Chapter 17 Section 3 Tang Xianzu and Shen Jing

During the Jiajing and Longqing years of the Ming Dynasty, Wei Liangfu successfully reformed the Kunshan accent.Then, Liang Chenyu first performed the legend of "Huansha Ji" in Kunshan accent, which caused a sensation in the theater world at that time, and all places competed to stage it, which greatly promoted the creation of the legend.During the Wanli period, the author rose up in the clouds, shining like stars.There are many works, and they form the second golden age in the history of Chinese opera after Yuan Zaju.Tang Xianzu was the most outstanding playwright of this period. Tang Xianzu (AD 1550-1616), whose name is still meaning, Hairuo, Hairuoshi, also known as Ruoshi, was named Yuweng in his later years, a Taoist from Qingyuan, Jiangxi Province (now south of Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province).Born in a scholarly family, he has extensive knowledge, is between Confucianism and Xia, and has the ambition to change the world.Because of his aloof personality, he refused to rely on the powerful minister Zhang Juzheng, and failed many times.Zhang Juzheng was a Jinshi in the second year after his death, and he refused the acceptance of the new chief assistant Shen Shixing and Zhang Siwei, so he could not be reused, and became a doctor of Taichang Temple in Nanjing with no power and power.In the 19th year of Wanli (1591 A.D.), Tang Xianzu published "On Fuchen Kechenshu", slamming the government, and was relegated to Lingnan Xuwen (now Leizhou Peninsula) classic history.Three years later, he moved to Suichang County.During his tenure, he urged farming and studying, suppressed tyrants, expelled tigers, allowed prisoners to reunite with their families on New Year's Eve, and allowed prisoners to watch lanterns during Lantern Festival, which was deeply loved by the common people.Tang Xianzu became more and more aware of the corruption of the Ming Dynasty and deeply felt that he could not realize his ambitions, so he resigned and returned to his hometown in the 26th year of Wanli (AD 1598), built Yumingtang Qingyuan Building, and devoted himself to writing.Except for "The Story of the Purple Hairpin", which was written around the fifteenth year of Wanli, the other three plays were completed sequentially around this time.

Tang Xianzu lived in an era where the government was extremely corrupt.Difficulties at home and abroad, perils pervasive, "the state of the country is like a collapsed melon, and the ground is full of fluid when you move your hand." ("Response to Sun Yuefeng", Volume 5 of "Quotujiji") Many intellectuals who are dissatisfied with the reality and have original ideas, strive to break the shackles of Cheng Zhu Neo Confucianism, oppose the feudal dogma of "preserving the principles of nature and destroying human desires", and the Taizhou The "Leftist Wang School" headed by Wang Gen.In his early years, Tang Xianzu studied under Wang Gen's disciple Luo Rufang, and was deeply influenced by the thought of "Leftist Wang Xue".Tang Xianzu and the monk Daguan (Zibai) who was open-minded and arrogant in the name of Zen and opposed Cheng Zhu Neo-Confucianism were irreversible friends.The person he admired most was Li Zhi, a famous enlightenment thinker in the late Ming Dynasty.Li Zhi violently attacked Confucian classics and the ways of Confucius and Mencius, exposed the hypocrisy and ugliness of false Taoism, advocated the emphasis on utilitarianism, and put forward the idea that "clothing and eating are human relations and physics", and he was regarded as a "madman" and "heresy".Under their influence, Tang Xianzu became an outstanding representative of anti-Confucianism in the field of literature and drama.He once publicly claimed that "the teacher talks about sex, and someone talks about love" (Chen Jiru's "Criticism of the Peony Pavilion Inscription", Wu Ren's "Resurrection or Question Seventeen").He believes that "the world is always sentimental" ("Erbo Magu You Poetry Preface"), "human beings are born with sentimentality" ("Yihuang County Opera God Qingyuanshi Temple Records"), emphasizing the concept of "love to" and feudalism. The irreconcilability of the science of reason.He admired Xu Wei's romantic spirit and Li Zhi's "childlike innocence theory", advocating true feelings, and believed that "the beauty of an article lies not in the step-by-step resemblance. The natural aura comes from a trance, without thinking. It is strange and indescribable." It is not common to combine things." ("Heqi Preface") He advocated that "everything should be based on meaning, interest, spirit, and color" ("Answer to Lv Jiangshan"), and opposed formalistic tendencies such as seeking sound according to words. Emphasize that the content is not bound by the rhythm.

Tang Xianzu wrote a lot. Besides poetry, his most important achievement is his opera creation.He has written five legends in his life, and his first novel is "Zi Xiao Ji", which he cooperated with friends and has not been completed.The other four are: "The Story of the Purple Hairpin", ("Resurrection"), "The Story of Nanke", and "The Story of Handan", collectively known as "Four Dreams of Linchuan" ("Four Dreams of Yumingtang"). "The Story of the Purple Hairpin" is based on Jiang Fang's "Huo Xiaoyu Biography" in the Tang Dynasty, and was written on the basis of the semi-finished "The Story of the Purple Xiaoyu".This play tells the love story between Li Yi and Huo Xiaoyu, portraying the infatuated Xiaoyu, the heroic man in yellow shirts, Li Yi, a sentimental literati with shortcomings and weaknesses, and Lu Taiwei, a powerful man, highlighting "love" and "power" struggle.Among them, "Zheliu Yangguan", which describes Li Yi and Xiaoyu's long-lasting love of crying farewell, is quite moving and has become a traditional excerpt of Kunqu Opera.

He achieved the highest achievement in "Four Dreams of Linchuan".The author himself also said: "Peony is the only place where I can be proud of the four dreams in my life." Lots of new content.Du Liniang, the daughter of Du Bao, the prefect of Nan'an County, couldn't stand the boredom of reading scriptures, and accompanied by her maid Chunxiang, went to the garden to play.The brilliant spring scenery of colorful [cha poor] purple Yan [yan smoke] red and flocks of birds contending for noise suddenly made her feel the beauty and ephemerality of youth, causing infinite sadness.For a while, he was sleepy and fell asleep.In the dream, I saw a scholar named Pianpian, holding a willow branch in his hand to have a tryst with her.Woke up feeling sad, thinking about it endlessly.Looking for dreams again, but no Yiren.Liniang was sick with Acacia, and before she died, she described her true face, wrote a poem on it, and buried it under the Taihu stone in the garden.Soon, Liniang died of fragrance and jade [yunyun], was buried beside the Peony Pavilion, and a plum blossom nunnery was built.Three years later, Liu Mengmei, a scholar from Guangzhou, went to Beijing to take the exam, passed through Nan'an County, and was admitted to Meihua Nunnery due to illness.Mengmei burns incense and worships paintings.At night, Liniang actually stepped off the painting.Mengmei obeys Liniang's order, digs the grave and opens the coffin, and Liniang comes back to life.The two married and went to Lin'an (now Hangzhou) to take the exam together, and went to Yangzhou to find their father.Du Bao regards Liu Mengmei as a gravedigger, beats and imprisons her, but does not believe in Liniang's resurrection.After repeated verification, I believed this matter.In the end, the emperor came forward to solve the problem satisfactorily.

The fantastic stories of life and death experienced by Du Liniang in pursuit of infatuated love and ideal life are so strange, romantic, profound and true.All of this is not the author's fantasy, but comes from people's cherishment of youth and love of life.Du Liniang was only twenty-eight years old, and she was born beautiful. "Lifelong hobbies are natural", and she yearned for a free and happy life where "flowers, plants and grass are loved by others, life and death follow others' wishes, and no one complains about bitterness or bitterness".But feudal ethics suppressed her nature and stifled her affection.When she read it once, she suddenly realized the true meaning of life and sighed that "human beings are not as good as birds".Then, in the garden, I discovered the garden of "Spring is like a promise".The beautiful nature touched her heart, awakened her youthful vitality, and ignited the flame of love for beauty, nature, and freedom in her heart.She felt the suffocation and silence of the environment, and the perishability of youth aroused her longing for a better life.However, such instincts and emotions were impolite at the time.Thus, Du Liniang's infatuation turned into a dream, in which she broke through the cage and got everything she deserved.The dream is a beautiful world opposite to the dark reality. "Why is the love in the dream untrue?" In order to find the dream, she "the living can die, and the dead can live", the "pure love" and "ultimate love" that burst out freely and transcend life and death "Love" has the power to shock rationality and laugh proudly at life and death.On the surface, it seems that Du Liniang has no tit-for-tat conflicting opponents, and the play lacks the usual dramatic conflict between positive and negative characters; but in fact, the contradiction between emotion and reason, ideal and reality runs through the whole play. conflicts, and the resulting inner conflicts.It seems unreal but real, more exciting, and can more truly reflect some of the essence of late Ming society.

What is written is a strange and blurred story.Du Liniang went from life to death, and then came back to life, dreaming and haunting Liu Mengmei.The private school teacher Chen Zuiliang connected Du Liniang, Liu Mengmei, and Du Bao into one body, making time and space unified, reality and fantasy intertwined, which has profound practical significance and strong romanticism.The characters have their own personalities, "The laugher really laughs, and the laughter makes a sound; the one who cries really cries, and there are tears when he cries; the one who sighs really sighs, and there is anger when he sighs." Also, Du Anfu's old stick, Chen Zuiliang's mist, and Chunxiang's thief prison, all of them explore the subtleties of the seven emotions and vividness from the tendons and joints." 》) Since its publication, "reciting it from family to family has reduced the price of "West Chamber"" (Shen Defu's "Gu Qu Miscellaneous Words"), which has produced huge social repercussions. Du Liniang's tragic fate has aroused strong resonance among boudoir women .

"The Story of Nanke" and "The Story of Handan" are the works of Tang Xianzu after he resigned from office and went home to live in seclusion. "Nanke Ji" is based on the legend of Tang Dynasty "The Legend of the Prefect of Nanke". The scholar Chunyu Fen (fenfen) who played the role fell into a dream under the big locust tree.Because of his outstanding political achievements, he was also worshiped as prime minister.He wins over the powerful, shows off his arrogance, and is finally overthrown by his political opponents and sent back to his hometown.At this time, Chunyu Fen woke up from his dream, and after being instructed by the old monk, he realized that the ant nest on the big locust tree had been washed away by a gust of wind and rain.So, suddenly awakened, converted [guigui] to Buddhism.

"Handan Ji" is based on Jiji of Tang and Shen Dynasties, and it is also based on Yuan Zaju with the same theme.Acting as Lu Sheng, he stayed in a store and got Lu Dongbin porcelain pillows. In his dream, he married the rich and powerful wife Cui Shi.Under her arrangement, she won the first prize by virtue of money and supernatural powers, and made many river and border merits; but because of the conspiracy of her political opponents, she was exiled to Hainan, and was not allowed to return to court until the political opponents were punished.Having been a prime minister for 20 years, he was favored by the emperor and enjoyed all the glory and wealth.After waking up after death, I realized that it was a dream, and the store's yellow rice was not yet cooked.

These two plays seem to be immortalized, with a strong "talking about Xuanli Buddha" elements and negative thoughts of birth, but they are actually based on the Tang Dynasty and reflect the officialdom and society of the late Ming Dynasty.Tang Xianzu believes that "there is neither good nor evil in nature, but there is emotion" ("Fu Gan Yilu").If it is a eulogy of true feelings, then these two plays are a criticism of "hypocrisy", highlighting the theme of satire.From Chun Yufen's transformation from beauty to ugliness and from good to evil, we can see that feudal officialdom is like a dye vat, and feudal power is the source of evil.The experience of Lu Sheng exposed the infighting in the feudal officialdom and the extravagance and corruption of the ruling class.The structures of these two plays are unique, and they both include three organic parts: the hero's downfall before falling into a dream, the encounters in the dream, and the birth of enlightenment after waking up from the dream.Dreaming is the beginning, the dream is the development, and waking up is the climax and the ending.In this way, reality and fantasy are integrated, and absurdity, symbolism and realism are combined in one place.Although they are both "dreams made of love and dramas made of dreams", they are quite different from each other.In the Ming Dynasty Wang Siren's "Comments on the Peony Pavilion of Yumingtang" said: ""Handan" is also a fairy, a Buddha is also, "Purple Hairpin" is also a man, and "Peony" is also a love." They reflect different styles from different aspects. The society of Ming Dynasty showed Tang Xianzu's life ideal.

Shen Jing, who was a contemporary of Tang Xianzu, was also a representative figure in the theater circle at that time.Shen Jing, a native of Wujiang, Jiangsu, was born in an official family. He was a Jinshi in the second year of Wanli, and he was an official in Guanglu Temple.He is good at poetry, workmanship, fine rhythm, and good singing. After retiring, he lived in the countryside and devoted himself to writing and singing. He called himself "Mr. Ciyin".He created 17 kinds of legends, collectively known as "Legend of Yutang", most of which are lost, and only seven survive.Among them, "The Story of the Righteous Hero" is his masterpiece, which tells the story of Wu Song beating a tiger, killing his wife, beating Jiang's door god drunk, splashing blood on the mandarin duck building, being forced to go to Liangshan, and being recruited.He wrote an article exclusively on "Righteous Heroes", turning Wu Song into a scholar-bureaucrat, emphasizing that he refused to rebel and took the initiative to accept recruitment.But this play is written in a popular and authentic way, and there are several songs that have been popular all the time, such as "Picking the Curtain and Tailoring Clothes", "Fighting the Tiger", "Killing My Wife" and so on. "Bo Xiao Ji" is Shen Jing's later work, which consists of 10 small comedies that are not related to each other.These 10 little comedies are: Wu Juren gets a concubine infatuatedly, Nie (nie Nie) the county assistant falls asleep all day long, an evil woman meets a tiger when she opens the door, rehabilitating an official and losing her life, a wicked boy mistakenly confiscates his wife, and all the prodigal sons try to make money Money, peace and goodness avoid misfortune in the face of danger, people who wear clothes (yu entertainment) hide their virtues to judge injustice, show offers catch demons and get their wives, heroes will go out hunting and exercising power. "Bo Xiao Ji" uses the characters in the play as a series to form a legend, which can be said to be a variant and innovation of legends and dramas.The structure is quite distinctive, completely breaking the convention of using talented scholars, beauties, and historical heroes as protagonists, and writing monks, Taoist priests, swindlers, traders, thieves, lower-level officials, widows, wicked young men, prodigal sons, etc., expanding the scope of expression.On the surface, it seems to be for laughing and amusing, but in fact it is intended to abstain from prostitution, police and robbers, and help the world, with a lot of feudal preaching.

Shen Jing's achievements are mainly manifested in opera theory.Aiming at the disadvantages of elegant creation of operas at that time, parallel couplets being the norm, and separation from stage performances, he put forward the "theory of sound and rhythm" and "theory of true color".The revision and addition of "Nanjiugong Thirteen-Tune Music Score" (21 volumes) has become a model for composers and singers to follow, and has had a great impact on the rhythm of Nanqu.He advocates true colors and requires that the language of legendary scripts be easy to understand, simple and natural, which is also of practical significance.The problem is that he pays too much attention to form, one-sidedly emphasizes the importance of rhythm, and even goes to extremes.He said: "It is better to cooperate with the law than to write words, and to read them without making sentences, but to eulogize the first leaves, which is the skill in the music" (Lv Tiancheng's "Qu Pin" volume), and even advocated: "It is better to let the people of the time not appreciate it." , without making people scratch their throats and slap their throats" ("Mr. Ci Yin's On Music").In order to be natural, he unrefinedly used common language in his legends, "to use slanginess as ridiculous as not to apply makeup, and to be natural as a childish rate" ("Tan Qu Miscellaneous"), which will inevitably lead to roughness. ,shallow. Shen Jing had a prominent position in the theater circles of the Ming Dynasty, had a huge influence, and had many followers, including a group of playwrights, opera critics and theorists.Because Shen Jing is from Wujiang, he is called "Wujiang School".Playwrights include Ye Xianzu, Fan Wenruo, Yuan Yuling, Bu Shichen, Shen Zijin and so on.Ye Xianzu's masterpiece is "The Story of Luan [bi]", which tells the love story between Wen Tingyun, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, and Yu Xuanji, a Taoist priest. man.Fan Wenruo's representative work is "Flower Banquet Earning", which tells the story of Wen Qiao and Yu Jingtai. "Mandarin Duck Stick" is exactly like the story of Jin Yunu sticking his lover in the movie.Yuan Yuling's representative work is "The Story of the West Tower", which tells the love story between Yu Shuye, the son of the censor and a talented man, and Mu Suhui, a prostitute.Bu Shichen's masterpiece is "The Story of Holly", which tells the story of Tang Jue, a talented scholar in the early Yuan Dynasty, and Lin Deyang, an imperial student, who took the risk of burying the bones of the emperors of the Song Dynasty.Shen Zijin's masterpiece is "Cuiping Mountain", which plays the story of Shixiu killing his sister-in-law in the Water Margin. Among opera critics and theorists who followed Shen Jing, Lu Tiancheng and Wang Jide contributed the most.Lu Tiancheng's "Qupin" is a monograph commenting on legendary writers and works. It preserves many legendary writers and opera catalog materials, and expounds many insights on the rules of opera creation.Wang Jide is the most accomplished opera theorist of the Wujiang school, and "Qulu" is his masterpiece.It discusses the genres of the northern and southern operas, the melody of the southern operas, and legendary practices, and makes extensive comments on the opera writers and opera works of the Yuan and Ming dynasties.What is particularly rare is the factual and scientific summary of the debate between Tang Xianzu and Shen Jing about the importance of writing and rhythm.Feng Menglong, a master of popular literature in the late Ming Dynasty, firmly adhered to the family law of "ci Yin", and he can be called a master of the Wujiang school.He once deleted 15 kinds of legends, titled "The Final Version of Mohanzhai", and admired Shen Jing and Wang Jide very much. Tang Xianzu and Shen Jing represent the two major schools on the Ming Dynasty drama stage, each with its own distinct characteristics.The two factions had differences and disputes, as well as exchanges and integration. At that time and later, there were many people who advocated "combining the laws of Wujiang with Linchuan's pen", "combining the laws of Tang Ci", and "combining the two beauty".Especially in creative practice, many legendary writers not only emphasize prose but also pay attention to rhythm, and have written many excellent works that are "convenient on the desk and on the field" (Wu Mei's "Gu Qu Mo Tan"), such as Wu Bing's " "Xiyuanji" (one of "Five Kinds of Charming Flowers"), Meng Chengshun's "Jiaohongji" and so on.Li Yu in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, Hong Sheng and Kong Shangren in the early Qing can be said to be examples of "combining the laws of Wujiang with Linchuan's pen" and combining the two.