Study Of Yangzhou Dramatists In Mid-Qing Dynasty

In mid-Qing Dynasty the unprecedented prosperity of salt industry made Yangzhou a magnet to scholars across the land, which resulted in the heyday of literature and arts for this city. As a well-known poem goes that Yangzhou is a hotbed of drama melodies, the city boasts a long history of traditional theatrics. Such factors as the advocate and support from local salt administrations, the devotion to arts from Academy presidents, and the extravagance and love of drama led to the widespread popularity of theatrics in Yangzhou.What is more, under the influence of six inspection tours of Emperor Gaozong down the Yangtze River, salt merchants scrambled for favor from the Emperor while a galaxy of super performers and famous troupes converged in Yangzhou. Consequently, this city witnessed the prime time of theatrics. The establishment of Yangzhou Drama Censorship Administration was home to many dramatists well versed in music. They gathered to learn from each other, thus forming a group of dramatists who are termed as "Yangzhou Dramatists" in this dissertation.Yangzhou Dramatists are a group of dramatists in mid-Qing Dynasty, who deserve enough attention. However, little has been done about this group due to the lack of the categorization standard for dramatist societies in the academic terms. Therefore, its basic investigation and proper evaluation in the literature history are badly needed. The author holds that based on the dramatics flourishing in the specific location (Yangzhou) Yangzhou Dramatists include three sub-groups of dramatists:(1) those natives of Yangzhou;(2) those outsiders who made a long stay or lived a lifelong period in Yangzhou;(3) those outsiders who made a tour as officials or stayed for a short time in Yangzhou.Yangzhou Dramatists do not belong to any literary school since their dramatic creation did not last long and they differed in art theory. This fact indicates that the group is featured with openness and forbearance, which is. hardly found in other regional literary schools. Its unique property helps produce the prosperity of dramatic writing and theory in Yangzhou in mid-Qing Dynasty. Compared to such former master dramatists as Hong Seng and Kong Shangren, Yangzhou Dramatists are no match whether in quantity or in quality, but they made a last climax in the declining period of romance after Hong Seng and Kong Shangren early in Qing Dynasty since they created such renowned dramas as Qitingji,Yuchilou,Sixianqiu and Hong loumengchuanqi in the special time of the competition between hua and ya when they appealed to the return of art spirit advocated by yuanqu in response to the ontological theory of dramatists in Yuan Dynasty confronting too much refinement in romance writing.With the influence from both Qianjia School and Yangzhou School and well versed in theory, Yangzhou Dramatists made some pioneering contribution to drama theory. Famous sinologists like Jiao Xun and Ling Tingkan were also engaged in drama theory, which promoted the academic level and expanded the scope of theatrical studies. They combined the method of strict textual studies with theatrical criticism, leaving sharp marks of Puxue School in their art cultivation and aesthetic views. As a result, they turned out influential theatrical works like quhaizongmu, jushuo and huabunongtan.The mid-Qing Dynasty is a historical period when the competition between hua and ya took place, and its outcome exerted some influence on the modern theatrics in China. Much is expected in this field despite the lack of literature. Anyway, Yangzhou, as the theatrical center in southern China then, has aroused some attention in the academic circle recently. However, in most cases individual dramatists are targeted only. With the perspective of Yangzhou Dramatists as a whole, the author attempts to probe into the background of how the flourishing theatrics took shape in mid-Qing Dynasty in Yangzhou, and to investigate the framework of dramatists and their social contact network, the features of drama writing and theories, and the position and influence in the history of Chinese drama.