The Sudy Of Ming And Qing Dynasties’ Home Owned Actresses

The Ming and Qing Dynasties’home owned actresses were some really special group. They were kept in some private rooms by their masters, not allowed talking to any males except their masters. Sometimes, they need to make s performances in front the guests, but there would be a curtain between the actresses and the guests. So we can hardly find many records about them, it’s like some veil is covering on them. But we must uncover this veil, because the research about these women has great significances-their place in the history of Chinese opera is important that they are not only representing the peak of the home owned opera troupe, but also showed the Kunqu’s artistic beauty to the extreme interpretation. Meanwhile, their sociological significances can’t be ignored, not only about their multiple identities, who was an actress, concubine, maid, communication tools, but also were inextricably linked with their masters which were upper class in Ming and Qing Dynasties. So the actresses are the miniature of Ming and Qing Dynasties.This paper is divided into four chapters, the first chapter focuses on professional research of them, discoursed from how they learning skills, their singing and dancing performances, their opera performances, and the place they played the show.The second chapter is about the details of their daily life, on their makeup, hair, clothing, foot binding conditions, and diet, accommodation, travel conditions. this is the most innovative chapter, by analyzing the part of the record about them, and then with other contemporary notes, novels, historical reference, such as comparative literature, hoping to restore the real appearance of their daily life.The third chapter focus on their feelings and marriage situation, discussed the feelings between their masters and them, between the actresseses themselves, and their marital situation.The fourth chapter is a study of the status and fate of them. Because they got different roles according to their voice, appearance, stature, character and other conditions, and different roles made they stand at different positions, which was directly related to the quality of their living conditions and fate.