A Study On Guqu Art In Qing Dynasty

It has been almost a century since the "pop literature school" of the Republic of China initiated the study of the Chinese folk rap art Guqu(drum opera)and a series of remarkable research findings have been attained.However,the "pop literature school" put much emphasis on literature study and there was not much research on the developing trends of Guqu or the Guqu artists group of that time.On the basis of existing studies,this thesis has not only combed and explored the historical origins,development process,master-disciple schools,and artists group of Guqu but also takes Meihua Dagu(plum blossom drum opera)as a case,explores the inheritance and spread of the Guqu art.Meihua Dagu is a category of Guqu that flourished in Beijing and Tianjin towards the end of the Qing Dynasty.There are six parts in this thesis.The introduction part is the starting point and theoretical basis of this dissertation.Academic circles generally believe that the verses in the "Chengxiang Pian" of the book Xunzi was the origin of the Chinese folk rap art.The first chapter analyzes in details the "Chengxiang Pian"and summarizes the patterns and characteristics of the "Chengxiang rhyme",and combs out its development in history.This chapter also studies and interprets "Zhouzhujie" of Yizhoushu,which was created earlier than the "Chengxiang Pian",and finds that "Zhouzhujie" also has complete elements of the "Chengxiang rhyme".Therefore,instead of "Chengxiang Pian","Zhou zhujie" should be considered as the origin of Chinese folk rap art.The last part of this chapter summarizes the characteristics and development of Guqu art.The second chapter mainly introduces the important changes when Guqu entered its mature stage in the early Qing Dynasty.For example,through "Yingshen Saihui"(idolatrous processions),the Chinese folk rap art realized the transformation from "entertainment for god" to "entertainment for man".The latter brought about "excessive" cultural consumption and out-of-control folk beliefs,which undoubtedly surpassed the bottom line of official tolerance.Therefore,Henan,Shaanxi,and Jiangsu provinces successively promulgated "Jinxi Ling"(ban on drama).The game between officials and civil society ended in a strong rebound of the latter.The second section of this chapter describes the rapid development of folk arts in the mid-Qing period due to social stability and economic prosperity.For example,new types of Guqu were produced,and the tunes,tracks,and Guqu artists also underwent changes.The last part of this chapter introduces the Tianjin Guqu from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China.The third chapter introduces the three most famous Guqu artists in the early Qing Dynasty:Jia Fuxi,Gui Zhuang and Liu Jingting.They made outstanding contributions to the development of Chinese folk rap art,especially Jia Fuxi and Liu Jingting,who were milestone figures in the category of Chinese folk rap art.For Jia Fuxi and Gui Zhuang,this chapter analyzes in details their works"Mupi Sanke Guci"(Mupi Sanke was the alias of Jia Fuxi;Guci is the lyrics of Guqu)and "Wangu Chou"(eternal sorrow),both of which belonged to the "Lidai shilue Guci"(brief history of past dynasties)and had strong criticism towards the society.For Liu Jingting,because none of his works was passed down,this chapter uses the representative works of previous studies as a reference,summarizes the characteristics of his storytelling and his contribution to Chinese folk rap art.The last part of this chapter focuses on analyzing and summarizing the artistic features of the folk rap art in the Ming and Qing dynasties:the first is the criticality of the content of Guci,the second is the difference in the cultural backgrounds of the three most famous masters in the early Qing Dynasty,and the third is the complexity of their cultural mentality.Among them,due to their different cultural backgrounds,Guqu artists had different psychological characteristics around the change of dynasties.However,the change led them to the same end.They all experienced the mental path of turning criticism towards the old dynasty to sympathy and praise.The fourth chapter is about the overview of Meihua Dagu.It mainly introduces the origin,development,and genre of Meihua Dagu from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China,outlines the master-disciple divisions,lists the main pieces of Meihua Dagu,and selects representative ones.As for the lyrics of the Meihua Dagu,this chapter mainly introduces the generation and development of Zidi Shu(the Youth Book),analyzes its literary value and sorts out its catalogue.This chapter focuses on analyzing the unique cultural phenomenon of "Bi-language of Manchu and Chinese" in Zidi Shu,trying to interpret the profound social connotation behind this cultural phenomenon from a multi-disciplinary perspective.Finally,this chapter also introduces other sources of Meihua Dagu.From the performance and inheritance of the Guqu art,the fifth chapter gives a comprehensive introduction of the inheritance of Meihua Dagu.The performance of Meihua Dagu is based on the artistic commonality of all kinds of Guqu art.Its inheritance can be divided into two major categories:oral instruction and written text;the system of inheritance includes direct inheritance by masters and disciples,indirect inheritance by famous Piaoyou(amateur performers),Sanxian(fiddle of three strings)players and folk art teachers.The group of artists was the main body who inherited the art of Guqu.This chapter analyzes and interprets their social class,professional experience and individual destiny.The sixth chapter introduces the spread of Meihua Dagu from the perspective of communication space,communication media,propagation rules,and new style of communication.The spread of Meihua Dagu experienced the evolution of the two kinds of propagation spaces:from Mingdi(open air)to teahouses.It spread in four different ways:the Grand Canal,immigration,wars and disasters,and the traditional Chinese New Year pictures of operas and folk arts.Whether through old-style communication patterns or new-type communication techniques,the inheritance within the art industry is equally important to its outward transmission.The concluding part of this dissertation discusses the inheritance crisis of Meihua Dagu and the root causes.Proposals for avoiding the crisis and protecting this intangible cultural heritage are put forward.In addition,some of the main academic innovations of this dissertation are summarized in this final part.