The Yuan Dynasty Literature
The Yuan Dynasty Literature
Introduction
The Yuan Dynasty literature is popular and influential in the world. The Yuan Dynasty literature differs from other literatures in terms of style and content. Yuan plays and dramas differ from other drama and plays in terms of style and production. The Yuan drama and play have music, prelude, and interlude. Each act has traditional music that accompanies the dialogue. In addition, the Yuan’s included comedies to make them interesting. The Yuan tragic plays/ dramas influenced the development of subsequent tragic plays. Some of the famous writers of the Yuan Dynasty period include Guan Hangings and Wang Shifu. The authors explored issues in the society including corruption, injustice, and social status among others. The Shifu and Guan works help people understand the Yuan Dynasty society including its lifestyle and values.
Yuan Dynasty literature styles (play and drama)
Yuan dynasty was an important period in china as several developments in art and literature happened and continued. Play and drama developed greatly during the Yuan dynasty period. Drama and play became popular during this period. Drama was the most important achievement in literature of the Yuan Dynasty that began from 1271 A.D. The drama was replaced by Ming Dynasty in 1368 A.D. The drama had a great influence on the development of play writing and acting later. In addition, the development of the drama led to the rise of different kinds of operas. The Yuan Dynasty welcomed a golden period of Chinese drama.
The Yuan Dynasty led to the development of writers. Different writers wrote a wide range of plays and dramas during this period. Guan Hanging and Wang Shifu wrote a wide range of drama and plays. Guan Hanging work led to the development of drama in china. Guan drama depicts different artistic styles. The drama consists of tragedies that have led to the development and writing of Chinese tragedy plays. The dramas are full of grief and resentment. The evil force gets defeated at the end of the story and the good triumphs. Apart from guan work, Shifu work has also played a crucial role in the development of Chinese drama and play (Yang & Li p1-158).
China has had 3 golden periods of theatre. The first and most important one was the period of Yuan drama. The Yuan drama was influenced by the Yuan Dynasty and hence named after the ruling family. Zaju and Sanqu were the most common poetic styles in Yuan Dynasty. Yuan Zaju refers to works written during this time. The development of Zaju opera led to the maturation of the Chinese opera. Writers treated Sanqu as a narrative style though it can be lyric and narrative. Zaju surpasses Sanqu in achievements and influence on Yuan Dynasty literature. The Zaju developed after inheriting qualities of scripts written during the Jin dynasty. Zaju combined different qualities of Zhu Gong Diao. Zaju became famous in the northern China after its development.
The works are characterized by their structure, poetic language and accompaniment of music. The traditional poetry of the Song dynasty declined as the Yuan Zaju developed. The Yuan Zaju plays were not watched like the modern plays. The plays were performed in venues where the audience could choose to watch or not to watch the plays. The Chinese did not produce straight plays during this time as the plays were accompanied by music and singing. The Zaju was popular during the Yuan dynasty period. The Zaju was a kind of Chinese drama or opera that offered entertainment by synthesis the recitation of prose and poetry. In addition, the Zaju offered entertainment through singing, dance and mime. It mostly emphasized on a comedy with happy endings. Zaju originated from the song Dynasty(Yang & Li p1-158).
Zaju play scripts consist of four acts and a xiezi. The first act refers to the section from the time a character goes on the stage to the point the character goes off the stage. One script four acts implies that four collections of music with action and spoken section between make up the four stages of plot development. That is set up, development, climax and resolution. Only few works do not follow the one script four acts rule because of their complicated plots. For instance, the romance of western chamber does not follow the one script four acts rule. Some Zaju have xiezi that is a piece of wood inserted before the first act as a prelude.
The Yuan Zaju consisted of a short prelude before the main narrative in four acts. The prelude was accompanied by dramatic recitation and music. The four acts had traditional music sung by male and female lead. Improvisation was also common as they used amusing ad libs to make the play interesting. Lyrics are essential in Zaju especially libretto. An act consists of music of a similar gong Diao and similar rhyme. Four acts can use four different gong Diaos. Every gong Diao has its own tonality, but the gong Diaos in the fourth act changes with the plot development. In addition, Zaju consists of spoken sections in the play. Stage instructions, effects and expressions, are the most important elements of Zaju (Yang & Li p1-158).
The division of roles in Yuan Zaju is different from Zaju of the song of Dynasty and Jim dynasty. The main characters in the play are known as “zheng se”. The hero and heroine in the play are known as “zheng mo” and “zheng dan”. The plays consist of female characters, male characters, supporting characters, comedians and other characters. The characters play different roles. The writers explored various issues in the society through drama and play. For instance, writers used plays to examine the brutality of the conquerors, war tragedies, diverse, separation and love. The writers of the Yuan Dynasty developed high quality dramatic literature which is still considered classical and performed in different styles. Guan Hanging and Wang Shifu are some of the famous Yuan Zaju dramatists. The writers write different types of Zaju plays such as of the Western Wing and Injustice to Dou E (Yang & Li p1-158).
The Story Of Western Wing
Background
The Story Of The Western Wing (Romance of the west Chamber) is one of the most popular Chinese drama works. The Story Of The Western Wing was written by Wang Shifu during the Yuan Dynasty period. The play was set during the Tang Dynasty era. Shifu used the drama work to explore issues that were common in the society during this time such as love. The story revolves around a young couple (Zhang and Oriel) as they consummate their love without getting approval from their parents. The play consists of 21 acts divided into 5 parts. The couple meets in a monastery and fall in love immediately. However, they face challenges that hinder them from fulfilling their love as they do not get support. A servant brings the two together in a secret union (Idema, West & Wang p36).
Lifestyle
Lifestyle refers to a way of living that reflects the values of a society or an individual. The people of Yuan Dynasty had a different lifestyle. Class segregation was common in the society as the society was divided into various social groups. That is the rich and the poor. People interacted based on their social standing. The rich interacted with the rich and vice versa as shown in the play. This values and attitudes influenced many aspects including marriage. Young people were required to marry people of the same class. Young people did not have the right to choose their partners, and they did not get support. They faced numerous challenges that affected their love (Idema, West & Wang p36).
Values
People had different cultural values during the Yuan dynasty period. The society did not encourage love outside marriage and couples had to get approval from their parents before getting married. The play was only played in some families that did not consider love important for marriage. This affected youngsters as they did not get support when in love or wanting to marry. The society considered love before marriage immoral as shown by Oriel’s mother. She does not support Oriel relationship with Zhang. Oriel and Zhang get frustrated as they cannot be together. The couple had to get help from a servant in order to marry. The servant brought them together in a secret union. The society did not encourage freedom of marriage and young people longed for the freedom of marriage. Zhang and Oriel longed for the freedom of marriage as Oriel’s mother did not support their marriage (Idema, West & Wang p36).
In addition, the society did not consider love as a condition for marriage and people could get married without love as exemplified in the play. The parents arranged marriages. In the play, Oriel’s mother believes that love is not a condition for Oriel and Zhang to be married though they feel in love immediately after meeting each other at the monastery. Instead, Oriel’s mother claims that whoever will drive away the troops will marry Oriel. Though Zhang managed to drive away the bandits with the help of his friend, he did not get approval to marry Oriel. The comments from oriel‘s mother showed that parents arranged marriages for their daughters and sons. Oriel’s mother informed Zhang that she was engaged to a son of a high official in the court. Oriel and Zhang got disappointed by the comments, and this made it hard to fulfill their love (Idema, West & Wang p36).
Additionally, marriage decisions were based on the social status. The society believed that the poor should get married to the poor and rich to the rich. This is shown in the play as Oriel’s mother did not allow Zhang to marry her daughter due to his low social standing. Instead, the mother claimed that Zhang had to pass the civil service performance before marrying Oriel. The couples married after Zhang passes the test as they belonged to the same social class. Therefore, the play attacks the traditional values and beliefs (Fu p36).
Injustice to Dou E
Background
Injustice to Dou E is a play written by Guan Hanging. The play consists of all the features of a Zaju play. The play comprises several verses sung by a single actor in each act. The story has been translated several times. The story appears in the Peking opera as Snow in Midsummer. The play revolves around Scholar Tou and his daughter. In the play, Scholar Tou sells his daughter aged 7 years to Mistress Ts’ai in order to get silver. Scholar Tiu sells his daughter to get money to go to the capital to sit for an test. Old Chang and Donkey chang court Mistress Ts’ai and Tou O respectively. The two men demand to be compensated for rescuing Mistress Ts’ai from being strangled by an evil quack doctor. Mistress Ts’ai agrees to marry, but Tou O’ refuses to marry. Tou O’ decides to remain faithful to her dead husband. Donkey Chang kill Mistress Ts’ai so that he can marry Tou’O’. However, Old Tang dies after drinking the soup Donkey Tang poisoned. Then Tou’ O is accused of murdering old Tang. The court sentences Tou O to death and executes her. This brings drought to the society. Finally, she is declared innocent after a spirit appears to the high official and asks him for justice (Luo 577).
Values
Guan Hanging period was characterized by social turmoil, political corruption, severe class and national contradictions. People lived in great despair during this period. Guan plays show the social reality during this time. The play injustice to Dou E / injustice of Tou O show the Yuan Dynasty society’s dark side. Guan has used the tragic death of Dou to show the dark side. The author shows his compassion for the oppressed and denounces the dark side of the Yuan dynasty society. People in the Yuan dynasty society did not follow the moral values. Instead, they engaged in behaviors that contradicted moral values. Their behaviors contradicted the values of honesty and justice as evidenced in the play. Corruption was a major issue during the Yuan Dynasty period as district officials and other officials engaged in corrupt activities.
Corruption in the society affected the lives of many people as the officials could not administer justice. For instance, Tou O was accused of killing Old Tang after drinking the poisoned soup. Though Donkey Tang killed his father by putting poison in the soup, he was not punished. Instead, Donkey Tang accused Tou O of killing the father. Tou O being tortured by the corrupt officials and she confessed to the false charges. The officials sentenced Tou O to a death sentence and later executed her. Tou O criticized the corrupt officials and vowed to retail against the injustices. Tou O made three pledges before the execution. She vows to bring drought, and her execution brought drought. The good triumph at the end of the play as justice prevails. The corrupt officials and hooligans get punished (Luo 577).
Apart from corruption and injustice, people suffered a lot during the Yuan dynasty period. People engage in unethical activities in order to achieve their goals and fit into the society. The social segregation affected people’s lives negatively. The poor used different methods to meet their needs and improve their social class. For example, Scholar Tou sold her daughter to Mistress Ts’ai to get silver to pay his debt (Ebery p187).
Life style
Guan Hangings has clearly shown the lifestyle of people in the Yuan dynasty society. The Yuan Dynasty society is divided into several classes as shown by the characters in the play. That is the rich and the poor. The rich have benefited a lot from resources in the society, and they hold top positions in courts and other places. The class segregation has led to increase in poverty among the residents as most people do not access resources as shown by Scholar Tou. Scholar Tou has studied classics and has learned a lot, but he has not been successful in life. He claims that fame has not come and times have not been good. Scholar is unable to pay his debt due to lack of finances, and this compels him to sell his only daughter. The rich do not care about the poor in the society as evidenced my Mistress Ts’ai as she agreed Scholar to sell his daughter to her. Additionally, people valued the civil service test as it enabled one get a job as a high official. Hence, many residents including the poor used all means in order to complete the test. Scholar sold his daughter to go to the capital to do an test (Chan & Pollard p178).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Shifu and Guan were the most popular writers in Yuan Dynasty. The writers contributed a lot to the development of play and dram in china during this time. The writers write Yuan Zaju works. The works showed the dark sides of the society. They examined a wide range of issues including corruption, marriage, love, justice and social segregation. The plays consist of four acts integrated with music, prelude, interlude etc. The features have distinguished the Yuan plays from plays produced before and after the Yuan dynasty.
Reference
Chan, S., & Pollard, D.E.An Encyclopedia of Translation.2001. University Press, p 178
Ebery, P.B.China. 1996. Cambridge university press, p187
Fu, J. Chinese theatre. 2012. Cambridge university press, p36
Idema, W.L., West, S.H., & Wang, S. The Story of the Western Wing. 1995. University of California press, 36
Luo, Y.A concise history of Chinese literature. 2011. BRILL, p577
Wang, S. The Moon and the Zither:The Story of the Western Wing. 1991. 1-503
Yang, L., & Li, X. Gateway to Chinese Classical Literature. 2005. Asiapac Books Pte ltd, p1-58
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