Chapter 16 Three plays at the beginning of the second quarter

The prosperity of the legend has brought Chinese classical opera into a new stage of development, and the second peak in the history of opera development has appeared.According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 430 legendary writers of Ming and Qing Dynasties with names and pen names.They have created more than 1,800 legendary works, and together with the works of Anonymous, the total number is more than 2,800. The legends of the Ming and Qing Dynasties have experienced nearly 400 years of history, which can be roughly divided into four stages: the first stage, from the early Ming Dynasty to the Jiajing and Longqing years of the Ming Dynasty, lasted about 200 years. own system.Haiyan, Yuyao, Yiyang, and Kunshan tunes rose, spread, and matured among the people, and the creation of legends began; in the second stage, from the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Ming Dynasty, in about 70 years, Yiyang tunes gradually developed into the Yiyang tune system. Kunshan Opera entered its heyday.The victory of Kunshan and Yi brought about the overall prosperity of legend creation, with the emergence of outstanding playwrights like Tang Xianzu and excellent works like "Four Dreams of Linchuan"; the third stage was the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, when Kunshan tune and legend creation entered In the stage of adjustment and summary, the "Suzhou Writers Group" headed by Li Yu and opera theorist Li Yu are the masters of this stage; in the fourth stage, from the end of Kangxi to the end of Qianlong, for about 80 years, Kunqu Opera declined from prosperity to decline. But there are two monuments of "South Hong Kong and Bei Kong".

In the first stage, the creation of legends is relatively quiet, but "The Story of the Sword", "The Story of the Phoenix", and "The Story of Huansha" are worth noting. "The Story of the Sword", author Li Kaixian (AD 1502-1568), courtesy name Bohua, nickname Zhonglu, was born in Zhangqiu, Shandong Province. return home.The family stores vocal tricks, and entertains themselves with songs and songs.Li Kaixian compared himself with Yuan opera masters Ma Zhiyuan and Zhang Xiaoshan, and had contacts with contemporaneous dramatists Kang Hai and Wang Jiusi, and shared similar interests.Li Kaixian loves to collect books very much, and he is known as "Mountain of Ci and Quhai".He is one of the "Eight Talented Scholars of Jiajing". He has written a lot and is quite famous.

"The Story of the Sword" is Li Kaixian's masterpiece. It tells the story of Lin Chong's journey to Liangshan.In the story, Lin Chong and Gao Qiu had a hatred for taking their wives. After being plotted repeatedly, they killed their enemies and went to Liangshan when they had nowhere to go. In "The Story of the Sword", Lin Chong has no personal grievances, but was framed because of the impeachment of treacherous ministers Gao Qiu, Tong Guan and others.Lin Chong in the play is full of sorrows and loyalty, "aims to revolutionize the world", and is determined to "make a big show", but encounters countless ups and downs and misfortunes.The author has integrated his own experience of official career into Lin Chong: there is the blood of making contributions, the anger at the rape of the power and the wronging of the country, the sorrow of deploring the disillusionment of the future, and the unconcealed rebellious color.Lin Chong is a new drama character who combines loyalty and rebellion.The script highlights the struggle between loyal and traitors, which obviously has profound practical significance in the Jiajing era when Yan Song was in power. The melody of "The Story of the Sword" is beautiful but not polished.Especially as soon as "Night Run" came out, it painted love and stories, and the scenes blended together. Lin Chong's ambivalence of "concentrating on the water margin and looking back at the heaven", "worrying about the king and mourning [Chuang Chuang] God", as well as his unfulfilled fame and ambition The hard-to-pay hero's mind is fully revealed.This folding opera is still active on the stage of Kunqu Opera and is very popular among audiences.

"Ming Feng Ji", the author is unknown.During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Xia Yan, Yang Jisheng and his wife, Zou Yinglong and other loyal ministers and righteous men fought life and death with the Yan Song Group. After five rounds of fighting, "Shuangzhong" and "Eight Righteousness" finally defeated Yan Song and ushered in the victory of "Chaoyang Danfeng Crying Together". The title of "Ming Feng Ji" comes from this.The beginning of the script opened the prelude to the struggle between the two sides: the first assistant Xia Yan adopted the opinion of Zeng Mi, Minister of the Ministry of War, and advocated recovering the lost land in Hetao occupied by the Hu people.The treacherous prime minister, Yan Song, colluded with the chief soldier, Qiu Luan, and obstructed him in every possible way in order to cater to the emperor's desire to live in peace.Yang Jisheng, the head of the car driver of the Ministry of War, was very angry when he heard this, and went to the hall to impeach Qiu Luan.Yan Song was furious, designed to kill Xia Yan and Zeng Mian, and demoted Yang Jisheng to Yishan Yicheng, Guangxi.After Yang Jisheng was pardoned and returned to Beijing, he continued to write a book and played Yan Song, and both husband and wife were killed.Then Dong Chuance, Wu Shizhong, and Zhang Helou jointly impeached Yan Song. They were all severely tortured and sent to the army.Guo Xiyan, a Hanlin scholar, was also poisoned to death by Yan Song.Xinke Scholars Zou Yinglong and Lin Run admired the integrity of Xia Yan and Yang Jisheng, and they shed tears in tribute to the heroes.Yan Song was furious and transferred the two to a remote place.Because Yan Song did too many evils and accumulated deep grievances, it aroused resentment from heaven and people.Zou and Lin took the throne as the new emperors and continued to impeach. Yan Song was dismissed from office and returned home, and his son Shifan was beheaded in the city.

This is a current affairs drama, and the characters and events have a basis in life.Yan Song was a well-known traitor during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. He was vicious and vicious, and his crimes were obvious.The upright people in the court, regardless of the dangers of beheading, exile, and relegation, took part in impeachment, and finally overthrew Yan Song and his son, who were full of evil.The script reflected this thrilling struggle in a timely manner, and praised the upright, virtuous and unyielding fighting spirit of loyal ministers and righteous men.Yang Jisheng is the most successful character portrayed.The manuscript under the lamp, the impeachment of traitors in the golden palace, and the death in the execution ground all describe his righteousness, perseverance, and fearlessness, which are quite real and moving.The exposure of Yan Song, father and son and their henchmen is penetrating and full of expressions.The disadvantage of this play is that there are many characters, the plot is complicated, it is not cut well, and it is not concentrated enough.Too much emphasis on the unity of loyal ministers and righteous men fails to show the different personalities and behavioral motivations of the characters.The recurring scripts and plots of murder are unavoidably the same.

"Huansha Ji", author Liang Chenyu (1521-1594 AD), courtesy name Bolong, nickname Shaobo, was born in Kunshan, Jiangsu.He is a romantic and romantic literati, good at singing, his voice is like gold and stone, he is a good knight-errant, and his footprints are all over Wu and Chu.After Wei Liangfu reformed Kunqu Opera, he was the first to respond, compiling the legend of "Huansha Ji" with the new sound of Kunqu Opera.This play tells the story of the rise and fall of Wu and Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period. Taking the love between Fan Li (li Li) and Xi Shi as a clue, it reflects the intricate struggle between Wu and Yue: King Fuchai of Wu led an army to break through the capital of Yue, Fan Li and his wife Goujian, king of Yue As a hostage, he was taken to Suzhou, the capital of Wu.Fan Li bribed Dazai Bopi (pi pi), the powerful minister of the Wu state, and through Bopi deceived Fucha into believing that the King of Yue and his ministers sincerely surrendered.Wu Zixu, the prime minister of the state of Wu, repeatedly reminded Fu Chai, the king of Wu, to be wary of Goujian's tricks.But the headstrong (bibi) self-serving Fu Chai didn't accept his faithful advice, and sent Gou Jian, his wife and Fan Li back to the Yue Kingdom.In order to overthrow the state of Wu, Fan Li resorted to beauties and asked Xi Shi to enter the Wu Palace as a concubine.Knowing the righteousness, Xi Shi resolutely went to invite Fu Chai to favor him.Fu Chai was indulging in wine and sex, neglecting government affairs.Fan Li also borrowed Bo Pi's power to deceive his husband and sent troops to go on an expedition.Wu Zixu refused to listen to the remonstrance, and committed suicide.Taking advantage of the emptiness in Wu, the State of Yue captured Gusu.Xi Shi then designed to trick Fu Chai to Yangshan, where Fu Chai was forced to commit suicide.Fan Li and Xi Shi reunited and returned home triumphantly.They deeply felt that Goujian, King of Yue, could only share adversity, not happiness, and accompanying the king was like accompanying a tiger, so they both went on a boat on the five lakes.

This play criticizes the faint-hearted rulers and ministers, and praises Fan Li and Xi Shi's mind and style of always putting state affairs above their children's personal feelings, and Fan Li and Xi Shi's wise actions of treating high-ranking officials as rich and lucrative as dirt, retiring after success, and sailing on the five lakes I especially appreciate it, which reveals the author's aversion to fame and wealth. The "Fanhu" knot is ingenious and breaks the old pattern of reunion.This romantic drama with a strong political color opened the historical drama pattern of "using the feelings of separation and separation to write about the sense of rise and fall", which has a significant impact on later generations.

In addition to the above three major dramas, there are also some excellent dramas in this period, such as Zhang Fengyi's "Red Fu Ji", which combines the Tang Dynasty novel "Qiuran (qiuran Qiuran) Ke Zhuan" and Meng Qi (qiqi) "The Poetry of Poetry" In "Xu Deyan and Princess Lechang reunited with two stories, it mainly tells the story of Hong Fuhui who knows the hero Li Jing.Anonymous's "Su Wu Shepherd" tells the story of Su Wu in the Han Dynasty going to the North Kingdom, fulfilling his mission, and herding sheep in Beihai.Li Rihua's "South West Chamber" sang the stories of Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying with Nanqu.Wang Ji's "Serial Series" tells the story of Wang Yun of the Eastern Han Dynasty cleverly performing serial tricks and Lu Bu playing Diaochan.Xue Jindui (one said Xu Lin, one said Zheng Ruoyong) acted in the love story between Zheng Yuanhe and Li Yaxian in "Xiu Ru Ji" rewritten from "Li Wa Biography".Shen Cai's "A Thousand Golds" tells the story of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang fighting for the world, and Xiao Heyue chasing Han Xin.Su Fuzhi's "Golden Seal" tells the story of Su Qin's hard study and the seal of the six kingdoms.Yao Maoliang's "Story of the Loyalty" tells the story of Yue Fei's loyal service to the country and his persecution by Qin Hui. Most of them are based on Tang legends, Yuan dramas and folk tales. They are relatively simple and suitable for stage performances.

During this period, there appeared a group of playwrights who specialized in diction, and "the fragrance comes from elegance", forming the literary talent Pianli School (Pianqi School) in the legendary creation. Because most of its members are from Kunshan, Therefore, it is also called Kunshan School.It was Shao Can, an old student in the early Ming Dynasty who started the story. His "Sachet of Sachets" tells the story of Zhang Jiuzheng in the Song Dynasty who was envoys to the north and was besieged.The language deliberately seeks work, and the poetry is incorporated into the music. "The beautiful sentences are dazzling" (Xu Fuzuo's "Qu Lun"), which is incomprehensible.Zheng Ruoyong inherited the legacy of "The Story of the Sachet". His "The Story of the Jade Jue" tells the story of the joys and sorrows of the scholar Wang Shang and his wife Qin Qingniang. The structure of one person and one task as the main brain is the first of its kind in the Pianqi School.The content of this play is empty, the words are gorgeous and flashy, and even the servant's speech is gorgeous and elegant, the antithesis is stable, and it uses a lot of allusions. .Mei Dingzuo's "Jade Heji" is the most typical work of the Pianli school. All the words are in four or six sentences, not to mention citizens, farmers, and even scholar-bureaucrats. "How many people can understand the language?" Tu Long's " "Caihao Ji", the words and sentences are all in parallel language, and the final scroll is not available if you want a truthful sentence.This style of writing intensified in the late Ming Dynasty, forming a chronic disease.

During this period, there was also a countercurrent of "using current literature as the southern song" in the creation of legends.The great bureaucrat Qiu Jun (1421-1495 A.D.) wrote the legend of "Wu Lunquanbei's Loyalty and Filial Piety" in the style of stereotyped essays, and used a blunt plot to deduce how Wu Lunquan and Wu Lunbei, the half-brothers, dealt with five Lun (junchen, father and son, brother, husband and wife, friend) relationship, Du Xiao's wife cut her liver and filial aunt, Shi Shuqing bought a concubine for her husband in order to make her husband have an offspring.Just when I heard that my husband was captured, I hoped that my husband would die as soon as possible, and I would rather keep chastity all my life.The whole play is full of absurd plots and disgusting preaching, it is either sour or rotten, and it stinks unreadable.