Study On The Occurrence Of Drama In The Dunhuang Manuscripts

In the Dunhuang manuscripts there remains a great deal of drama literature and some performing literature related to the drama in the Tang and Five Dynasties, which confirms the occurrence and development of the drama during this period. All the literature is intensively found in the literary works, such as Dunhuang lyrics, Bianwen,Karma, popular fu, Ciwen and ancient novels. Correspondingly there also appears plenty of dramatic image data in Dunhuang grottoes murals that clearly reflects the specific outlook of the performing arts closely related to the drama, such as music and dance and Baixi. The dance and music forms in the Dunhuang lyrics not only bear certain relationship to performances and plays,but also connect with stories and plots.The combination of artistry and literary in Dunhuang lyrics reflects the track of the gradual penetration and final integration from the dance and music to the drama in this period. The reciting and singing tunes,the straightforward words,the pictures matched with the stories and the talking and singing forms mixed with verse and prose of Bianwen have a profound impact on the drama in the Tang and Five Dynasties and later dynasties. The themes of some stories and contents of Bianwen and Karma provide more creative materials and spiritual nutrients to the ancient Chinese drama, and the narrative style of Bianwen and Karma provides a reliable and efficient means of narrative for enriching the connotation of the drama stories.Zunhuang popular fu engages itself in symbiosis and alternation with the drama in both form and content with its narrative structures, witty dialogues, humorous stories and ritual and chanting performances. Dunhuang Ciwen and ancient novels also have the inherent nature of narrative and chanting, which mainly exist as a performing master copy. The performance function of these copies not only strengthens the readability of Ciwen and ancient novels, but also promotes the entertaining and dramatic nature of the original stories. The talking and singing art in the Dunhuang manuscripts starts to become more complex and artistic,which eventually becomes an important part of the drama with its performances more delicate and its skills more proficient. With the change of politics and the development of economy in the Tang and Five Dynasties, the space of secularization and entertainment of the performing arts has been expanded further, and both the ritual and ornamental drama appear, and primitive and simple drama scripts used for the actual performances form under the joint effect of mature literary environment, fixed audiences and flourish venues and other factors. Since the Tang and Five Dynasties, the early primitive and immature drama in the Six Dynasties has begun to be changed into the complicated and integrative drama, and such kind of drama eventually becomes the mature drama in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.