14 At the beginning of the year, Lv Jingruo hung up the signboard of "Spring Willow Theater" again and gave a professional performance at Mudry Theater, giving performances such as Better Return, Floating Clouds, Ten Sisters, etc. The group name was still the new drama gay club.
No matter whether it is the new drama gay club or the Spring Willow Theater, their backbones are all members of the original Spring Willow Club, and they have always maintained the purpose and style of the Spring Willow Club, so this is also a domestic activity in the later period of the Spring Willow Club. During the three years from 19 12 to the autumn of 19 15, they not only performed in Shanghai, but also toured in Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Changsha and other places, and always adhered to the non-commercial tendency of drama, giving a total of 8/kloc-0 performances. It aims to expose the evils of feudal families and the corruption of officialdom, praise revolutionary heroes and pure love, and express the desire of national independence and democratic revolution, which has certain social significance. All plays have a complete script, and the performances have a relatively complete drama form, and attention should be paid to gradually combining with China drama tradition. The actual person in charge at this stage is Lu Jingruo. He is a native of Wujin, Jiangsu Province. He is a liberal arts student at Imperial University in Tokyo, Japan. He also studied acting and stage techniques at the New Theatre Academy in Japan. He is a versatile person who can compose, direct and act. 19 15 autumn, due to economic difficulties, Liu Chun Theatre had to leave Shanghai for Hangzhou. Lv Jingre died of overwork at the age of 30. Then the gay club of the new play was dissolved. Spring Willow Society is the most influential group in the initial stage of China's drama. It introduced the form of drama completely for the first time, and played an enlightening and foundation role in China's drama art. Li Shutong, Zeng Xiaogu, Lu Jingruo, Ou Yangyuqian and Wang Zhongsheng were the founders of China's early dramas.
After the birth of China's drama, it was very active and developed rapidly. Many famous drama groups and outstanding drama artists have emerged, and many exciting and touching masterpieces have been created and performed, which have had a far-reaching impact on society and people. China's plays have experienced ups and downs in the past hundred years, but the mainstream has always adhered to close contact with people's real life, progress and revolution, and nationalization. With their hard artistic practice, several generations of dramatists have written a magnificent and ups and downs development history.