A Research On Space And Beijing Opera Theatres In Shanghai In Late Qing Dynasty

Shanghai was opened up as a treaty port in the late Qing Dynasty and immediately became an international commercial city.The Qing government allowed Western powers to set up foreign concessions in Shanghai,which created a special political and cultural situation that provided a free environment for the development of theatres.From then on,theatres blossomed and stood in great numbers in Shanghai concessions,which made it,after Beijing,the theatrical center in southern China.Theatres gradually became a cultural space of social communication and leisure entertainment and a part of everyday life for citizens.In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic period,literary and art circles launched a tremendous opera reform movement,due to which operas and social changes were closely combined,and the theatre was endowed with a significant task of enlightening the public.Through outlining the rise and fall of Beijing Opera in Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty,this thesis attempts to restore the basic conditions of the opera market in terms of management system,operating mechanism,actor-audience relationship and so forth.It tries to analyze the role of Beijing Opera theatres in Shanghai society from the dual perspectives of time and space.This thesis includes four chapters except the introduction.Chapter One analyses environmental factors in concessions and outlines the history of main Beijing Opera theatres in Shanghai.It explains the development of Beijing Opera theatres and discusses their characteristics.And also discusses the survival condition of Beijing Opera theatres in Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty based on their commercial functions,including management patterns,marketing operations,major audience,and actor-theatre relationships.Chapter Two analyses the physical space production of theatres by mainly using the concept of modern space.It discusses the role of Beijing Opera theatres as a part of everyday life for citizens and as public cultural space for social communication,leisure entertainment,and art appreciation.Chapter Three explores the educational importance reformers attached to operas and regarded theatres as a means for enlightening the public and promotion society progress,based on the opera reform in the late Qing Dynasty and it's theoretical and practical achievements.