A Study Of Ma YanXiang's Thought Of Drama

As early as in 1931, Ma Yanxiang puts forward the idea of "duality of opera" in discussing the problem of the subjectivity of opera and makes a profound, foreseeing illustration. Stage play is the starting point for Ma Yanxiang to study traditional opera. Through sorting out the history of traditional opera and learning the Chinese opera and western opera, Ma Yanxiang realizes that the lack of literature features seriously affects the development of Chinese opera though the performance and literature flavor are in a balance state.As one kind of art or pattern of art, traditional opera literature itself needs innovation in order to keep pace with the times. Meanwhile, facing with the highly stylization of forms, the change of traditional opera literature's forms is the crux of the whole change of traditional opera art. Traditional opera is a kind of highly comprehensive art, whose innovation is connected with combination of many art factors. Ma Yanxiang looks at the overall situation of comprehensive arts from the wholeness. He explores the changing ways of literature's forms especially the play literature, and he appeals to use realism as the method of creating traditional opera play so as to present modern life better based on the premise of learning and drawing on traditional opera art's "old form".In the practice of reviving Chinese opera, under the principal of "duality of opera", Ma Yanxiang grasps the aesthetic features of opera subjectivity and strengthens the play's position. This is his greatest contribution. The modern traditional opera, which is advocated by Ma Yanxiang, is with the core of presenting times features. It uses "formulized presentation language sign" as presenting method with the supplementary of modern theatre thinking. It follows the traditional aesthetic principals and gets a kind of aesthetic feeling different from the tradition in this "modern beating".This not only deepens his thinking about possible of playing and literature flavor but also promotes the change of forms and contents. Furthermore, it deepens the realization about the traditions of traditional opera.Ma Yanxiang's thinking and study on the subjectivity features of traditional opera stem from organization of the history of traditional opera and proceed to go on the ideas of the Chinese opera and western opera. He pays attention to both the outside features of traditional opera and inside origins which cause the change of outside features. His control of traditional opera's subjectivity features is dynamic, self-conscious rather than rigid.