Studies On The Dramas Of Marriage And Love Under The Confucian Ethical Code During The Transitional Period From Ming To Qing Dynasty

A wide variety of dramas featured in preserving love and marriageabiding by Confucian ethical code were resourced in the transitionalperiod from Ming to Qing dynasties, which be referred to marriageunder the confusion ethical code in the paper. This characteristictype numbered in probably sixty or seventies was analogous in manyaspects: the background was much related to political events in thattime; the purpose to write advocated ritual and music events; payingattention to both marriage and official career was that the marriagestandard lied in a gifted scholar must be qualified to marry a beautymatchmaking with polygamy and the official career was with the goalof getting a seat in the Imperial Academy or being a Ke-dao official.The paper argues that the production of this special marriage wasclosely related to the fact that feudal order from chaos to stability, thethought from XinXue to LiXue, and the literary concept from theindividual liberation to Confucianism. In order to perspicuouslyexplain the relationship between drama and reality, the paper setsforth in five aspects, mainly including marriage, imperial examination,official career, politics, and literary culture. Though the Gifted and Beauty matchmaking with polygamy wasthe basic element, the different image lied in the wife and concubinesclearly in the drama. The wife was highborn with good familyeducation in the four virtues while the concubines growing up poorwithout education were usually frivolous. Thence the plotarrangements made like that the rich gentlewoman must be the wifewhile the lowly was concubines with the hierarchical destiny, and beequal only in the same origin. The feudal marriage required perfectmatch and family engagement which was to a large extent governedby imperial fame and family status.The drama was deeply impacted by imperial examination, whichConducted on a very detailed description in the system such asYuanShi and DianShi, especially for XiangShi and HuiShi thatdescribed examinee, examiner, place, examinations, graders, andadmission. Also, it unfolded the related social phenomenon that theprivileged bureaucracy more flattered for success while taunted thelosers; many losers became the imperial fake celebrities to transferlost and be vanity; the treacherous magistrates interfered test fortheir own benefit; and candidates cheating in the exam persistedprofits resulting in the incompetent officials. The criticism to imperialexamination clearly showed.The scholar entered Imperial Academy after imperial examinationbeing related to the fact that most prime ministers and chancellorswere selected from the Imperial Academy in Ming and Qing dynasties,which also associated with the social reality that prime ministersdominated everything in the social turmoil. The second choice for thescholar and their friends was to be a Ke-dao official, which was similar to the function of procuratorate having a positive effect tocorrect the social reality of darkness. The phenomenon showed thatthe appearance of the special drama is closely related to the socialreality.In reflecting political event, the drama was related to manyaspects, such as peasants uprising, ethnic war, cliquing to seekprofits, academic community organization, traitors autocratic, andeunuchs be in power. It also reflected much abnormal phenomenoninvolving the officials greedy and coward, betrayal defection, officialcollusion bandit, gay and child molestation, and dependent on thedignitary. The former determined on the political stance of writers,the latter expanded the breadth and depth of work to reflect reality.Drama creating was not consistent with the principles, overallshowing the trend from extreme to inclusive thinking, which adaptedto the changes of literary ethos. The literary trends in Ming dynastywere approximately extreme, while more inclusive in Qing dynasty. Asthe transitional period, the stage combined both. Affected by therevival of LiXue, literature ideological stance was closer to it andindoctrination enhancement, which was the origin of the specialdrama abiding by Confucian ethical code and advocatingindoctrination.Addition to the above, the research or description had made inconnotation, affection, and feature of the drama during thetransitional period from Ming to Qing dynasty.