Theatre of China
[4] Some scholars have identified poems from the Classic of Poetry as possible lyrics of songs accompanying court dances from the early or mid-Zhou dynasty.
[5] The Zhou royal court as well as the various ancient states employed professional entertainers which included not only dancers and musicians but also actors.
Finally he performed his role at a banquet and successfully appealed to King Zhuang who then granted land to Sunshu Ao's son.
One such story the wrestlers re-enacted was the battle between a tiger and a magician named "Lord Huang from the East Sea" (東海黃公).
[10] Han-period murals discovered from an aristocratic tomb in Dahuting, Xinmi, Henan, offer strong proof that entertainers performed at banquets in the homes of higher-ranking ministers during this period.
[11] An early form of Chinese drama is the Canjun Opera (參軍戲, or Adjutant Play) which originated from the Later Zhao dynasty (319–351).
[12][13][14] In its early form, it was a simple comic drama involving only two performers, where a corrupt officer, Canjun or the adjutant, was ridiculed by a jester named Grey Hawk (蒼鶻).
[16][17] Another was called Botou (撥頭, also 缽頭), a masked dance drama from the Western Regions that tells the story of a grieving son who sought a tiger that killed his father.
[17][19] The stories told in of these song-and-dance dramas are simple, but they are thought to be the earliest pieces of musical theatre in China, and the precursors to the more sophisticated later forms of Chinese opera.
Nanxi spread widely in the Southern Song, and theatrical entertainment flourished in its capital Lin'an (present day Hangzhou).
[26] Among the best-known dramatists of the period were Guan Hanqing (many of his works survive, including The Injustice to Dou E), Wang Shifu (who wrote Romance of the Western Chamber), Ma Zhiyuan (whose representative work is Autumn in Han Palace, 漢宮秋), Ji Junxiang (best known for The Orphan of Zhao), and Bai Pu.
[27] The nanxi of the Song and Yuan dynasties was considered a low art form due to its unsophisticated literary style, and its plays were often written by anonymous authors.
[29] The Ming dynasty play writers were mostly educated and hold relatively high social status,[30] and chuanqi works were created mainly by scholars.
The first Kunqu opera, Washing Silken Gauze (浣紗記, Huan Sha Ji) was created by Liang Chenyu who used Kunshan tunes.
Another important development was the emergence of Shaanxi Opera in the Northwest with a two-phrase structure and clapper-based instrumentation, introducing a new form of musical style called banqiang (板腔).
[33] During the Ming period (1368-1644), Chinese theatre may be divided into three categories by audience: imperial court, social elite, and the general public.
[36] In the Yuan and early Song period, some plays may include a role of the emperor,[37] however, Ming Emperor Taizu prohibited actors from impersonating any imperial members, high officials, or well-respected figures,[37] although such restrictions were not always observed by opera troupes who performed for commoners in public theatre.
[39][40] A female courtesan in late Ming named Ma Xianglan was the only woman known to have owned a private theatre troupe.
[41] Developing a private theatre troupe represented a huge investment; the owners first pick potential actors from poor families or slave households and from performing schools, with more emphasis on their looks.
[34][46] While the performers were highly skilled, they were also regarded to be of low status in Ming society, as it was common practice for them to provide sexual services, both heterosexual and homosexual.
[52] In various regions, local forms of opera flourished, and became popular in major cities by the end of the Qing dynasty and early Republican era.
By the early 20th century, non-singing theatrical forms began to appear under the influence of Western dramas and stage plays.
Students of St. John's College were known to have performed the first modern Chinese play A Shameful Story About Officialdom (官场丑事, Guan Chang Chou Shi') in 1899, and in 1900, students of Nanyang College staged three plays based on contemporary events, such as one based on the Six Gentlemen (六君子) and the Boxer Rebellion.
However, after the Cultural Revolution, traditional forms were revived and with less restrictions, new plays influenced by Western theatre also began to be staged.
Sleeve movements were an important feature of dancing technique in ancient China and were considered essential to add the grace of the performer.
[57]"What festival is this, with lamps filling in the hall, And golden hair pins dancing by night alongside of flowery lutes?
"During the dynasty of Empress Ping, shadow puppetry first emerged as a recognized form of theatre in China[citation needed].
Both styles generally performed plays depicting great adventure and fantasy, rarely was this very stylized form of theatre used for political propaganda.
The rods ran parallel to the bodies of the puppet then turned at a ninety degree angle to connect to the neck.
[citation needed] Xiangsheng is a style of traditional Chinese comedic performance in the form of a monologue or dialogue.
