Listen to this articleChinese classical literature broadly refers to Chinese literature from the pre-Qin Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, including writers, works, literary events, the origin and development of the style, literary movements, genres, literary theories, textual research, and research on writers’ works, etc. Similar Chinese Ancient Literature History. Narrowly refers to works of Chinese classical literature. According to the habits of literary history, it can be divided into pre-Qin literature, Qin and Han literature, Wei, Jin, Southern, and Northern Dynasties literature, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties literature, Song and Yuan literature, Ming and Qing literature. Representative forms of literary works include poems, lyrics, music, fu, prose, novels, etc., and a large number of chapters are popular. Chinese classical literature is one of the most precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation.
Brief introduction
Literature is a language art that uses language to shape images and reflect social life and is an important part of the culture with a strong appeal. Chinese classical literature is the history of Chinese literature shining splendor of classic works or outstanding works on it, it is the world’s literature for the remarkable treasures. Chinese classical literature has many forms of expression such as poems, prose, novels, as well as words, fu, and tunes. In various styles, there are also a variety of artistic expression methods, which makes Chinese classical literature present colorful and magnificent. Picture. For thousands of years, Chinese traditional culture has nurtured Chinese classical literature, and Chinese classical literature has greatly enriched Chinese traditional culture, making it more influential.
Pre-Qin and Han Literature
Classic of Poetry
“Book of Songs” is the first collection of poems in China. Compiled in the Spring and Autumn Period, it is probably 500 years from the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period. There are 305 works in total, representing the highest achievement of poetry creation more than 2500 years ago. The works in “The Book of Songs” are choruses of the chorus, which belong to three parts: “wind”, “elegance” and “song”. The wind is the music tune, and the national wind is the meaning of the local music of various countries. There are 160 chapters in total. “Wind” and “Ya” are works that reflect social life during the political decline and chaos of the Zhou Dynasty, and are also called ” changing wind ” and “changing elegance”. Haben is the name of the music, divided into ” Daya ” and ” Xiaoya “. It is the music directly ruled by the Zhou Dynasty. There are 105 pieces in total. “Ode” is a hymn, it is music for sacrificial rituals. There are three parts: ” Ode to Zhou “, ” Ode to Lu ” and ” Ode to Shang “.
“The Book of Songs” is very distinctive in artistic creation. First of all, the works in the “Book of Songs” describe real life in many ways, show the various feelings of people of different classes in real life, and truly reflect real life, which is a major feature of it. Later writers would take the “Book of Songs” as an example whenever they opposed the tendency of poetry to separate from social life. Secondly, “The Book of Songs” makes extensive use of comparison and xing techniques and has achieved remarkable artistic effects. “Comparison” is a metaphor and analogy. In the poem, the use of ” soft ” to compare hands, and “jade” to compare beautiful people are all smiles. “Wei Feng·Suoshu” is a rat compared to the exploiter, and it is a human being like a thing. “Xing” is “foretell something else to cause the “song of chanting”. It is the beginning of a poem or a chapter of poems. For example, “Qin Feng·Jia Jia” uses ” Jia Jia Cang Cang, white dew as frost” in Qingqiu bleak. The spectacle is thriving, causing the following, making the poems more tortuous and euphemistic. The use of the Boxing technique has greatly enhanced the artistic appeal of the poems and enriched the artistic realm of the poems. This expression technique has been inherited and developed by ancient Chinese poetry creation. Third, the “Book of Songs” is also very distinctive in terms of structure and form. The most prominent is the repetition of chapters and sentences. Double chapters sometimes indicate the degree and sequence of the progress of things. For example, the first chapter of “Wang Feng·Cai Ge” is “Pi Cai” Ge Xi, not seen in one day, such as March Xi.” The second and third chapters “Cai Ge” were changed to “Cai Xiao” and “Cai Ai”, and “March” was changed to “Three Autumn” and “Three Years Old”. The chapter repetitions have strengthened the musicality and rhythm of the poems, and better expressed the poet’s feelings, making people feel endless after reading. Fourth, the “Book of Songs” is also quite distinctive in the genre. The “Book of Songs” is mostly four. In a sentence, the rhyme is used in the phrase, but it is not rigid and full of changes. The focus of later generations is mostly influenced by the “Book of Songs”. In addition to the fu, rhymes such as odes, praises, tablets, admonitions, admonitions, and inscriptions are generally used Four-character sentences are also mostly influenced by The Book of Songs.
Pre-Qin Prose
Spring and Autumn Period, is a rapidly changing society that has undergone an era, this period in the history of Chinese literature occupies an important place in the pre-Qin prose that is. The cultural atmosphere of a hundred flowers blossoming and a hundred schools of thought has promoted the prosperity of literature and ushered in an era of splendid culture, especially the doctrines of Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, and Law, which laid the foundation of Chinese traditional culture.
Pre-Qin prose can be divided into historical prose and Zhuzi prose. Generally speaking, historical prose is mainly narrative, while Zhuzi’s prose is mainly rational. Historical prose includes “Spring and Autumn”, “Zuo Zhuan”, “Warring States Policy”, “Guoyu” and so on. “Spring and Autumn” is the earliest chronicle of the Warring States period compiled by Confucius. It narrates major events in various countries from the first year of Lu Yin (722 BC ) to the 14th year of Aigong (480 BC). Confucius also made some judgments on those events according to his own point of view and chose the words that he thought were appropriate. Implying the meaning of praise and derogation, this is what people often say “micro-speech”. “Zuo” is modeled on its style, along with hidden, Huan, Zhuang, Min, Xi, text, Xuan, into, Xiang, Zhao, fixed, sad 12 Lu be described ordinal monarch book Vol.
Zhuzi’s prose can be divided into three periods: the first period is the late Spring and Autumn Period and the early Warring States Period. Among the main works, “The Analects” is a quotation style, and “Laozi” uses rhymes. The development of a well-organized discourse form. The second period is the middle period of the Warring States Period. The main works are “Mencius” and “Zhuangzi”. Their writings are more prosperous than the previous period, and their reasoning is also smooth. The third period is the end of the Warring States Period. The main works include “Xunzi” and ” Han Feizi “. The representative essays in Zhuzi’s prose are all logically rigorous, with in-depth analysis and brilliant rhetoric, and they have achieved very high achievements. Some of the words in the prose of Zhuzi are good at expressing the character and describing the behavior of the characters, making people read as if they saw their voices and smiles. There are many such words in “The Analects” and “Mencius”, and the “Gong Yi” in “Mozi” also belongs to this type.
Chu Ci
Cifu is one of the ancient Chinese literature styles. The Ci is called Chu Ci because it originated in the Warring States Period; Fu means to spread out, and it is characterized by ” Publishing the text ” and ” Directing the matter”. Both have the properties of verse and prose and are a unique style of half poetry and half essay. The structure is magnificent, the rhetoric is gorgeous, and it pays attention to literary grace and rhythm. It is often exaggerated and expounded.
“Chu Ci” is a literary work created by Chu people represented by Qu Yuan in the Warring States Period. When the Han Dynasty became the emperor, Liu Xiang combined Qu Yuan, Song Yu, Tang Le, Jing Cha as well as the Western Han Jia Yi, Huainan Xiaoshan, Dongfang Shuo, Zhuang Ji, Wang Bao, etc. and his own poetry and prose into one episode, a total of 16 articles, named “Chu Speech. In “Chu Ci”, Qu Yuan has the most works and the highest quality. His ” Li Sao ” is the representative work of Chu Ci, and later generations also called the style of Chu Ci ” Sao Style “.
“Li Sao” is a representative work of Qu Yuan (about 340 to 277), and is the longest lyric poem in ancient my country, with a total of 373 sentences and 2,490 words. This is a masterpiece of romanticism. In this poem, the poet bursts out an unusually brilliant brilliance with lofty ideals and passionate feelings.
“Lisa” shows the poet’s nostalgia for the motherland and love for the people. Qu Yuan is a great patriotic poet with grand ambitions. He wants to refresh the politics, save the Chu State from its peril, and also want to make the Chu State stronger, to realize the unification of China. “Lisa” also shows the poet’s persistence in ideals, hatred of darkness, and hatred of evil. But the king of Chu was faint and confused, heeded the slander of the “party members,” exiled Qu Yuan, and caused the decline of Chu. In the contradiction that the poet could neither change the face of Chu nor change his own, he chose the path of sacrificing his ideal. “Lisa” shines with shocking idealism.
“Lisa” has extremely high artistic achievements. First of all, the whole work has a strong romantic color, and in the second half, this color is more intense. Also, the form of the poem of “Li Sao” is patchy. , There are also subject and guest question-and-answers and large-scale extravagant descriptions. Most of them are four sentences and one chapter, with varying numbers of words and many even sentences, forming the characteristics of neatness in the patchwork, and full of changes in the order, which has a huge impact on later generations.
In addition to “Li Sao”, Qu Yuan also has many excellent works, such as “Nine Chapters”, “Nine Songs”, “Heavenly Questions” and so on.
Han Fu
The main feature of Hanfu is that it is a unique literary genre in ancient China. The representative works of Hanfu in the early Han Dynasty are Jia Yi and Meicheng. Jia Yi (from 201 to 169), from Luoyang. The representative works are Baoniafu and Diaoquyuanfu. Jia Yi inherited Qu Yuan’s, Sao Feng Fu. His “fishing Quyuan Fu” compares his experience with Quyuan. “BAONIAO Fu” expresses his unfair feelings and uncompromising spirit. His fu CI tends to prose, and four character sentences are widely used, reflecting the transition from Chu Ci to new Fu. The main active periods of Meicheng were Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty. There are nine “meichengfu” and three “Chuanfu” in “Hanshu · Yiwenzhi”. It doesn’t enter. It is vast, just like an ordinary car and a white horse. The rough waves and chaotic clouds disturb Yan. It’s like the victory costume of the armed forces. It is often accompanied by the march to compare the situation, vividly write the waves.
Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties Literature
The Yellow Turban Uprising at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty destroyed the Eastern Han Dynasty and represented the interests of small and medium landlords Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan. Cao Cao has the strongest strength and the greatest achievement in literature. ” Jian’an Literature ” represented by ” Three Cao ” and ” Jian’an Seven Sons ” occupies an important place in the history of ancient literature. The so-called “three Cao” refer to Cao Cao and his sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi; “seven sons” refer to the writers of the late Han Dynasty, Kong Rong, Chen Lin, Wang Su, Xu Gan, Ruan Yu, Ying Yan, and Liu Zhen. They can all write good poems and are closely related to the Cao family. The Jian’an period was an era in China’s literary history where a lot of talents flourished. A large number of writers and works emerged, which enabled the development of various styles, especially poetry that broke the 400-year silence of the Han Dynasty. The five-character poem began to flourish at this time, and the seven-character poem also laid the foundation at this time. Literary critics of the past dynasties regard the Jian’an period as the golden age of literature.
Among the seven sons of Jian’an, Wang Can’s literary achievement is the highest. Wang Can (177～217), the word Zhongxuan. Representative works include “Seven Sorrow Poems” and “Congjun Poems”. “Seven Sad Poems” truly described the situation in Guanzhong suffered from the war: “There is a hungry woman on the road, holding her child and abandoning the grass. Gu Wen cried and wailed his tears without paying back. Unknown death, how can the two phases end.” Such a moving verse expresses the poet’s deep sympathy for the people. “Congjun Poems” expresses the poet’s ideals of making contributions, and has always been recited. In addition to poems, Wang Can is also good at composing fu, and his representative works include “Deng Lou Fu” and so on. Liu Zhen (170? ~ 217), who is as famous as Wang Can, is an official character and is also good at poetry. His three representative works “Gift to the Younger Brother” mainly express his personal aspirations and aspirations, especially two outstanding ones: “Ting Ting Shan loose, howling wind valley . wind a Ho Sheng, a pine Ho Jin . Frost being miserable desolate, Suimu often correct. Is not suffer Ning Han, there are pine nature. “concise language poem, longer than Xing. The image of the pine tree in the poem is a portrayal of the author’s interest and character. Among the four writers other than Wang Can and Liu Zhen, Ying Jun and Xu Gan have few existing works and poor achievements. Chen Lin and Ruan Yu have always been famous for their articles. Kong Rong has his own characteristics among the seven sons. Cao Pi commented on his works “and what they are good at Yang Banyan”. Prose masterpieces include “Recommended Mi Heng Table” and so on.
Most of Wei Mo’s works are not as realistic as Jian’an writers due to political high pressure and intellectuals’ tendency to avoid reality. So “Wenxindiaolong Ming Poetry,” said: “Zheng Shi Ming ., Miscellaneous immortal poem heart He Yan, who, rates and more superficial.” But there are still outstanding writers. Ji Kang and Ruan Ji are representative figures. Ji Kang’s representative prose works include “A Letter of Breaking Diplomacy with Shan Juyuan “, and his poems include “Four Words and Eighteen Poems for Brother Xiucai to Join the Army” and so on. Ruan Ji is good at poetry, representing the 82 poems that have been recited.
During the more than one hundred years from the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty to the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, a group of outstanding and outstanding poets such as Zuo Si, Liu Kun, Guo Pu, and Tao Yuanming emerged. Among them, Tao Yuanming has the highest achievement.
Tao Yuanming (365～427), the characters are bright. A native of Xunyang Chaisang (now southwest of Jiujiang, Jiangxi ). His family was poor in his youth. At the age of 29, he took up the post of Jiangzhou Jijiu and soon resigned. After more than ten years, he went out of office again and did Peng Zeling for more than 80 days. Because he was “unwilling to bend the waist for five buckets of rice to the children in the village”, he resigned again and went into seclusion. From then on, he was “self-funded” until his death. Ancient thinkers, especially Confucianism and Taoism, had a great influence on Tao Yuanming. But he is not limited to Confucianism and Taoism. In the Jin Dynasty when scholars took ” Zhuang ” and ” Lao ” as their sect and rejected ” Six Classics “, he not only learned ” Laozi ” and ” Zhuangzi ” like ordinary scholar-officials but also learned Confucian ” Six Classics ” and literature. “Different books” such as history, history, and mythology. The influence of the times and family environment made him accept two different ideas of Confucianism and Taoism, and cultivated two different aspirations of “Mengzhiyi Sihai” and “Nature Love Qiushan”.
Tang Song Literature
Tang Poetry
Poetry in the early Tang Dynasty
This is the period of preparation for the prosperity of Tang poetry. Important poets include Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, Lu Zhaolin, and Luo Bin Wang, who is known as the ” four masters of the early Tang Dynasty “, as well as Chen Ziang, Shen Quanqi, and Song Zhiwen. The poetry at the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty still followed the inertia of the Southern Dynasty poetry, soft and delicate, and lifeless. The emergence of the “Four Masters” began to change this trend. They are talented and dissatisfied with the status quo. They express their indignation and heroic embrace through their poems and broaden the subject matter of their poems. Such as Yang Jiong’s “Joining the Army”:
The beacon illuminates Xijing, and his heart is insecure.
Yazan resigned from Fengque and rode around Dragon City.
The flag painting is carved in the dark with the wind and the sound of drums.
Better to be a centurion than a scholar.
This kind of provocative and heroic style blew a new style into the poetry world of the early Tang Dynasty. The poem expresses the young people’s eagerness to be unwilling to be lonely, and want to invest in the military and make contributions to the frontier. I would rather be a low-level officer (century) than a scholar. Following the “Four Masters” is Chen Ziang, who theoretically criticized the weak poetic style since the Southern Dynasties. He believed that this type of poem was exclusively playing with gorgeous rhetoric and the content was empty and abandoned the “Book of Songs”‘s tradition of emphasizing ideology. Regarding this, he advocated learning the “Han and Wei style” to restore the poetic style of the Jian’an era. Han Yu once said: “The country is prosperous in writing, and the son is proud to dance.” He evaluated his important role in the development of Tang poetry. The contributions of Shen Quanqi and Song Zhiwen are mainly in poetic rhythm. They summarized the results of poets’ exploration of poetic rhythms since ” Yongming Style “, and promoted the finalization of ” Modern Style Poetry ” with their poems.
To appreciate Tang poetry, we must first have a general understanding of the differences between “modern-style poetry” and “Quan-style poetry”, and master their respective characteristics to better appreciate the beauty.
The prosperity of Tang Poetry
The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) was the heyday of the development of Chinese classical poetry. Tang poetry is one of China’s outstanding literary heritage, and it is also a brilliant pearl in the world’s literary treasure house. Although it has been more than a thousand years, many poems are still widely circulated by us.
There are particularly many poets in the Tang Dynasty. Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bai Juyi are certainly world-famous great poets, besides them, there are countless other poets, just like stars in the sky. Of these poets, there are more than 2,300 people who are well-known today. There are more than 48,900 of their works preserved in the “Complete Tang Poems”. The subject matter of Tang poetry is very wide. Some reflected the class status and class contradictions of the society at that time, exposing the darkness of feudal society; some praised the just war and expressed patriotism; some portrayed the beauty and beauty of the motherland’s rivers and mountains; also, they expressed personal aspirations and experiences Yes, some express the affection of their children, some talk about friendship with friends, the joys and sorrows of life, etc. In short, natural phenomena, political dynamics, labor life, social customs, and personal feelings cannot escape the keen eyes of poets and become the subject of their writing. In terms of creative methods, there are both realistic and romantic schools, and many great works are examples of the combination of these two creative methods, forming the excellent tradition of classical poetry in my country.
The form of Tang poetry is diverse. There are basically five-character and seven-character poems in Tang Dynasty. There are also two types of modern poems, one is called quatrains and the other is called rhymed poems. Quatrains and rhymed poems have five and seven different words. So basically this form is basically six kinds of Tang: Wu Yan ancient poetry, Seven ancient poetry, Wu Yan quatrains, Seven quatrains, verses Wu Yan, Seven Poems. Archaic poems require more phonological rhythms: in a poem, the number of sentences can be more or less, the chapter can be long or short, and the rhyme can be changed. Modern-style poems have strict requirements on phonology and rhythm: the number of sentences in a poem is limited, that is, four quatrains and eight rhymed poems. The flat tone of the words used in each poem has certain rules, and the rhyme cannot be changed; the rhyme also requires the middle The four sentences become a counterpoint. The style of ancient poetry is handed down from previous generations, so it is also called ancient style. Modern poetry has a strict metric, so some people call it metrical poetry.
Song Ci
Song Ci is a kind of ancient Chinese poetry. It began in the Liang Dynasty, formed in the Tang Dynasty, and flourished in the Song Dynasty. According to the “Old Tang Book”, “Since Kaiyuan (the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty), singers have mixed the songs of Hu Yili Lane.” Due to the widespread distribution of music, many actor-musicians lived by singing in the city at that time. According to the needs of singing lyrics and music rhythm, composing or adapting some long and short sentences are the earliest words. It can also be seen from Dunhuang tunes that the folk-produced words are decades earlier than those written by literati.
In the Tang Dynasty, folk words mostly reflected themes such as love and love, so it was unremarkable in the eyes of literati. It is regarded as a trail of poetry. Only those who pay attention to drawing on the artistic strengths of folk songs, such as Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi, write some words, which have a simple and natural style and are permeated with a strong atmosphere of life. Wen Tingyun and the ” Huajian School ” of the Five Dynasties, who are well-known for their strong advocacy of thick words and beautiful sentences, have a certain place in the history of Ci development. The Southern Tang emperor Li Ci after being captured by the deep and open up a new realm of art, the word off to future generations a strong infection.
In the Song Dynasty, through Liu Yong and Su Shi’s breakthroughs in creation, Ci has developed tremendously in form and content. Although the language of Ci has been influenced by the poetry of literati, the elegant and polished fashion has not replaced its popular folk style. The long and short sentences of words are more convenient for expressing feelings, so the saying “poem expresses will, words express emotion” has a certain basis.
Song poetry can be roughly classified into a graceful and unrestrained sect. The style of the poems of the graceful school is elegant and graceful, and the song is full of style; like Liu Yong’s “Where to wake up tonight? Willow bank, dawn, and waning moon “; Yan Shu ‘s ” Helpless flowers fall as if the acquaintance Yan returns “; Yan Jidao ‘s “Dancing down to the heart and moon in the Yangliu Tower, singing the peach blossom and fan with the bottom wind ” and other famous phrases are worthy of lyrical masterpieces blending scenes and scenes, and they have artistic merits. The bold and unconstrained ci writing started from Su Shi. He relieved Ci from the world of entertaining guests and developed it into an independent lyrical art. The mountains and rivers, the scenery of the farmhouse, the leisurely travel, and the aspiration for the country have all become the themes of the Ci in his hands, making the Ci go from the Huajianyue to the vast social life. Judging from the taste of our readers today, the uninhibited works like ” Going to the East ” are more acceptable.
The words can be roughly divided into small order (within 58 characters), middle tone (59-90 characters), and long tone (more than 91 characters, the longest word is 240 characters). A word, some has only one paragraph, is called monotonous; some has two paragraphs, called double tone; some has three or four paragraphs, called triple or quadruple.
Words have word cards. The generation of ci-school generally has the following situations: the ancient Yuefu poem title or the name of the music is used; such as “Liuzhou Getou”; a few words in the poems and sentences of celebrities, such as “Xijiang Yue”; according to a historical figure or allusion, Such as “Niannujiao”; there are also famous poems. Ci gradually separated from music and became an independent style.
Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasty
The Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties, also known as the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Ancient Literature, are the collective name of the eight essayists of Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan in Tang Dynasty and Su Shi, Su Xun, Su Zhe, Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, and Zeng Gong. Han Yu, Liu is a literary movement in the Tang Dynasty leader, Ouyang Xiu, three Su and other four are in the Song Dynasty classical literary movement central figure, Wang, Zeng is Linchuan literature Representatives. They successively set off a wave of innovation in ancient prose, renewing the old face of the development of poetry and prose.
In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu You selected Han, Liu, and other humanities as “The Collected Works of Mr. Eight”, and then named the Eight Schools, which actually started here. In the ” Edition of Literature ” compiled by Tang Shunzhi in the mid-Ming Dynasty, only eight of Tang and Song literature were taken. The late Ming Mao Kun Cheng duo said, selections of the ” Tang and Wen Chao ” a total of 164 volumes, the book spread far and wide in the old, “Tang and Song” in the name also will be popular. Since the Ming Dynasty marked the eight schools in the Tang and Song dynasties, the scholars of ancient literary scholars all regarded the eight schools as the sect. 164 volumes of “Eight Master Wenchao of Tang and Song Dynasties” are generally available, including the engraved editions of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty and the engraved editions of The Bookshop of the Qing Dynasty. Wei Yuan in the Qing Dynasty had 8 volumes of “Compilation and Commentary of the Eight Great Masters in Tang and Song Dynasties”.
Among the eight great families, there are three brothers and fathers of the Su family, known as the ” Three Sus “, namely Su Shi, Su Xun, and Su Che, and they are also known as “one subject and three bachelors”. Therefore, it can be summarized as “Han Liu in the Tang Dynasty, Ouyang, Sansu and King Zeng in the Song Dynasty”.
Yuan Ming-Qing Literature
Yuanqu
Yuanqu, also known as Sandwich, is a form of literature and art that prevailed in the Yuan Dynasty, including Zaju and Sangu, sometimes specifically referring to Zazu. Zazu, a form of performance characterized by comics in the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, it developed into the form of operas, each with a four-fold fold, with additional wedges at the beginning or between the folds. Each fold is composed of Beiqu and Binbai with the same rhyme in the same palace.
There are a lot of scripts created in the Yuan Dynasty. According to statistics, there are more than 530 kinds of Zaju and more than 210 kinds of Southern Opera, but most of them have been lost. As for the writers who devoted themselves to script creation at the time, there are no accurate statistics. According to the records in “Ghost Book” and “Ghost Book”, there are more than two hundred and twenty people with names and surnames. It is estimated that there are still many omissions. The playwrights have a high creative enthusiasm. Some people write the scripts of the performances for the actors, and some people participate in the performances. Some celebrities and talents still form the “Yujing Book Club” in most of them to learn from each other. Many playwrights have a high cultural level, such as Guan Hanqing, Wang Shifu, Bai Pu, Ma Zhiyuan, etc., who have rich life experience and are good at writing poetry. When they have mastered the characteristics of drama and mastered the narrative genre that the world loves to see, they use the wind and thunder with their wrists, and they write an immortal chapter and open a new page for the literary world. At that time, the playwrights adapted to the needs of the audience or were good at literary talent, or good at true colors, striving for beauty, making the theater show a prosperous situation.
The drama activities in the Yuan Dynasty actually formed two drama circles.
The northern theater circle is centered on most cities, including most areas north of the Yangtze River, where Zaju is popular. In most cities, a large number of Raju entertainers have emerged in the “two cities in the north and the south, the courtyard, the social straight, and the collection of miscellaneous operas” (Liu Qi “Analysis of Jinzhi”). Many outstanding playwrights such as Guan Hanqing, Wang Shifu, Ma Zhiyuan, Ji Junxiang, Zhang Guobin, Yang Xianzhi, etc., are mostly people or live here. Here, “singing studios and dancing pavilions, dotted with stars”, Raju performances are frequent, providing a place for playwrights to display their talents. In cities with the relatively developed economy at that time, such as Dongping, Bianliang, Zheng, Pingyang, etc., there was also a gathering of writers. However, writers living in the same region have either received the influence of the regional atmosphere, or have similar interests, or have similar backgrounds, and formed different groups consciously or unconsciously. The preferences of the audience, as a kind of market demand, have a certain influence on writers and make the creation of different regions show different characteristics. Generally speaking, the dramas of the northern theater circle are mostly based on Water Margin stories, koan stories, and historical legends. For the subject, many writers dared to face the darkness of reality, eager to have upright officials or heroes to support the oppressed.
The southern theater circle is centered on Hangzhou, including Wenzhou, Yangzhou, Jiankang, Pingjiang, Songjiang, and even Jiangxi, Fujian, and other southeast regions. Unlike the situation in the north, the urban and rural stages here both popular Southern Opera and perform Zazu from the north, presenting a situation where the two types of drama reflect each other. Southern opera was produced in the area of Yongjia (Wenzhou), Zhejiang, so it is also called “Yongjia Zazu”. It was formed in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, spread widely in the southeast, and gradually entered Hangzhou. According to Liu Yiqing, “Between Wuchen (1268) and Jisi (1269), “Wang Huan” drama prosperous under the capital” (“Qiantang legacy”) volume 6 “dramatic prose”). Many artists create, perform and publish Nanxi Opera here, making this bustling city the center of Nanxi Opera.
Ming and Qing Novels
Ming and Qing Dynasties were a prosperous period in the history of Chinese novels. In terms of ideological connotation and subject performance, the novels of this era contain the essence of traditional culture to the greatest extent. After secularized illustrations, traditional culture has entered thousands of households with sensible images and moving stories. . Brief introduction of the period The Ming and Qing Dynasties were a prosperous period in the history of Chinese novels.
The novels were written by literati in the Ming Dynasty mainly include vernacular short stories and novels.
Ming dynasty novels can be divided into five categories according to the subject matter and ideological content, namely, historical novels, novels of gods and demons, novels of worldly love, novels of heroes and legends, and novels of koan.
Classical Chinese novels have continued to have new works since the legend of the Tang Dynasty, such as ” Yi Jian Zhi ” and ” Jian Deng Xin Hua “, but many of them have simple narratives and lack literary talent. The author, Pu Songling, uses classical Chinese like vernacular and is quite vivid. The protagonists of the novel are mostly foxes and ghosts, but they are lovely in appearance and full of human interest. It represents the highest achievement of classical Chinese novels.
From Song Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, more than 300 novels and tens of thousands of short stories have been produced. These works reflected all aspects of social life at that time with unprecedented breadth and depth and became the main literary style for the people to understand society and cultural life. The Chinese vernacular novels, which originated in speaking and singing, have formed a single-line structure, emphasizing the plot, portraying the characters dynamically, the language is vivid and the style is unique, and the creative methods of large-scale literati and the masses in close harmony also provide a rare example of world literature . . These vernacular novels not only had a huge influence on the literature, drama, and movies of later generations in China, but also had a huge influence on the literary creation of Japan, North Korea, Vietnam, and other countries. Among them, the excellent works were translated into more than a dozen languages and served for world cultural exchanges. Made an important contribution.
