Formation Of Kunju Opera And Artistic Values

Kunju , titled "mother of all the operas", is one of the operas that has a long history and deep root. It was formed on the basis of the continuous study and innovation of Kunshan tune by the artists. Kunshan tune belongs to Southern Tunes. Together with Haiyan tune, Yuyao tune and Yiyang tune, they are called "Four tunes" of Southern operas.This thesis is divided into four parts:The prelude presents briefly the historic status of Kunju. It presents that Kunju is a type of drams with a long history and indicates the subtle differences among Kunju, Kunqu and Kunshan tune.Part One gives a systematical statement on the origin of Kunju based on the dispute on this issue. First, the author presents the dispute on the origin of Kunju before the discovery of Wei Liangfu's; then the author illustrates the several disputes after the discovery of Nanci Ying Zheng in 1950s and 1960s.Part Two presents respectively the social background of Kunju's forming and Kunju's rising in Kunshan. A brief account is also given to illustrate the author's arrangement. The social background of Kunjun's forming and rising share the common factors: the development of economy, the prosperity of the city and the cultural atmosphere of that time. And the emergence of capitalist productive relationship also exerts some influence on the rising of Kunju.Part Three is devoted to the illustration of Kunju's forming and rising. In this part, the author stresses two figures who contributed a lot to Kunju's forming and rising: Wei Liangfu and Liang Chenyu. The former settled the foundation of Kunju's musical tune while the latter successfully exercised the tune on stage. Some other folk actors who made contribution to Kunju's forming and rising are also mentioned in this part, such as Yang Tiedi, Gu Aying and Zhang Yetang, etc.Part Four is a brief illustration of Kunju's artistic value. This part is presented from three perspectives: the histrionic character of Kunju, the dancing character of Kunju and the literariness of Kunju.