Yuan Dynasty Typical Research

Yuan-zaju is extremely prominent with use of allusion whether in the spoken parts or song lyrics. At present the research in this literary reference is still insufficient. This article attempts to research this area systematically.Chapter one regards the literary reference in Yuan-zaju as "quotations of ancient stories as well as words and expressions with origins", based on combing the literary reference definition.Chapter two and three relate the quantification, the analysis and the classification of literary references in Yuan-zaju, with the discovery that Yuan-zaju literary reference stems more from outside the legitimate classics of the literary work, compared with poetry and Sanqu. The use of literary reference in Yuan-zaju is quite concentrated with obvious less use of books than poetry of the previous generation as well as Sanqu at that time. The later Yuan-zaju writers used more literary references than those in the earlier period. Different themes of Yuan-zaju use literary references differently. There is less in the plays concerning criminal cases than in the plays about writer's lives. The literary reference may be divided into matter allusion and language allusion. According to the expression, matter allusion can be divided into expansion class, summary class and key words class. And language allusion is composed of ecology class and transformation class.Chapter four and five analyze the characteristics and reasons of Yuan-zaju. It uses the literary reference more in the open, less in hidden, more in right side, less in the reverse side and it is simple and precise. It selects more familiar allusions to show a common style. It goes hand-in-hand with the characteristic of literary style, the Yuan-zaju writer's main body choice, the audience's appreciation, and the requirements of the play language.Through researching the literary reference of Yuan-zaju systematically, we hope to set up an academic platform to reexamine Yuan-zaju.