Jiang Shiquan On The Opera,

Jiang shi-quan was the foremost dramatist in the middle period(the Qianlong age) of the Qing Dynasty. So far the reviews concerning jiang are restricted to his perseverance of claiming orthodoxy and his efforts of advocating genteelness. And in fact, as "the rear guard of genteelness"(Qingmuzhener),during the transitional period of dispute over the question of genteelness or popularization , Jiang's dramatic literature creation manifested not only his cling to tradition and genteelness , but also his experimental originality and his inclination to appeal to popularization. The present article ,on the basis of the analysis of his views on drama and dramatic literature creation ,is an attempt to study Jiang's thoughts of claiming orthodoxy and genteelness from the perspectives of the selection of themes ,the design of conflicts, the characterization, to examine his daring experiment of blending genteelness with popularization in the aspects of drama language, artistic style, stage scenery, etc. The paper points out Jiang's great contributions on protecting Kun opera and promoting its theatrical performances, as well as the formidable task and daring experiments of the dramatists in the transitional stage. Therefore it is proved that Jiang was worthy of the highest honor "the foremost dramatist of the Qianlong age" and "the rear guard of genteelness".