A Study On The Drama Creation In The Early Qing Dynasty From The Perspective Of Ming-qing Transition

Late Ming and early Qing Period was a special period in Chinese history.This process of regime change ended with the minority regime ruling the Central Plains regime.The dramatist who went thought this period have been severely shaken in terms of ideology,values,and psychological identity.Their worries and Reflections on the political situation and cultural trend of thought at that time were mostly pinned on their opera creation,which was an important part of the opera in the Qing Dynasty.On the basis of collecting and sorting out a large number of relevant documents and historical materials of opera texts,this paper comprehensively uses theories and methods such as drama theory,history,sociology,literature method and interdisciplinary method to discuss the logic mentality between dramatists’ living conditions,creative mentality and text creation under the background of late Ming and early Qing period.It not only confirms and supplements the relevant historical records of late Ming and early Qing period,but also approaches the spiritual outlook and spiritual world of dramatists in the early Qing Dynasty,which has double important value and significance.During this changing period,the dramatists from Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty faced the life crisis,the survival crisis,the national culture crisis and the severe opera culture ecology,the dramatists had to make a difficult choice on “life and death” and “seclusion and officialdom”: been martyrs of the Ming Dynasty,or did not cooperate with Qing Dynasty,or took refuge in Qing Dynasty.Combined with the specific dramatist’s texts,it analyzes the reflection and refraction of the imperial disturbance,officialdom ecology and war situation in the drama during late Ming and early Qing period,and reflects the social and historical conditions and literati’s situation.Ming Yimin Dramatists mainly repose the nostalgia for the homeland,yearning for fame,dissatisfaction with reality,desire to get rid of reality,sympathy or contempt and other mindsets for the second minister in the drama.These mindsets come from the mentality of“death”;the close relationship between imperial examination fame and honor;the living conditions of the survivors and the standpoint of preserving the fame.There are a lot of Taoist narratives in Chinese opera of the survivors,which is closely related to the rulers’ policy of both restraining and supporting Taoism in the early Qing Dynasty,Taoist doctrine of reconciling the gap between reality and ideal,and the gap between the despair of the survivors and the urgent desire to get rid of the reality and other factors.In the creation of opera,Turn-coat Officials Dramatists mainly showed the following mentality: the sentiment of the survivors and the pain of subjugation,the contradictory mentality of choosing between being an official and being chaste,the state of shame and regret for the lack of official integrity,underappreciated and resentment of suffering.These mentalities are mainly attributed to: the background of this period and the employment policy of the early Qing dynasty;the regret and contradictory mentality arising from cultural traditions;the personal life and experience of Turn-coat Officials Dramatists after entering the Qing Dynasty.Although Ming Yimin Dramatists and Turn-coat Officials Dramatists had obvious differences in the reputation and integrity,Ming Yimin Dramatists and Turn-coat Officials Dramatists are still connect with each other.The Ming and Qing Dynasties exerted a considerable influence on the creation of Suzhou-style opera artists.The prosperous economy and convenient transportation conditions in the Suwu area have promoted the prosperity of the civic economy and the growth of the civic ranks,and its profound historical and cultural heritage has attracted a large number of opera artists to gather and produce cultural effects.The Suzhou-style opera artists’ experience in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the status of civilian professional writers gave them the opportunity to contact and write about the life emotions of zilch.The group of zilch plays an important role in the theme,character and plot structure of drama.The creations of Suzhou-style opera artists also pay attention to current affairs and politics,carry forward ethical education,which has a strong practical orientation.Their operas are shortened into short scripts,free and flexible scene scheduling,rich and sophisticated stage prompts,rigorous and flexible tunes and traditional opera language,which have prepared sufficient conditions for the stage performance to achieve good results.The change of Suzhou-style opera artists’ creation has a profound impact on the development of traditional Chinese opera.The trauma and reflection that the Qing Dynasty replaced the Ming Dynasty brought to the opera writers will not disappear with the establishment of the Qing Dynasty.It is in this sense that the opera creations of opera artists in the early Qing Dynasty has distinct significance of the times.