1919-1937:Chinese Traditional Theatre Arts In The Cross-cultural Context And Discourse

From1919to1937, is a period when Chinese traditional theatre arts (not classical Chinese traditional drama literature) had been promoted and introduced to the external world consciously, actively and extensively. Different opinions from different standpoints in this specific historical stage finally made a concerted effort to stimulate Chinese traditional theatre arts to display itself in a much wider global stage. The overseas performances, translations of popular plays and introductory paragraphs in the books and journals for foreign readers, emerged in a much larger scale than before, and more influential cross-cutural dialogue or discourse about Chinese traditional theatre arts emerged too, which showed its immediate significance quite soon. The discourse was uttered, received, treated and processed with diverse motives in complex pluralistic cultural context, which not only reflected the ambiguous visage of Chinese traditional theatre arts in the course of modernization, but also deeply participated in and influenced this historical process. The changes it have brought to modern Chinese traditional theatre arts can be seen everywhere such as in the aspects of play texts, evaluation and understanding on tradition, acting languages, means of artistic expression, theory construction, etc. Therefore, if we admit it is necessary to re-think the modernization of Chinese traditional theatre arts, then how to view the period from1920’s to1930’s objectively and comprehensively, will be an essential problem. But it is regrettable that except a small number of big performing events and some discussion on them, much more cross-cultural discourse in this period was in a dilemma of being ignored.In view of the above reason, this thesis will choose "Chinese traditional theatre arts in the cross-cultural context and discourse" as the objects of study, and combine the research on social and cultural history and drama scripts, with the analysis of the cross-cultural discourse, to represent the specific state of Chinese traditional theatre circle in that changing times with details and meanwhile re-think the effects that the cross-cultural communication has brought to Chinese traditional theatre arts, then try to make a just and fair evaluation of that historical period.