The Study Of Story-Telling In Song Dynasty

The origin of Song Dynasty's story-telling can be traced back to the "story-telling" in ancient time. By the time of Tang Dynasty, story-telling had become an art of independent development.The story-telling in Northern Song Dynasty was just divided into different subjects , while in Southern Song Dynasty various types such as Xiao Shuo (小说) , Jiang Jing (讲经) , Jiang Shi (讲史), Shang.Mi (商迷) or He Sheng (合生) began to emerge. Although how to define the four types is still in dispute, the change of speech art from Northern Song Dynasty to Southern Song Dynasty is a sound proof for its gradual development into consummation.Song Dynasty is the golden age for the development of speech art. As for the story-telling performance in Song Dynasty , besides the performances in Gou Lan Wa She (勾栏瓦舍) , teahouses, restaurants, festival celebrations and temple fairs, there were itinerant shows by street artists. In order to increase the income, the story-tellers in Song Dynasty introduced the advertising propaganda in the performance, which simultaneously enhanced the interaction between performer and audience. The story-telling guild—Xiongbian Union, not only regulated the relationships among entertainers within the circle, but also undertook transactions with the outside world. "Shu Hui (书会) " and "Shu Hui Xian Sheng (书会先生) " which were respectively professional organizations and writers of various scripts , constantly created massive scripts of high quality, among which the theme that reflected the civil live was particularly popular.The speech art in Song Dynasty has the characteristics of generalization, secularization, specialization and commercialization. The citizen class is the main audience group of Song Dynasty's story-telling. They did not have high education, which directly influenced their degree of understanding; however, Song Dynasty's story-telling had generally met the esthetic need of the citizen class.There are various reasons for the flourishing of Song Dynasty's story-telling. The development of commercial economy, the change of urban style, the stability of social and political situation, the prevalence of cultural entertainment, the formation of citizen class, the existence of abundant leisure time, the development of entertainment industry, the advocacy of ruling class are all vital factors in its development.The expressing method, the artistic form and the theme choice of Song Dynasty's story-telling fiction have exerted a significant influence on the imposition of novels and dramas in Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasty. At the same time, the story-telling in Song Dynasty had suited the developing trend of Song Dynasty's culture from elegance to secularity. It disseminated knowledge to the masses in the most secular forms; moreover, some of the scripts were permeated with the ideas of Buddhism, which purified the ethos of Song society.