Emotionalism. Late Ming Drama Ideological Research

After the mid Ming Dynasty, society set off a wave of the emancipation of thought, which main theme are against the Neo-Confucianism and affectedly moral, which liberate "emotion" from the shackles of Neo-Confucianism, boldly affirmed the physical desire and true emotion, appeal that emotion is ontology and ethics restricted by emotion. This academic and cultural thought was particularly evident in the field of fiction and drama during Late Ming Dynasty, made drama in particular the creation of romances reach the peak, Chinese classical dramatic "lyrical art" be increasingly improved. This dissertation, its time dimension is from beginning of Wan Li fifteen years to the late of Chong Zhen, was titled " a Study on the Thought of Emotion-based of Chinese Theatre Arts in Late Ming Dynasty ". On research methods, this dissertation take XU Wei, LI Zhi, TANG Xian-zu, FENG Meng-long, MENG Cheng-shun's dramatic theory as the case studies, also involves many other drama composers, which try to combine the study of microcosm with macrocosm, vertical with horizontal, focus on these areas such as dramatist mentality, playwriting, adaptation, the monograph of dramatic theory, dramatic criticism, preface and postscript, and so on, integrate with the social background and cultural thoughts of Late Ming Dynasty, so as to seek the trajectory of the emotion-based of Chinese theatre arts in Late Ming Dynasty from occurrence to prosperity, development path of evolution, research its impact and role and its theoretical construction and personality.In the history of the development of Late Ming Dynasty, " opera-in-itself " concept and " truth and express any emotion " aesthetic pursuit that embedded in XU Wei's drama "natural color" theory, prompted the dramaturge of Late Ming Dynasty to explore classical dramatic lyricism, contributed to the classical drama creation of "express our emotion". LI Zhi appreciated The Western Chamber, Praying to the Moon are the "formed by nature" type of work, and advocated "childishness", which spurred the creation of romances of Late Ming Dynasty reached its peak. Whether vertical or horizontal comparison, XU Wei, LI Zhi's dramatic theory were a precursor to the rise of the emotion-based of Chinese theatre arts in Late Ming Dynasty.As the mainstay of the emotion-based of Chinese theatre arts in Late Ming Dynasty, the dramatic theory of TANG Xian-zu is based on "emotion". Around "emotion-based", TANG Xian-zu proposed the dramatic theory such as "the most genuine emotion" ideas, "Because of emotion, so I dream; because of dream, so I drama", "brilliant expression of emotions". The Four Dreams of Linchuan gained great success in Late Ming Dynasty, actuated dramatist to more deeply realize that drama should be "emotion-based". The thought of emotion -based of TANG Xian-zu has been related to many theoretical aspects in the field of dramatic writing such as selection of subject matter, theme definition, plot settings, Guanmu settings, portrayal of characters, libretto and rhyme scheme, and so on. His dramatic theory not only inherited, but also personality. It is observed that emotion-based in Late Ming Dynasty that embodied in TANG's drama theory is most evident. Under XU Wei, LI Zhi, TANG Xian-zu's influence, in particular, a large number of the publication of the script titled "XU Criticism", "LE Criticism" and "TANG Criticism" in Late Ming Dynasty, it made the playwright that the drama should express the emotion, rather than express the Confucian ethics.The thought of emotion -based of Chinese theatre arts that advocated by XU Wei and LI Zhi, then be deepened by TANG Xian-zu, it had further explanation, also the new change in a large part. For example, FENG Meng-long came up with both the claim of "with the help of true love between men and women, expose the hypocrisy of Confucian ethics", but also put forward the idea of "emotional religion". However, if we study from FENG Meng-long's Quanqi production and Quanqi adaptation, we will find that he also stressed the theory of drama that emotion should conform to Confucian ethics. "Emotion"and "ethics", "romances" and "moralization" in dramatic theory of Feng Meng-long is intertwined, make artistic achievement of the Quanqi compiled by FENG Meng-long being both merits and demerits. MENG Cheng-shun, who most affected by TANG Xian-zu, we can divide his dramatic activities into two stages by the standard of "the most genuine emotion" and "emotion must be reasonable". Jiaohong Ji is the bridges of these two stages. The dramatic theory of MENG Cheng-shun has rich connotations and outstanding personality. His dramatic theory such as "drama should fully express emotion", "in accordance with the true features of personality shape the character", and his insightful views on dramatic style, that related to many theories in the field of drama, greatly enriched the connotation of the thought of emotion-based of Chinese theatre arts in Late Ming Dynasty. In general, compared to TANG Xian-zu, FENG Meng-long and MENG Cheng-shun's dramatic theory had not only a certain extent of inheritance, also considerable degree of evolution, which is typical among the dramatist of Late Ming Dynasty.Through the dramatic theory of XU Wei, LI Zhi, TANG Xian-zu, FENG Meng-long, MENG Cheng-shun, we can more clearly find the development path of the thought of emotion-based of Chinese theatre arts in Late Ming Dynasty. TANG Xian-zu's thought of emotion-based can best reflect the time spirit of Late Ming Dynasty. The dramatic theory of FENG Meng-long and MENG Cheng-shun had very great significance in the history of Ming and Qing Dynasty'drama, it affected the dramatic production of dramatist of Qing Dynasty.