According to the existing literature, there are at least four writers of Yuan Zaju, namely,, Yang Jingxian and Ding. Except Fu, the other three have handed down works. Their creation showed unique characteristics in many colorful zaju creations in Yuan Dynasty.
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The creative scope of minority writers is extensive. Like Korean writers, their creative themes involve love dramas, social dramas, immortal Taoist dramas and so on. What is more valuable is that they have expanded and deepened these themes and injected new content; At the same time, he also made bold and unique innovations in art.
First, the theme characteristics
First of all, the inheritance of the theme
The existing works of minority writers mainly include Junbao Shi's love drama Hu Qiu's Wife (also a social drama), Qujiangchi and Ziyunge, Li Zhifu's historical drama Tiger Head Card, Yang Jingxian's fairy tales The Journey to the West and Liu Xingshou. As far as Junbao Shi's three existing works are concerned, the theme of his masterpiece The Autumn Tiger Plays His Wife was first seen in Liu Xiang's Biography of Lienv in the Western Han Dynasty, Ge Hong's Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing in the Western Jin Dynasty and Yan Nian's Autumn Tiger Poetry in the Southern Song Dynasty. Later, there were Hu Qiu's essays in the Tang Dynasty and Hu Qiu's operas in the Southern Song Dynasty. The story of Qujiangchi was first popular in the Tang Dynasty, originally named "A Flower Talk". Yuan Qi once said: "When I tasted the story of a flower in Xinchang House, I never finished reading it." Later, Bai Xingjian wrote Li Wa Biography based on it. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the story of Li Yaxian and Zheng Yuanhe was widely circulated among the people, and Junbao Shi created a more vivid and vivid image of Li Yaxian with the biography of Li Wa as the framework. Obviously, the themes of these two works are taken from the previous generation, and their Ziyunge is also worth considering. In Yuan Dynasty, the Southern Opera "The Son of a Official Staggered" was basically consistent with its plot, while the 29 operas recorded by Qian Nanyang in the fifth episode of "Staggered" were all works of Song and Yuan Dynasties. Based on this, it can be speculated that Ziyunge may have found the wrong body. As far as Yang Jingxian is concerned, the story of Xuanzang's learning from the scriptures in The Journey to the West's zaju originated from Xuanzang's trip to the Western Regions in the Tang Dynasty, followed by The Journey to the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, The biography of Master Sanzang of the Tang Dynasty and Poems of Tang Sanzang's Learning from the Scriptures written by his disciples. At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Yang Jingxian wrote The Journey to the West's Zaju based on these works, taking notes and novels from Tang and Song Dynasties, as well as various operas and folklore related to learning from the West. It can be seen that the themes of the existing works of minority writers are mostly taken from the previous generation, thus showing inheritance.
Secondly, Junbao Shi's love drama highlights the innovation and depth of the theme. Compared with similar themes in the history of literature, the heroine of Junbao Shi's love drama has a stronger fighting spirit and a stronger sense of democracy and freedom. As far as Qiuhu's wife is concerned, in Lienv Zhuan, Xijing Miscellanies and Qiuhu's poems with similar themes, Hu Qiu's wife drowned, which is consistent with the women's chastity advocated in feudal morality. Bianwen and Wen Xi, the plot is either missing or can't be tested, and I don't know how it ends. On the basis of these themes, Junbao Shi vividly reproduces Luo Meiying's heroine image, especially depicts her plots of beating, scolding, demanding divorce and putting forward the "wife program", vividly and delicately portrays Mei Ying's spirit of not wanting power, not greedy for money and daring to struggle. In particular, the "wife-in-law" scheme put forward by her not only surpasses the image of Qiu Hu's wife in all previous works, but also is comparable to similar works of the same era. For example, Yang Xianzhi's Night Rain in Xiaoxiang is not only a drama about love and marriage, but also a drama about family morality, both of which can be compared with Autumn Tiger's Wife. After arriving in Xiao, he abandoned his ex-wife Zhang and married another one, and then wanted to get rid of Zhang. Zhang finally punished him and reunited his family. Although Zhang was also punished, it can't be compared with Mei Ying's "Lead a totally clean life plan". The "wife plan" here is the embodiment of women's independent will and self-awareness, and they decide their own destiny! Although there are limitations in the work-Mei Ying had to give in to her mother-in-law's will and had a family reunion, after all, in this work, women made their own voices, which was really commendable in that dark age!
Qujiangchi did the same, praising Li Yaxian's indomitable struggle for love. In the play, her pursuit of love is persistent and bold, and her resistance to mother duck is even more determined. When the duck objected to her combination with Yuanhe, she scolded loudly; When she saved Yuanhe's life and was dragged back by her angry mother, she worked harder to win Yuanhe back and redeem herself. In this way, she got rid of the mother duck completely and got happiness. As a work describing the love between a scholar and a prostitute, the heroine Li Yaxian is more active, aggressive and stubborn than the female images in similar novels, such as Xie Tianxiang, Saving the Wind and Jinchi. In Ziyunge, however, it praises the love that breaks the boundaries between the state and the hierarchy, which undoubtedly contains a clear sense of democracy.
It can be seen that Junbao Shi's love drama shows its own uniqueness, which further expands the traditional theme of love and marriage.
In addition, works that reflect ethnic relations and describe the customs of ethnic minorities also clearly reflect the depth of the theme. Li Zhifu's "Tiger Head Brand" has a strong national color. "Ghost Record" records: "Jurchen lives in Dexing House, that is, Puwu". He described the life of this nation with his unique identity. In the play, Yinzhu Ma is called "the army that dares to fight", Ma Jinzhu gives Yinzhu Ma a bow and arrow, and Yamamoto Ma's wife drinks tea and reads "Xijiang Moon", saying that "I have been riding horses since I was a child, so I have never been willing to make up", which not only embodies the martial spirit of ethnic minorities, but also writes the style of good wine, which is embodied in Yinzhu Bird's four compromises in the whole play, and he takes part in accidental drinking with him. When he asked for thousands of gold medals at the first discount, he said, "I don't eat any wine." However, in the second compromise, he got drunk and went on stage and said at the farewell party, "What's wrong with a few glasses of wine?" On the third Mid-Autumn Festival night, he drank and had fun, and lost Jiashankou again. At the fourth discount, Zhongshan guards the horse and takes the sheep to bear the wine to warm the pain. These descriptions vividly reflect this custom. In addition, it is also written in the play that after meeting the elders, tea and tea should go into the "coat farewell", hunting horses in Shan Ye, pouring wine into the sky during the farewell ceremony, and sharing prosperity with "evil beasts in groups" are all unique customs of the Jurchen nationality. In addition, we can also get a glimpse of ethnic relations at that time. The words "Liao soldiers invaded the territory from time to time" and "thieves crossed the border" appeared in the works, which showed the tension of ethnic relations at that time. But at the same time, the phenomenon of ethnic integration is also widespread. In Ziyunge, the love between Wan Yanling, Ma Chun and Han Chulan transcends the boundaries of nationality and rank, which is obviously the best explanation.
Of course, there are also many Han writers' works involving such themes, such as Moon Pavilion, Sharpen Moon, beginning of spring Hall, Village Music Hall, Merchant Dan and so on. Relatively speaking, however, minority writers, by virtue of their familiarity with their own national life, have endowed their works with more national colors and exotic customs, thus expanding and deepening this theme.
Second, the artistic features
First of all, from the perspective of language characteristics, Yuan Zaju writers can be divided into three schools: naturalism, literary talent and beauty. Critics in past dynasties have described the languages of three minority writers. Zhu Quan commented in Taihe Yin Zhengpu that "Ci is like Luo Xue", "Ci is like plum blossom shadow" and "Yang Jingxian's Ci is like flowers in the rain". The language of Junbao Shi's works is really unpretentious. He used many languages with strong local flavor, giving people an easy-to-understand feeling with his unique taste. So Masako Aoki said, "Qu Jiangchi and the lyrics of this play (that is, Hu Qiu's wife) are very interesting. In "True Color", you can often see good words, and you can do it with extraordinary hands. The words about Huajie Liuxiang in Qujiangchi and the words about farmers in Qiuhu's Wife can be skillfully intertwined in the lyrics, each showing its own interest. " Li Zhifu and Yang Jingxian said the same thing. "Plum Moon Shadow" refers to the simple, simple and natural style of ci. "Flowers in the rain" means beauty and freshness. The words of three people, to be exact, are a combination of two styles. That is to say, although the three minority writers are fresh and pretty, they all emphasize their true colors, which are unique to Yuan Zaju writers.
Second, a flexible system.
In terms of system, the system of Yuan Zaju is usually a book with four folds and one wedge. In the process of fully expressing the occurrence, development, climax and ending of plot conflict, in order to achieve complete unity, these four rhythms usually correspond to each fold of the four compromises, but not all Yuan zaju are complete.
The Journey to the West's six zaju books are 40% off, breaking the short system of 40% off for a zaju, and becoming a model of Northern Opera. Of course, before Yang Jingxian, some people broke the wedge. According to the records, Zheng Guangzu's Cheng Fu Chops the Old Man's Hall and Zhang's Luo Nao Suo Guo Ji are all 40% and 20% wedge-shaped, and the Zhao Orphan in the Selected Works of Yuan Dynasty is all 50% wedge-shaped, but the Selected Works of Yuan Dynasty is still 40% and 20% wedge-shaped. As for the 60% discount script, Meng said that some of Shun's Ghost Books, Flowers and Moon Wandering, and Li's Golden Water with Red Hatred, were not recorded in Tianyi Pavilion. So, it's not certain. Only Wang Shifu's "The West Chamber", a 50% and 50% edition, and The Journey to the West constitute the two peaks in the Northern Opera. That is to say, after The West Chamber and other dramas, The Journey to the West further broke through the stylistic limitations of Yuan Zaju and expressed more abundant contents. In addition, The Journey to the West's poems or inscriptions before and after each book and before each fold are also unique in Yuan Zaju. As far as the music structure is concerned, in the aspect of singing, it broke the tradition that the lead singer or Zheng Dan sang a song at the end of the drama, and the drama was enduring with multiple roles to cooperate with the script. In terms of palace tune, there are many cases of changing palaces and borrowing palaces, which breaks the tradition of "one fold and one palace tune" in Beiqu drama and more accurately reflects the ups and downs of characters' feelings and music melody.
Junbao Shi's plays are unique in the 40% discount book. Among Qiu Hu's wife beating, 40% wrote about joining the army, forcing relatives, beating his wife and recognizing his husband. According to the usual structure of beginning, development, climax and ending, judging from the natural development and changes of the event, when Mei Ying had to solve the contradiction through forced marriage, things had reached a climax, and then the ending. But this is not the case. Three or four folds are all waves of unrest. In other words, except for the first discount, the other three discounts are like one-act dramas, and each discount has its own beginning, development, climax and ending of contradictions and conflicts. Such twists and turns of the plot and the mutual promotion of contradictions and conflicts appropriately express the theme of the play. In Qujiangchi, there is only the third one-act drama. It describes Li Yaxian's kindness and nobility by describing her fragments of seeking, saving and redeeming herself.
Finally, music with national characteristics.
Musically, a lot of ethnic music is used in the plays of ethnic writers. The most distinctive is Li Zhifu's "Tiger Head Card", such as [Anahu] [Romantic Style] [Sudden White] [Tang Wu Bad and 7] Second Fold [Two Tones and Five Branches] Suite. In the Ming Dynasty, He once said: A Li Zhifu's "Tiger Head" zaju was changed for 17 times (that is, the divertimento of "Double Tune and Five Sacrifices") ... It is different in the double tune, ranking like Anahu, Love with the Xianggong, Not Luo, Drunk and Seven, Bad Tang Wu, etc., which are all nonsense .. It can be seen that these songs are not only nuzhen music, but also.
It can be seen that the works of minority writers show uniqueness in subject matter and art.
(2) It is no accident that minority writers can write such works, which is closely related to the social reality at that time. Specifically, it is related to the social background of ethnic integration at that time and the national characteristics of writers.
Since the Northern Song Dynasty, the rapid rise of ethnic minorities in the west and north has dealt a powerful blow to the decadent feudal dynasty. However, in the face of a nation that is far more advanced than itself in culture, what measures should they take to rule and survive after victory? Engels once said: "It goes without saying that every conquest by a relatively savage nation has hindered economic development and destroyed a lot of productive forces. However, in the long-term conquest, in most cases, the more savage conquerors had to adapt to the relatively high' economic situation' of the conquered, they were assimilated by the conquerors, and most of them even had to adopt the language of the conquered. " (4) This is a fact. On the one hand, the rulers of Jin and Yuan dynasties were afraid of sinicization, on the other hand, they had to take various measures to learn from the Han nationality. For the rulers of Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, they not only established a set of obviously sinicized ruling system, but also set up imperial academy School, Hui School and Mongolian School to let students of all ethnic groups learn the traditional classics and history of China culture. In this way, as Dai Liang said, "I Yolanda was appointed from the northwest. The northwest countries such as Kelie, Naiman, Yelv Kewen, Hui, Tubo and Tianzhu often took the lead in obeying and were given titles. It is no different from the domestic ministers in Beijing. Over time, the literary trajectory is the same, and children and grandchildren are all poems. " Under the background of national integration, a number of minority writers appeared in Yuan Zaju. As far as zaju writers are concerned, their study and application of China culture is obviously reflected in the inheritance and development of the previous generation.
The influence of culture is often two-way. Influenced by the culture of China, minority writers also show the unique temperament, character and style of each nation's own culture from their own perspective. From the foregoing description, we can know that all the writers of national zaju are acting in their true colors, which is closely related to their national languages. Ceng Min once said in the fifth volume of Du Xing magazine that the songs of ethnic minorities are "reasonable", and even the music and dance of Yuan Qu court are "full of words, but they are all vulgar". In this way, even minority writers who are familiar with China culture can't help but blend into their own language when creating, thus greatly changing the mainstream of elegant culture in China literary world for thousands of years. In this way, the integration of minority languages promoted the emergence of the true colors of Yuan Zaju.
Compared with the advanced Central Plains, the backward ethnic groups, such as Jurchen and Mongolia, live on the vast grassland where the sky is grey, the fields are vast, the wind blows and the horses and cattle are scarce, live a nomadic life with grass and grass, and constantly struggle against disasters from all directions, thus forming their martial customs and bold, brave, resolute and simple characters. At the same time, due to the relative backwardness of economy, politics and other factors, they not only failed to form a strict system of etiquette and law like the Han nationality, such as "three cardinal guides and five permanents" and "three obedience and four virtues", but also had a great influence on them. These are fully reflected in the zaju creation of ethnic minority writers: Yang Jingxian dares to break the old system and establish a new system; The yearning for freedom, the pursuit of happiness, and the informality make Junbao Shi dare to put forward the "wife program"; And the love for this national life made Li Zhifu interpret a picture of "Hometown" full of sound and emotion.
It can be seen that the combination of multiple factors makes the zaju creation of minority writers present a unique style. This uniqueness enriches and prospers the world of Yuan Zaju, and establishes the status of Yuan Zaju as "a generation of literature".