Pursing "Perfect Drama"-The Fusion Of Chinese And Occidental Drama, Ancient And Modern Drama

Yu Shangyuan, a famous drama educationist, theorist, writer, translator and drama director, is one of the founders of Chinese modern drama. Exploring Chinese drama art in all domains, he contributes himself to it and leaves precious artistic wealth. This paper makes an overall to introduction to Yu Shangyuan's drama thought, comments on and analyses his drama thought generally, so as to lead to practical significance of his drama thought. The thesis is divided into 3 chapters.Chapter One mainly introduces the theory source and formation of Yu Shangyuan's drama thought. The core of Yu Shangyuan's drama theory is his thought of the National Drama Movement. Yu Shangyuan thinks drama should reveal social life artistically and points out Chinese Traditional Opera should have its own value. It's valuable to notice that he proposes that drama should have Chinese characteristic and we should use our own materials to make Chinese drama for ourselves——the National Drama. He purses a kind of"perfect drama"which fuses Chinese and Occidental drama, ancient and modern drama. The formation of Yu Shangyuan's National Drama thought is not only influenced by Chinese Traditional Opera, but also learns from and draws on the experience from Occidental drama theories.Chapter Two comments on and analyses Yu Shangyuan's creation. Themes of Yu Shangyuan's drama works can be divided into Reality Mode and Non-reality Mode, and his plot structures can be summarized as Running Away Mode and Reclusive Mode. Figures of his dramas show Opposite and Bystander Mode too. His drama works have the aesthetic orientation of from external life to the inner feelings to the world, from comedy to tragedy. Then, the thesis analyses Yu Shangyuan's Aestheticism drama perspective by the method of Archetype Criticism and Comparable Research.Chapter Three mainly re-evaluates the important points of Yu Shangyuan's National Drama thought——the essence of the Chinese Traditional Opera, characteristic of ideographic theatre and conventionalization, and focuses on the the relationship between his drama theory and practice, and analyses the reasons of inconsistent of their relationships. Finally, the thesis commends on failure of Yu Shangyuan's theory idea, with the purpose of inheriting his drama thought to improve modern drama's healthy development.Though the National Theatre Movement initiated by Yu Shangyuan fails, his thought of modernization and nationalization of the Chinese modern drama doesn't stop. Yu Shangyuan's drama theories and its thinking still has strong reference and practical significance.