Listen to this articlechuánqí 传奇
Legendary Story
作为文艺术语，含义有三：其一，指唐宋时期的一种短篇小说体裁。由六朝时的志怪小说演变而来，内容扩展到对社会生活及各种人情世态的描写。“传”为传说，“奇”为奇异，本义指记述传说或奇异的故事。唐代裴铏的《传奇》一书可能是该术语的最早应用。宋代时以唐代小说《莺莺传》为传奇，元代时称唐人小说为“唐传奇”。与唐传奇相比，宋代传奇更为贴近生活和口语。其二，指宋元时期的诸宫调、戏文、杂剧等戏曲文学类作品。因这一时期的说唱文学、戏曲创作等多取材于唐传奇，故称。其三，指明清时期以唱南曲为主的长编戏曲。由南戏发展而来，也融合了元杂剧的特点，如梁辰鱼（1519—1591）的《浣纱记》、孔尚任（1648—1718）的《桃花扇》、洪昇（1645—1704）的《长生殿》等。各个时期的传奇概念，既有题材的沿用与拓展，又有手法的继承与创新，其核心“传奇特之事、演奇特之人”是一以贯之的。
This is a term for a literary form. It refers to three types of artistic works:
1) A type of short story in the Tang and Song dynasties that evolved from tales of the supernatural in the earlier Six Dynasties. Later its subjects widened to include social life, and stories about people and events. Chuan (传) means “legendary” and qi (奇) means “strange and unusual,” so the term originally means recounting tales of strange and extraordinary events that have been passed down by word of mouth. The work Chuan Qi by Pei Xing in the Tang Dynasty is probably the earliest work that uses the term. In the Song Dynasty, the Tang novel The Story of Yingying is considered a chuanqi, while the Yuan people called all Tang stories chuanqi of Tang. Song Dynasty chuanqi were more realistic and vernacular than those of the Tang.
2) Song-speech drama, Southern opera and Yuan zaju in the Song and Yuan dynasties, most of which were based on Tang stories.
3) Full-length operas in the Ming and Qing dynasties, which were based on the Southern Opera (Nanxi), and also included some Yuan zaju features. Typical works include The Story of Washing Gauze by Liang Chenyu (1519-1591), Peach Blossom Fan by Kong Shangren (1648-1718), The Palace of Eternal Life by Hong Sheng (1645-1704). The ancient style of chuanqi has evolved and been innovated over the centuries, both in story content and performance techniques. However, its main purpose is still to “tell stories of strange happenings and unusual people.”
引例 Citations：
◎金元创名“杂剧”，国初演作“传奇”。杂剧北音，传奇南调。杂剧折惟四，唱止一人；传奇折数多，唱必匀派。杂剧但摭一事颠末，其境促；传奇备述一人始终，其味长。（吕天成《曲品》卷上）
（金元时期的“杂剧”名称，到了明朝初年演变为“传奇”。杂剧是北方音乐，传奇是南方曲调。杂剧只有四折，一人主唱；传奇的折数很多，演唱也按角色均匀分派。杂剧只取一件事的首尾，范围未免局促；传奇详细讲述主人公故事的原委经过，自然意味见长。）
The term zaju of the Jin and Yuan dynasties became chuanqi in the early Ming Dynasty. Zaju is northern music, while chuanqi is from the south. Zaju are composed of only four acts, each with its main performer, while in chuanqi there are many acts with several characters of equal importance. In zaju the plot is only about one event, which narrows the story, whereas in chuanqi the various accounts of the main characters are followed in great detail, which naturally makes it all the more interesting. (LüTiancheng: Comments on Qu Drama: Composers and Their Works)
◎古人呼剧本为“传奇”者，因其事甚奇特，未经人见而传之，是以得名。可见非奇不传。新，即奇之别名也。若此等情节业已见之戏场，则千人共见，万人共见，绝无奇矣，焉用传之？是以填词之家，务解“传奇”二字。（李渔《闲情偶寄·脱窠臼》）
（古代人把剧本称为“传奇”，是因为其中所讲述的事情非常奇特，没有人亲眼见过却能在世间流传，所以用这个名称。可见不是奇事就不会流传。“新”就是奇特的另一种称呼。如果这个情节已经在戏场里演过，则成千上万的人都一同见过，大家绝不会感到新奇了，还用得着特别去传吗？因此填写戏曲剧本的人，务必要明白“传奇”二字的含义。）
The ancients called drama scripts chuanqi because the extraordinary events, which no one had actually experienced, were passed down the ages. In other words, without the strangeness, no one would bother to pass them on. “Novel” or xin is just another term for “strange and unusual.” If this particular plot line has been performed before and is familiar to thousands upon thousands of people, then there is nothing novel about it, then what is the need to pass it on? It is thus important for those who write scripts to understand the meaning of chuanqi. (Li Yu: Occasional Notes with Leisure Motions )
