Chapter 12 Section 5 Social Issue Drama

Through realistic or historical themes, the playwrights of the Yuan Dynasty revealed the strife and struggle among the ruling classes, showed the social conditions and human feelings of the Yuan Dynasty, and showed the confrontation and harmony between beauty and ugliness, good and evil, wisdom and stupidity, weakness and cruelty. struggle. "The Orphan of the Zhao Family" based on Sima Qian's "Historical Records, The Zhao Family, and the Jin Family" is Ji Junxiang's representative work, which reproduces a great tragedy that happened in the Jin State during the Spring and Autumn Period.Power minister Tu Anjia was at odds with Shangqing Zhao Dun, and tried to frame Zhao Dun several times, but failed.In the end, for the crime of deceiving the emperor, more than 300 members of Zhao Dun's family were copied and beheaded, even the newborn baby was refused to be spared.Cheng Ying, Zhao Dun's disciple Cao Zelang, took the risk to rescue the orphan. Tu Anjia noticed this and ordered the search and killing of all babies under half a year old.Cheng Ying conspires with Gongsun Chujiu, an old minister of the retreat villa, to make a good strategy to protect the orphan.In order to save the orphans of the Zhao family and save all babies from being killed, Cheng Ying replaced the orphans with his own sons, and hid them with Gongsun Chujiu.Cheng Ying bears the burden of humiliation, endures hardships, and brings up the orphans of the Zhao family, and finally gets revenge for his injustice.The script denounces the cruelty, viciousness and inhumanity of the treacherous and treacherous officials.He expresses deep sympathy for Zhao Dun, who is loyal and upright, who worries about the country and the people.It praises the spirit of sacrifice of Cheng Ying and Gongsun Chujiu, who forgot their lives and went to righteousness generously.The whole play is full of tragic atmosphere of grief and indignation but high spirits, tragic but not lack of boldness, which is a rare historical tragedy on the stage of Zaju in Yuan Dynasty.Wang Guowei put "The Orphan of Zhao" and "The Orphan of Zhao" in the "Song and Yuan Opera Research" side by side, saying that these two plays "are not only listed in the world's great tragedies, but also worthy of shame", which are comparable to Shakespeare's four major tragedies. One of the earliest drama works introduced to the West, it has been translated into English, French, Russian, German, Japanese, Italian and other languages.

There are quite a few plays with similar themes, such as "Ma Ling Road" by Anonymous, which plays the story of Sun Bin and Pang Juan fighting wits.Sun and Pang were classmates in Guiguzi, and together they voted for the state of Wei.Because of his jealousy, Pang Juan repeatedly framed Sun Bin, cut off his feet, and deceived him into Liujia Tianshu.Sun Bin pretended to be crazy, endured the humiliation to survive, served as the army adviser of the Qi State, and confronted Pang Juan.Pang Juan's treachery is in stark contrast to Sun Bin's loyalty. Shang Zhongxian's "Three Captures of the Sword" plays the court struggle in the early Tang Dynasty.Prince Li Jiancheng, Qi Wang Li Yuanji and Li Shimin competed for the throne. In order to remove Li Shimin's wings, the two framed Yu Chigong in front of Gaozu Li Yuan.Yu Chigong competed with Li Yuanji in the Royal Orchard, and angrily beat Yuanji to death.Yuchi Gong's image of being jealous, brave and fearless is vivid on the paper.

Kong Wenqing's "Dongchuang Incident" plays the role of Yue Fei, a famous patriotic general in the Southern Song Dynasty, who was murdered by a treacherous minister Qin Hui.After the victory in Zhuxian Town, Song Gaozong listened to the slander, won 12 gold medals in a row, and urged Yue Fei to return to the court.Qin Hui brought Yue Fei and his son to Dali Temple for interrogation, accusing him of treason.With ghosts in his heart, Qin Hui went to Lingyin Temple to beg for blessings from the gods and Buddhas. The Ksitigarbha turned into a slugger, and crazily exposed the secret that Qin Hui and his wife conspired under the east window to frame Yue Fei and his son. Twenty years later, Qin Hui was tried in the underworld wearing shackles and chains, and the souls of Yue Fei and his son ascended to heaven.In this play, it is written that Yue Fei's lofty ambitions are hard to be rewarded, he is hard to bear the humiliation, he denounces rape, scolds and slanders, and he is desolate and indignant.

Anonymous's "Feng Mo Kuai Tong" plays Han Xiao Heji, Han Xin, who has a high level of power, and wants to design to kill him.Fan Kuai was jealous of his achievements and agreed.Han Xin refused to listen to the counselor Kuai Tong's dissuasion, and went to Beijing to be killed.Kuai Tong was afraid of a disaster, so he pretended to be a wind demon, and spoke eloquently in front of Tang Guo, leaving Xiao He and Fan Kui speechless.After Kuai Tong was pardoned, he left the court.Kuai Tong is an image of a strategist-like strategist. With subtle strategies and passionate words, he changed from passive to active, escaped from desperation to safety, and wiped out Han Xin's eternal grievances.

Zheng Tingyu's "Sparse People Get Off the Boat" tells the story of Wu Zixu destroying Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period, and King Zhao of Chu crossing the river to escape.As a monarch, at critical moments and dangerous situations, King Chu Zhao could not protect his country, his wife and children, and only fled in a hurry.Due to the high wind and high waves, in order to save his own life, he asked Aifei and his son to get off the boat and dive into the water to lighten the load on the boat.For this kind of behavior of abandoning others in order to protect oneself, even the women and relatives around him are not spared, the play casts contempt and ridicule, and gives bitter criticism.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the powerful and powerful wanted to run amok, corrupt officials corrupted the law, and messed up the upper class society.But in the lower class of society, hooligans and hooligans do all kinds of evil, harming the village, causing the legal system to be abolished, the society is in turmoil, and the people cannot live and work in peace and contentment. Zheng Tingyu's "Forbearance" is a picture of the state of the world. Through the experience and psychological activities of Liu Junzuo, a rich man in Bianliang who is miserly but wise, during the process of Maitreya Buddha's salvation, it shows the appearance of all beings in the market: the poor scholar, the rascal Rompy, the stingy rich man, are all written so realistically and naturally, as if they came at their fingertips.Zheng Tingyu's other play "Looking at the Money Slave" plays the role of Zhou Rongzu, a rich man who suddenly fell from being rich to selling his sons and daughters. The poor man Jia Ren suddenly became rich by chance, bought the Zhou family's son, and borrowed the property of Zhou's family for 20 years s story.Aside from the fatalistic frame of life and the preaching that wealth is in the sky, the greatest value of this play lies in successfully portraying the image of Jia Ren, a miser who is rich and unkind.Jia Ren is mean by nature and loves money like his life. The script vividly reveals the nature, greed and stinginess of landlords and misers by buying duck fat, dogs licking their fingers, sending them out in a manger, and cutting corpses with axes. His mentality and behavior that are inferior to dogs are similar to the protagonist Alpagon in Molière's "The Miser" in France. They were translated and introduced to Western Europe as early as the 17th and 18th centuries.This drama had an influence on both Xu Fuzuo's "One Penny" and Wu Jingzi's description of the miser.

Wuhan Chen's "Old Son" leads to some conflicts and entanglements around heirs and property inheritance rights, and portrays the psychological process of wealthy businessman Liu Congshan in detail: he is pessimistic and desperate about having no children after his death, and he seeks comfort by being kind and kind, and he is overjoyed when he has a son in his later years.Although it only describes the turmoil in a family, it shows the social ethical relations, moral concepts, social customs and human conditions of the Yuan Dynasty.Accused Liu Congshan's greed of accumulating money in his early years, revealing that the root of misfortune lies in money, and his understanding has a certain depth.This play excavates rich drama from the ordinary family life, with the true language and no literary talent.

If "Old Man" describes the turmoil in a family, then Yang Wenkui's "Two Reunions" interweaves two families.The script writes that Brother Han Hongdao died young in Bailu Village, and his sister-in-law and two nephews lived with Hongdao.Hongdao is middle-aged and childless, and his concubine Chunmei is pregnant.Hongdao's widowed wife instigates Hongdao's wife to drive Chunmei out of the house in order to let her son inherit the family property.Chunmei lived by begging for food and gave birth to a son.In the neighboring village, Yu Xunli hoped that his son would hate women, so his wife's brother Wang Veterinarian took Chunmei's son to his sister's house and adopted the daughter born to her sister. Thirteen years later, Yu and Wang criticized each other, saying that each other had no future.Veterinarian Wang once owed Han Hongdao a silver tael, and he paid the principal and interest to Han's family to repay the debt.Han burned the securities, exempted Wang from debts, and talked about the past 13 years ago.Wang felt Han En and told the truth, so Han Hongdao went to Yu's house to recognize his son, and Wang's veterinarian also returned the daughter born to his sister.In order to thank the kindness of upbringing, Han and Yu's two children married each other.Chunmei's concubine was found and the two families were reunited.This play extends its brushstrokes to the homes of ordinary people, writing about Mrs. Han's savagery and Han Hongdao's generosity.With ingenious structure, twists and turns, and simple and vivid language, it can be said to be the epitome of social life in the Yuan Dynasty.

Anonymous's "Returning to the Native" tells the story of Su Qin from poverty to prosperity.Su Qin and Zhang Yi swore to Jinlan and shared fame and fame. However, Su Qin fell ill on the way and returned home in a state of poverty.Seeing his parents ignoring him, his sister-in-law refusing to cook, and his wife refusing to get off the plane, he left in a rage.Tou Zhangyi was also treated coldly. She lived in the ice and snow hall and ate cold meals and cold dishes.Su Qin wanted to commit suicide, but was persuaded.Zhang Yi secretly funded and encouraged him face to face. Su Qin was appreciated by the king of Zhao. He lobbied the five countries of Han, Wei, Yan, Qi, and Chu to form an alliance.Zhang Yi told the truth, and Fang reconciled as before.Faced with the situation of his family members being arrogant and respectful, and being arrogant and flattering, Su Qin couldn't help expressing the emotion of "who will take pity on those who are left in the wind and dust back then, but are now well-dressed to get close to each other".This play describes the inconsistency of the world, the inconsistency of human relationships, intense emotions, and rich love words.Similar to this play is "Xue Rengui Returns Home in Brocade" by Zhang Kuqian.Xue Rengui, who was born in a peasant family, was skilled in martial arts, served in the army, and won wealth. At the time when Koryo broke the army and invaded the country, Zhang Shigui, the general manager, was afraid of being defeated in battle. Xue Rengui set three arrows on Tianshan Mountain.Zhang Shigui pretended to claim credit for his meritorious service, which caused a dispute. The military adviser Xu Maogong ordered the two to compete at the gate, and Xue Rengui was awarded the title of Marshal of the Army and Horses for his meritorious service.Yemeng's parents were poor, so they returned to their hometown with fine clothes.When I entered the village and met my childhood companions, I was quite proud of my wealth.This play reflects the difficulties of poor people from humble origins, and criticizes Xue Rengui's behavior of returning home in rich clothes and despising old friends. The song is vivid and full of life.

Zheng Tingyu's "Golden Phoenix Hairpin" reveals the warmth and coldness of human relationships through the experience of the ill-fated Zhao Xiucai.Before the number one spot, the shopkeeper chased after the shop money, the wife forced to write a divorce letter, and the son asked for sesame seed cakes. It was a miserable scene.He won the number one scholar and went to the hall to thank him, but he was disrespectful and demoted to the common people.In order to make a living, he had no choice but to sell flowers at Qiaotou, and got 12 sets of golden hairpins in return for helping Zhang Tianjue, who was visiting Weifu, to solve his problems.One was returned to the store, and the rest was buried behind the door.The gangsters found out that they accused him of murdering and extorting goods. Fortunately, the shopkeeper testified.Zhang Tianjue begged the emperor for his title based on his character, and he was reinstated only after the case was cleared.This play is full of accidents, coincidences, and misunderstandings. One wave of ups and downs, one wave after another, is fascinating.It pays special attention to describing the fate and mood of the characters, and expresses the indignation and helplessness of scholars in the Yuan Dynasty when the tiger fell to Pingyang and the dragon was trapped on the beach.

In the Yuan Dynasty, there were nine Confucians and ten beggars.The imperial examination was abolished and not used, which cut off the official career of literati.Many works in Yuan Opera reflect the difficulties and ups and downs of literati, and express the feelings of grief, indignation, loss, despair, and disillusionment. Among them, Ma Zhiyuan's "Jianfu Stele" is the most influential.This play tells the story of Zhang Hao, a poor scholar with great talent and learning, who has been struggling repeatedly. He got three letters of recommendation from Fan Zhongyan, his best friend, and entrusted them to Huang Yuanwai, Liu Shilin, the deputy envoy of Huangzhou regiment training, and Song Gongxu, the prefect of Yangzhou.But it is a pity that Huangzhou Tuanlian is no longer alive, and Huang Yuanwai died just after meeting him.Really relying on mountains and mountains, relying on rivers and rivers to dry up, Zhang Hao lost all his thoughts and did not vote for Song Gongxu again.The villain Zhang Hao sent someone to kill Zhang Hao in order to replace his name. Unexpectedly, the person he sent sympathized with Zhang Hao and let him go.Zhang Hao fled and went to Jianfu Temple.The elders were sympathetic to his poverty and allowed him to inscribe the inscription as the travel expenses to Beijing.Unexpectedly, thunder and lightning flashed that night, and the wind and rain blew up and smashed the stele.Zhang Hao was desperate, and was about to touch the locust tree to die, when Fan Zhongyan came suddenly and recommended him to go to Beijing to meet the emperor.Although this play has the negative fatalism of "poor success and loss are all determined by fate" and "when the wind comes, the Tengwang Pavilion is transported to the Lei Hong Jianfu Monument", but more importantly, it is a criticism of the reality of inequality.In the Dragon King Temple, Zhang Hao cursed the gods of heaven and earth, and hated the injustice of the world: "This wall blocks the way of virtuous people, and that wall blocks the career path. Now, the more intelligent you are, the more you suffer from being smart, the more demented you are, the more you enjoy the blessings of dementia, and the more confused you are, the more confused you are." Rich." "Heavenly Lord and the boy, who is going to buy Nagato's fu? It doesn't matter if it's worthless. I have been honest and selfless all my life, and I have been teased by children and ridiculed by mountain ghosts." The title is nothing more than the author's ideal. Zheng Guangzu's "Wang Can Climbs the Tower" plays the role of Wang Can, one of the seven sons of Jian'an.Recommended by Zijian, he served under King Jingxiang's subordinates, but he was considered to be a man of virtue and talent, not a real pillar in the world.Wang Can detains Jingman, his hometown Luyao, with nothing to return to. At dusk in autumn, he went up to the tower and looked in the distance. His eyes were full of sadness, infinite sadness, grief and indignation. "" "In vain, I am a hero with great ambitions like a rainbow", "In vain, I live in the world", "Fang Dao's wings of Kunpeng hanging from the clouds, how can swallows and magpies compete for knowledge under the fence?!" Almost nine days, facing the wind, pearls and jade are born", embodies the writer's fiery and deep emotions, and knocked on the hearts of scholars of all ages. In addition, there are many dramas, which either express sympathy for the situation and encounters of scribes, praise their talents; or understand their lifestyles and behaviors, and affirm their value.Naturally, it is unavoidable that there is partiality and forgiveness in it, and there is a lack of deep dissection and introspection.And some Dutuo (Shenxiandaohua) dramas show that the literati in the Yuan Dynasty were not born at the right time. They were unwilling to cater to the power, sell themselves for refuge, and join forces with the rulers; Habitat for the pursuit of liberation.For example, Ma Zhiyuan is one of the Yuan Zaju writers who created the most Dutuo operas. His "Chen Tuan Gaowo", "Ren Fengzi" and "Huangliang Dream" are all representative works of Dutuo operas.