The Modern Fission Of Chinese Classical Tragic Spirit

Tragic spirit is a kind of spiritual state of life which generally roots in the collective mind and consciousness of humanity.The meaning of this word is not limited to the spirit of tragedy from which the name “tragic siprit” was taken.Normally,the connotation of tragic spirit would cover three basic elements----fighting,pursuing and transcending.This connotation may vary from one nation to another.Taking Chinese classical tragic spirit for an instance,we can conclude that passive fighting,pursuing of reasonable things and moral transcending distinguish it from western tragic spirit.Ji Junxiang's poetic drama The Orphan of Zhao is a literary typification of Chinese classical tragic spirit in Yuan Dynasty.This drama has been separating and adapting as a classical tragedy of China over a century from China to western countries for its strong tragic spirit.Before 21 st,the adaptions inherited the Chinese classical tragic spirit of the original poetic drama.Things went different in the first decades of 21 st,during which time the adaptions appeared great change in terms of form and connotation.Accordingly,the Chinese classical tragic spirit of the original drama showed signs of fission.In these adaptions,Lin Zhaohua's drama The Orphan of Zhao completely deconstruct the Chinese classical tragic spirit by changing character's purpose from defending for a righteous cause to contending for power and profit,while Tian Qinxing's drama of the same name attempted to replace the Chinese classical tragic spirit with a passionate and sincere personality of Chun Qiu Period time.Besides,Chen Kaige's movie The Orphan of Zhao(English translation:Sacrifice)intended to dispel the moralization of grand narrative in the historical context by creating a myth of a folk hero.Tragic spirit can be seen as the reflection of the form and structure of a culture.The modern fission of Chinese classical tragic spirit in the adaption of The Orphan of Zhao actually reflected the change of ethnic cultural psychology and zeitgeist.The two dramas of Lin and Tian showed the confusion and anxiety of the elite class towards this era,while Chen's movie reflected the commercial intrusion on traditional culture in the digital era and the mentality of amusing ourselves to death in the consumption age.