A Study On Meng Chengshun

Meng Chengshun, a playwright, drama theorist and carving publisher during the transfer period of Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty, is well established in drama writing, drama theory, and selecting and commentating Zaju. He enjoys important role in the drama history of Ming and Qing dynasties, so the research about him bears significance too.The introduction is about the rationale, the status quo of the research on Meng Chengshun, the methodology applied in the current research, and the hypothesis.The body part consists of seven sections.Section 1 is about the life stories of Meng Chengshun. Born into a well-educated family, Meng Chengshun enjoyed literature prestige since his early years. In his youth, he participated in the social organizations, which indicated Meng's intension to participate social activities. However, frustrated by the imperial examinations, Meng turned to the composition of drama and poetry to relieve his cynicism. Later on, the dramatic change from Ming dynasty to Qing dynasty occurred, and Meng Chengshun in Qing dynasty lived a life of recluse. He retired himself from the humble work of a county teacher in Songyang and returned to his hometown. Meng Chengshun in the later years experienced a sort of mental wrestle. Besides, the current section tackles the topic of Meng's origin, and concludes that Meng was born in Kuaiji, instead of Shanyin. Finally, there are still many papers, which include three poems, two prefaces, and one biography, written by Meng Chengshun which haven't been put under his name, and this sections sorts them out and gives a brief introduction to them too.Section 2 is the textual research of Meng's social activities. It is made up of two subsections, with the first about Meng's association with gentlemen in Yue-Shaoxing and places around, such as Qi Biaojia, Chen Hongshou, Ni Yuanlu, Ma Quanqi, etc., and the second about Meng's association with such friends as Zhuo Renyue in Hangzhou, and Xingfang in Nanjing. Meng's social activities with these gentlemen played a significant role in his writing career.Section 3 is a study on Meng's drama theory. This section focuses on his theories of romance in drama, drama language, and drama style. The central theme of Meng's theory is that of romance in drama. On the relationship between romance and reason, Meng Chengshun displayed a different theoretic pursuit from others, and added a new interpretation to the romance drama theory. The main content of Meng's drama language theory is naturalism. In both the characters and the way to present them, Meng Chengshun showed his favour in naturalistic language, and naturalistic style. Meng Chengshun's style theory was reflected in Drama Anthology of Ancient and Contemporary Times he finished compiling in 1633. In this book, Meng Chenshun elaborated on two styles with the name of "Wanli" (delicate) and "Xiongshuang" (heroic abandon), and criticized the idea of "inferiority and superiority of styles", which was of great importance in the check of unhealthy tendency in such theories as "regional styles" and "style of inferiority or superiority".Section 4 is a study on Meng Chengshun's drama writing. Firstly, this section includes a research on the drama put under Meng Chengshun's name. Secondly, this section also starts the clarification of the diverse sources of Meng Chengshun's drama composition. Thirdly, this section, based itself on the clues from Lan Xueji published by Meng, includes a research on the composing time of Zhen Wenji, and concludes that this Chuanqi was composed of and published in Qing dynasty.Section 5 is on Meng's composition of Zaju. The first subsection is on the writing style of Meng's Zaju, the second on his drama based on scholars' stories, and the third on his historical drama and social drama. Though not freeing himself from the popular drama writing style of that time, Meng Chengshun distinguished himself by his "preference for Yuan Zaju" in that his Zaju displayed the features of those from Yuan dynasty. His scholar-story-based drama presented the scholars' joy, anger, grief and pleasure, and thus differed from other romance drama of his time. Meng's historical drama was a reflection of the social issues at his time, and expressed his personal view on historical hero. His social drama was featured with freedom from the tradition of writing about scholars' experiences and emotions. As a narration of breath-taking folk stories, Meng's social drama represented the original function of drama as performing out stories.Section 6 is on Meng Chengshun's composition of Chuanqi, with the first subsection on Meng's view of romance and reason, the second on the theses in Er Xuji and Zhen Wenji, and the third on Jiao Hongji. The Chuanqi composed by Meng Chengshun featured not only the essence of romance, but also touched upon reason, which indicated an increasingly complex relationship between these two, and the popular belief of Meng's time. The heroic Chuanqi Er Xuji was a historical drama displayed on a grand scale, whose tragic style caught widespread attention, and whose emotion-revealing and historical-meditating style was of great value to know more about the scholars living at Meng's time. Though bearing a metaphysical touch, by attaching importance to martyrdom, Zhen Wenji met aphorized the dramatic change of that time, and functioned as a spiritual national sustenance. Finally, this sections includes a research status quo of Jiao Hongji, analyses the character of Shen Chun, and parsed the double-clue style of this story.Section 7 is a study about the Drama Anthology of Ancient and Contemporary Times. The summarizing part elaborates on the content of this anthology as a whole, and its documentary value. Besides, Meng's commentary on Zaju was featured with a respect for Yuan tradition, a favour for naturalism in composition, and a comparison from diverse perspectives, and the Drama Anthology of Ancient and Contemporary Times embodied his careful proof-reading integrated with commentating.The conclusion part summarizes Meng Chengshun's influence on Shi, Ci, and Wen, and concludes his status in drama theory and history.