Chinese Modern Drama: The National Performance System Exploration And Construction

Drama is eventually embodied in the arts of performance. As the player's performing is the core of performance, the performance history can absolutely not be neglected in the studies on drama history. In view of the present scarcity in the study of Chinese drama performance history, this thesis is trying to sort out and outline the historical evolution of Chinese drama performance. Chinese drama is a completely new performing art in China compared to the highly standardized traditional Chinese opera. Inspired and spurred by western culture and demanded by the revolutionizing Chinese society, Chinese drama was born in the late Qing Dynasty, and, from the view of opera development, was a changing outcome of Chinese opera in both contents and styles under new values. In other words, the birth of Chinese drama marked the modernization of Chinese opera. Therefore, the pursuit of contemporaneity or in other words, the modernization is the basic driving force for the birth and development of Chinese drama performing art. Accordingly, the exploration of new Chinese drama performing style that can both reflect the contemporary Chinese life and meet the opera aesthetic requirements of the contemporary Chinese people becomes the main track in the development of Chinese modern drama performing, which is the first part this thesis. On the other hand, as a new performing art introduced from different region, nationalization is another mission of Chinese drama performance. Firstly, to become a fresh performing art that can reflect the actual life of the ordinary Chinese people---the real national life, Chinese drama must roots deeply in the national Chinese life so that it can truly grasp and convey the spiritual life of Chinese people. Only on the basis of deeply experiencing the real national life can the Chinese drama performance find the mode of emotion and behavior, the language and action, and the ways with national characteristics that can truly and profoundly convey the spiritual life of the characters, portraying characters with national characteristics and style. Secondly, As a creation of artic aesthetics, Chinese drama has to meet the basic requirement of national aesthetics, especially the traditional aesthetic requirement of Chinese opera in order to achieve its artic existence and development. The growing course of the Chinese drama performance demonstrates that the exploration of performing style with Chinese national style and Chinese imposing manner, which both suitst the real Chinese society and meet the aesthetic requirements of ordinary Chinese people, is another important track in the development of modern Chinese drama performing art, and hence another important part of this thesis. In the process of developing Chinese modern drama performing art, there has frequently been a misbalance between learning from the western performing style and growing and ripening the national performing style. To reflect the modern national life and national psychology and meet the modern national aesthetic requirements, the performing style of Chinese drama characterized by reflecting the real life has always been contradicting and promoting the performance of the traditional national opera, and this kind of interaction has become the common inner drive of the nationalization of Chinese drama and the modernization of traditional opera, pulling the Chinese drama from western realism to Chinese realism, pushing the exploration and studies on the styles and characteristics of Chinese drama, and has eventually led to the establishment of the unique aesthetic system of Chinese drama performing art with Chinese realistic national style. The exposition and outlining of this process is the key content and desired purpose of this thesis.