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The
term refers to a form of theatrical performance combining song and speech
popular in the Jin and Yuan periods. The drama is composed of sets of songs.
Each set of songs is composed of the same mode of music, or gongdiao. During the performance, one
set of songs is followed by another set of songs. Between them, the performer
adds spoken narrative to explain the story and string the plot together.
Sometimes single ditties are added. The genre had a marked influence on the
development of Yuan zaju or opera.
The zhugongdiao version of Romance of the Western Chamber by Dong
Jieyuan is the most intact extant zhugongdiao drama, and represents the best of Jin
Dynasty opera.
Classical Chinese music theory combined tone and pitch to classify and name different types of music, as well as to describe their characteristics. The seven notes are known as gong (宫 corresponding to 1 in the numbered musical notation), shang (商 corresponding to 2), jue (角 corresponding to 3), bianzhi (变徵 corresponding to 4), zhi (徵 corresponding to 5), yu (羽 corresponding to 6) and biangong (变宫 corresponding to 7). Any one of them can be used as a major tune along with other notes set in particular intervals to form a mode. The mode with gong as the major note is called gong, the mode with the rest of the notes as major ones are called diao. The seven modes with the accompaniment of 12 temperaments can theoretically have 12 gongs and 72 diaos, altogether 84 modes of music. However, in practical music, not all the gongs and diaos were used. Only seven gongs with each having four tunes (all together 28 modes of music) were used for imperial court music in the Tang and Song dynasties. Seven gongs and 12 diaos were used for music to go along with poems in the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, six gongs and 11 diaos were used for Northern music, and five gongs and four diaos were used for Southern music. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, only five gongs and four diaos were often used. Some music critics made rules for different gongs and diaos to be used for music for different occasions according to their characteristics. The theory of gongdiao played a role of direction and regulation in music creation for poems and operas and can be used to translate ancient music. It is an important subject for the study of ancient Chinese art
Qu (曲) is a literary form that came into being later than poetry and ci (词). It generally refers to the northern- and southern-style melodies created in the Song and Jin dynasties. Northern melodies were composed mostly with tunes in northern China and performed in northern dialect, while southern melodies had southern tunes and southern dialect. Since qu reached its peak in the Yuan Dynasty, it is generally known as Yuan qu or Yuan opera. Qu is similar to ci in form but is more flexible in sentence structure, and colloquial language is used. There are two main types of qu: one is northern zaju (杂剧) opera and southern chuanqi (传奇) opera； such qu is known as xiqu (戏曲) or juqu (剧曲). The other type is sanqu (散曲) or lyric songs, also known as qingqu (清曲). As with other forms of poetry, sanqu describes a scene, a sentiment or an event and can be sung, but it has no spoken parts or instructions for performers’ movements and expressions. Generally speaking, the old-style opera is much more accomplished and influential than sanqu. The Yuan period was a golden age in the development of Chinese opera. There are more than 80 known playwrights from that time. Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan (1251?-1321?), Bai Pu (1226-1306?), and Zheng Guangzu (?- 1324?) represent different styles from different stages of the Yuan opera, and they are recognized as the four leading Yuan opera writers. Yuan opera has distinctive plots and artistic appeal. Together with Tang and Song poetry and Ming and Qing fiction, it marks an important milestone in the historical development of Chinese literature.
Beiqu (北曲), the Northern Opera, originated in northern China. It was based on northern folk songs that were popular in the Northern Song Dynasty or earlier, and its lyrics were often funny and simple. After the Southern Song Dynasty, northern China fell under the rule of the Jin and Yuan dynasties. As a result, songs, dances, and musical elements of Nüzhen, Mongolian and other ethnic groups were widely incorporated into the Northern Opera, making it a unique form of opera. At the same time, many writers became interested in the Northern Opera and wrote large numbers of excellent opera works. Compared with the lyrics of the literati of the Song period, the Northern Opera was simple, direct and sincere, and there was greater freedom in arranging rhythm. The Northern Opera was performed mainly in the form of short lyrics and cycles. As they dealt with various social themes, operas performed in this artistic form were referred to as zaju (杂剧 opera of various themes). Writer in the Yuan Dynasty had low social status, so they wrote a large number of Northern Opera works to express their emotion and views. They are represented by Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan (1251?-1321?), Bai Pu (1226-1306?) and Zheng Guangzu (?-1324?), collectively known as the top four Yuan Opera writers.
Nanxi (南戏), the Southern Opera, refers to the Han ethnic opera from the late Northern Song to the late Ming and the early Qing dynasties. The opera was created in the Wenzhou region when the Song court fled south. At the time, it was also known as chuanqi (传奇 drama), xiwen (戏文 play) as well as the Wenzhou Zaju (温州杂剧 Wenzhou Opera), the Yongjia Zaju (永嘉杂剧 Yongjia Opera), and the Yongjia Xiqu (永嘉戏曲 Yongjia Play). Drawing on local folk singing styles, the Southern Opera first developed on the basis of village operas without any traces of palace styles and rhymes, and it was noted for being natural and smooth in singing. A Tale of the Pipa, a play by Gao Ming (1301？–1370？), marked the maturity of the Southern Opera. The Southern Opera inherited the Song zaju and heralded the emergence of the legendary play of the Ming Dynasty. Legendary plays were long enough to accommodate multiple roles and all performers sang. The Southern Opera masterpieces include The Romance of a Hairpin, The Story of the White Rabbit, The Moonlight Pavilion, and The Killing of a Dog. Many operas in southern China were created based on the Southern Opera.
Ci (词 a form of poetry with long or short verses which can be set to music and sung) and qu (曲 a form of rhyming compositions which can be set to music and sung) are a combined appellation for two kinds of literary styles. In Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature, they are listed at the very end of the “Collections” section (Qu is a sub-genre and is not listed in the table of contents). This is because according to the literary views of ancient scholars, poetry and essays were the only accepted tradition to express important ideas. To write in the form of ci (lyric) and qu (melody) was only seen as a minor skill showing a person’s talent. Sometimes, the combined appellation ciqu also refers to traditional opera and genres of performances featuring speaking and singing.
In a broad sense, the term means a style of traditional opera popular in the Jin Dynasty. In a narrow sense, it refers to the scores and librettos used in this type of drama, which was performed mainly in hangyuan (行院), or brothels, hence the name. This genre was very popular in the early Jin Dynasty but no separate, complete works have come down to us today. The format is as follows: short acts, simple plots, humorous language and comic gestures. The main performer fujing (副净) provides the humor while the supporting performer fumo (副末) provides comic backup. The form inherited a great deal from the Tang Dynasty two-person comic banter of canjunxi (参军戏) , and Song-dynasty zaju comedy. The brothel scores had a great influence on the development of the later Yuan zaju or opera.
Chuanqi (Legendary Story / Legendary Play)
This is a term for a literary form. It refers to three types of artistic works: 1) A type of short story in the Tang and Song dynasties that might be evolved from tales of the supernatural in the earlier Six Dynasties. Later its subjects widened to include social life, and stories about people and events. Chuan (传) means “legendary” and qi (奇) means “strange and unusual,” so the term originally means recounting tales of strange and extraordinary events that have been passed down by word of mouth. The work Legendary Stories by Pei Xing in the Tang Dynasty is probably the earliest work that uses the term. In the Song Dynasty, the Tang novel The Story of Yingying is considered a chuanqi, while the Yuan people called all Tang stories chuanqi of Tang. Song Dynasty chuanqi were more realistic and vernacular than those of the Tang. 2) Song-speech drama, Southern opera and Yuan zaju in the Song and Yuan dynasties, most of which were based on Tang stories. 3) Full-length operas in the Ming and Qing dynasties, which were based on the Southern Opera（Nanxi), and also included some Yuan zaju features. Typical works include The Story of Washing Gauze by Liang Chenyu (1519-1591), Peach Blossom Fan by Kong Shangren (1648-1718), The Palace of Eternal Life by Hong Sheng (1645-1704). The ancient style of chuanqi has evolved and been innovated over the centuries, both in story content and performance techniques. However, its main purpose is still to “tell stories of strange happenings and unusual people.”
Poetic drama of the Song Dynasty refers to a combination of comic shows, song and dance, and variety shows. It is an early form of traditional Chinese drama based on Canjunxi (comic dialogical plays of the Tang Dynasty) and drawing elements from song and dance plus other forms of folk art. It is mainly jocular and satirical. Its performance is divided into two sections. The first is a warming-up show whereas the second section is the “real thing.” Sometimes, skits will be added to a regular show to enhance the fun. Each poetic drama has four or five characters, with one of them being the main singer who narrates events by singing major arias while the others do the spoken parts, throw in impromptu remarks for comic relief, or simply sing and dance. Dramatic performances were very popular in the Northern Song Period, especially in Kaifeng and Luoyang. Throughout the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, poetic drama kept on growing and reached a new height, further dividing roles, varying postures and making plots more intricate. Poetic drama of the Song Dynasty predated that of the Yuan Dynasty. Its artistic forms and techniques directly influenced later forms of drama.
Zaju, a unique dramatic genre of the Yuan Dynasty, grew out of the northern zaju of the earlier Song Dynasty. Originally drawing on popular local performing styles of the north, it later absorbed zhugongdiao, a kind of song-speech drama with mixed modes of musical tunes, as well as scores / scripts performed in brothels by courtesans of the Jin Dynasty. Well-known playwrights like Guan Hanqing in the early Yuan period refined and formalized these various styles into this unique dramatic genre. Zaju is made up of four acts, each with sets of songs starting from the same gongdiao note, and sung by the principal female or male performers. The gongdiao note changes with each act. The plots are complete and well-constructed, while the lively and interesting characters rely on a rich repertoire of dramatic gestures and expressions. Dadu, capital of the Yuan Dynasty, was a prosperous center of economic activity where scholars and performers mingled well, which encouraged the rapid growth of the zaju genre. However, the style declined together with the Yuan Dynasty and by the following Ming Dynasty, it had been replaced by other operatic and performing genres.
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