"Chu Zhixiao, Han Zhifu,...... The words of the Song and the songs of the Yuan are all so-called the literature of the generation..." This is the literature that later generations have evaluated in ancient times.
Among them, the Yuan song is particularly special, which is divided into two forms of expression, scattered music and miscellaneous opera, and is a unique and brilliant pearl in the history of mainland literature.
Compared with the gorgeous, elegant and difficult poetry and song of the past, the miscellaneous opera genre is more accessible and loved by the working people at the bottom.
So far, when it comes to the drama "Dou E'e" of the Yuan Dynasty, no matter who can say a few words, it can be seen that the influence of the miscellaneous dramas in the Yuan song is deep.
It is a pity that "good flowers do not bloom often, good scenery does not often exist", and the meta-dramas that surprised an era finally failed to withstand the passage of time and fell and disappeared.
The next analysis is the reason for the decline of metadrama.
First, the origin of meta-miscellaneous dramas
1. The birth of meta-dramas
First of all, when it comes to the decline of metadrama, we cannot avoid a problem, that is, the birth and prosperity of metadrama.
It turns out that "miscellaneous drama" did not suddenly appear in the Yuan Dynasty, but experienced many eras, and different artistic cultures such as song and dance, acrobatics, poetry and other artistic cultures were constantly integrated, collided and evolved.
According to some documents, as early as the Tang Dynasty, miscellaneous drama was born, and in the Han Dynasty before the Tang Dynasty, there was a "hundred operas", that is, performances combining song and dance and acrobatics, and there was a fragment drama plot similar to later miscellaneous dramas in such dramas in the Han Dynasty.
In the Sui Dynasty, people combined and integrated the nine-part music and elegant music, coupled with the popularity of song and dance in the later Tang Dynasty, slowly theatrical performances appeared, and miscellaneous dramas also came into being.
Until the Song Dynasty, miscellaneous opera was generally divided into three parts: "Yan Duan", the main performance story, and the scattered section, including singing and dancing, music, acrobatics and other different fields of art, and this period really developed.
At this time, the opera of the Central Plains gradually matured, which also laid a certain cultural foundation for the development of later Yuan miscellaneous opera.
2. The prosperity of meta-drama
Secondly, the drama development of the Yuan Dynasty was very prosperous, and even gave birth to a special Yuan drama that was different from other dynasties.
For example, the creators of meta-miscellaneous dramas vent their emotions through this kind of literature that criticizes current affairs, and this kind of casual discussion of state affairs is also intolerable and imaginary to other dynasties.
In short, Yuan miscellaneous opera is popular in the north, also known as "northern miscellaneous opera", "northern song", etc., which has the characteristics of both realism and romantic ideas, and its content is quite ironic, even its prosperity is no exception.
Initially, the prosperity of Yuan miscellaneous drama was related to the talent strategy implemented by the Yuan government.
For example, the Yuan Dynasty directly abolished the imperial examination system, and the literati had no opportunity to get ahead by reading the imperial examination, and they ran for their livelihood every day without being reused by the Yuan government, which also provided a talent base for the development of Yuan miscellaneous dramas.
The "Song and Yuan Opera Examination" mentions this matter as: "... Those who compete in the subject,...... Once it is abolished, his talent is useless, and it is one that comes from the song... The new body of miscellaneous drama came out, and more and more engaged in this..."
In fact, in addition to the impact of the abolition of the imperial examination, the most funny thing mentioned above is that the literati generally had a low social status and were discriminated against.
It should be known that the founders of the Yuan Dynasty were Mongols, and their upper class had strong nomadic characteristics, such as grazing without production; Backward ideology and culture, such as the abolition of slavery for a long time, have been restored.
It is incompatible with the advanced ideology and culture of the interior of the Central Plains, and has also led to the deepening of contradictions between different ethnic groups in the Yuan Dynasty.
Coupled with the implementation of ethnic discrimination policies by the imperial court in the Yuan Dynasty, the racial contradictions in the country were further deepened, causing many literati to devote themselves to the creation of literature (miscellaneous dramas), venting their dissatisfaction in literature, and reflecting and criticizing the darkness of society.
Slowly the oppressed literati resonated with the people who had been persecuted at the bottom, and the literati became more and more aware of the difficulties of the people and became closer to them, so the meta-dramas they created became close to social reality and the lives of the people, so they were deeply loved by the public.
In addition, the economy of the Yuan Dynasty and the love of the upper class were also another important reason for the prosperity of Yuan miscellaneous opera.
Although there were many problems between ethnic groups in the Yuan Dynasty, its economy was still more commendable. In particular, the rapid recovery and development of the northern economy has made the number of hooks and tiles in large cities, which also provides an economic and material basis for the prosperity of metadrama.
The development of industry and commerce and the increase in population allowed the domestic citizen class to expand in the Yuan Dynasty, providing a large number of audiences for the performance of Yuan miscellaneous opera, and promoting its development and prosperity in disguise.
In addition, the Yuan Dynasty was an era of multi-ethnic integration and unification, and the cultural exchanges and collisions of various ethnic minorities also provided a relaxed environment for the development of Yuan miscellaneous opera.
What's more, the Mongols themselves can sing and dance well, since Genghis Khan, the rulers and upper class of the Yuan Dynasty have liked singing and dancing and miscellaneous performances, and the aesthetics of the whole country are also biased towards miscellaneous culture influenced by top-down concepts, as evidenced by poems: "Plain sleeves and beautiful people learn Chinese dance, and blue officials play the huqin."
Similarly, it is this kind of admiration that allows more and more people in the society to engage in the performance industry, intending to achieve the purpose of ascending to the sky and stepping forward in one step, which directly drives the prosperity of the miscellaneous drama industry.
Second, the causes of decline
1. The decay of metadramas
Finally, just as the so-called "Cheng Ye Xiao Xiao He Defeat is also Xiao He", the above is not only an opportunity for the development and prosperity of miscellaneous dramas in the Yuan Dynasty, but also the culprit of its decline and demise.
In view of this, there are three reasons for the decline of metadrama, the first of which is the influence of the social environment.
It must be known that since the "southward crossing" of the Song Dynasty, the economic center of gravity in the Central Plains has shifted south, and as mentioned earlier, the prosperity of Yuan miscellaneous opera depends on economic development, and it is not surprising that after the northern economy moved south, it is not surprising that miscellaneous dramas moved south.
Especially after the Yuan Dynasty unified the north and south, the prosperous south not only attracted a group of northern miscellaneous opera cultural creators, but also attracted many artists who dared to make money to live and settle in the south, resulting in the situation of "northern art moving south".
In order to cater to the preferences of southerners and raise their families, these artists and literati who came to the north had to learn the southern opera culture, forming a unique "southern opera".
With the passage of time, the southern opera developed rapidly, gradually came to the top, once competing with the northern miscellaneous opera, and even directly surpassed the northern miscellaneous opera in the later period, and the northern miscellaneous opera gradually declined.
In addition to the above, the improvement of the political status of the literati in the late Yuan Dynasty was also the reason for the decline of the Yuan Miscellaneous Opera.
There are records that "in the Yuan Dynasty, Jia Yin opened the imperial examination, Jiucheng Hall Zhisheng", and the restoration of the imperial examination made more and more literati no longer pursue art, but returned to the previous days of picking lamps and fighting night battles and reading poetry hard.
Thanks to the opening of the promotion path, their social status has also been relatively improved. This not only led to a decrease in the number of talents who originally wrote scripts, but also caused the literati, scholars, and poor people to separate the lives of the masses, and the creators who were separated from the masses had no inspiration and material sources, and the works they wrote were no longer as popular as before.
It is worth mentioning that although the status of the literati class in this period has improved, there are very few talents who are used by the rulers, and most of them are in a state of "frustration", which also pervades pessimism among the literati class.
In addition, the literati with improved status have restored their original noble characteristics as intellectuals, so that they cannot put down their bodies and go to the people, and in such a negative environment, most of the works written are pale and diseaseless moaning, which are naturally not loved by the people.
The second is the influence of the continuous politicization and courtization of meta-miscellaneous dramas.
The ideological imprisonment of the late Yuan Dynasty was very serious, and the Yuan drama became a tool for rulers and their governments to maintain power, and they used it to propagate ideas such as politics and feudal ethics.
This strategy has made the originally free and unruly meta-miscellaneous music more and more official and restrictive, not only the content subject matter is becoming narrower, the author has also become observant of etiquette and rules in shaping the character image, no longer the previous character full of complexity, struggle and contradiction.
In this way, metadramas without the spirit of struggle, resistance and life naturally become empty and boring, and it is not surprising that they are not popular with the public at the bottom.
What's more, such miscellaneous dramas in the "official language" are not in essence appreciated by the people, but have become a means to please the ruling class and the upper class.
For example, the later meta-dramas became more and more courtly after being controlled by the Yuan official, and many creators used flowery language instead of popular colloquial language loved by the people in order to gain the favor of the rulers, and finally directly detached from reality and became formalistic.
The third is the rigidity of the meta-drama itself, which cannot catch up with the aesthetic changes of the times and the public.
As mentioned earlier, the content of the meta-miscellaneous drama has become gorgeous, and such a drama naturally loses its advantage of being easy to understand, and gradually in the eyes of the people, the meta-miscellaneous drama becomes more and more obscure, and they naturally don't like to watch it when they originally come to relax Tule.
In addition, the miscellaneous dramas in the late Yuan Dynasty lacked novelty and innovation, especially the overly single theme and vulgar routines, resulting in the aesthetic fatigue of the people, and gradually the vitality-deficient metadramas disappeared in the long river of the times.
III. Conclusion:
As the saying goes, "Xie Ling must also tie the bell people", the decline of metadrama is inseparable from the impact factor of its prosperity, and it can prosper due to the political and economic environment, creators, etc., and can also die because of it.
In general, with the development of meta-dramas in the later period, its various rigidities, both in content and in terms of creators, imply that demise is an inevitable result.
Ironically, in the era of declining status of literati, on the contrary, literature, art and other cultural aspects became more and more developed, which shows that the "arrogant" ideas of literati in ancient society influenced the development of art, literature and other fields.
It is worth mentioning that the prosperity of literature is inseparable from the lives of ordinary people, and once the creation of literature is divorced from reality and people's daily life, then this kind of literature is not far from disappearing.
Bibliography:
"Exploration of the Decline of Metadrama"
"The Artistic Value of Llolen's Song" #历史开讲 #