Innovation On Actors And Scholars Discussed In The Dramatic Theory Period

Traditional Chinese Opera came to a climax again during Republican Period. Beijing Opera which build in late Qing Dynasty learned the best from other type of drama through half a century hardening. With the baptism of the spirit of the aristocrat, it became more and more perfect and reached the limit. The appearance of news media play an important role in expand the influence of Beijing Opera. At that time, the celebrated Ta Kung Pao, Declaration and Northern Illustrated all have drama column. Besides, both of Liyan Pictorial and 369 Illustrated also has drama as their main content. There are also plenty of drama publications, for example, Willow Spring edited by Li Taohen, Drama Monthly edited by Liu Huogong, Drama on the 10th edited by Zhang Guyu, etc. From my own observations, those drametic articles divise can be classified into 3 types. Firstly, the one which advocated improving politics and rebuilding civilization armed with drama, such as the controversy about the abandonment of the old type drama on New Youth. Secondly, the one be the mainstream at that time. They focused on the famous actors and introduced those actors' skills, life and scandal news. Though, more or less, those articles had valuable statements and information, they lacked refined taste. Thirdly, the one aimed at art. They put drama into academic sphere and advanced its cultural position. The researching object of this thesis will be on this third one.In this dissertation, I will do some research on Theatre Monthly by studying the philosophy of drama, historical materials, studying method and the contributions of the principal leaders. To research the journal Theatre Monthly, this thesis will compare with the publications in the same period and refer to the trends of dramatic thought in the early Republic of China. Respecting the historical environment, I will do my best to explaine the value of Theatre Monthly without any boasting or exaggeration.In my opinion, the following points in Theatre Monthly should be emphasized. Firstly, it advocated taking drama as a subject of academic study. Purging the prejudice, the editorial office did not treat drama as decadent music, but proclaimed that people should give drama a proper position to founded Chinese theatre studies. Especially, the editor of Theatre Monthly Xuling Xiao first mentioned the concept of Pi Huang Literature and researched Beijing opera as specialized researching object. Therefore, the position of Beijing opera was elevated to academic level, and a new research area of drama was developed. Secondly, this journal insisted on the scientific spirit and method. Most staff there was intellect affected by the cultivation of Chinese and West. As science became the mainstream of that era, those people use the west research method to order the old drama. Thirdly, the journal upheld the main position of art. It not only opposed vulgarity, but also refused to regarded drama as subservient to politics or even abandoned art for slogans. Upholding the important position of art, it respected the inherent laws of drama and did its utmost to preserve the essence of the old drama. Fourthly, this journal proceeded good attempt to make actors do scholarly research. In long time, the actors and scholars have been quite distinct from each other, but Theatre Monthly built a bridge between them. On one hand, drama, especially Beijing opera, as a kind of stage arts, is unmanageable without knowing stage appearance well. This circumstance hindered the scholars in getting into drama research. On the other hand, the actors with less schooling could not sublimate their experience into academic theory. Therefore, the incompatible situation appeared. Under this background, the journal made a successful exploration. Wang Yaoqing and some others ordered their own experience according the dramatic theory with some scholar's assistance. Here, we should pay attention to Cheng Yanqiu who was assigned to go to Europe to investigate drama. He wrote and published a series of papers including the Glimpse of Modern Drama Direct named the foundation stone of director aesthetics of China. Fifthly, the journal left a lot of dramatic information. Through ordering the scenarios, it preserved the old essence and found some fresh idea as well.We should say that, as a tutor and consultant, the Theatre Monthly is extremely significant and valuable to the dramatic researcher and practitioner. It is fair to say that the journal is one of the most influential high level dramatic theory periodicals.