Research On Playscript And Stage Performance Of The Story Of The Western Wing By Wang Shifu

As one of the greatest representative masterpieces of zaju of the YuanDynasty, the Story of the Western Wing (also being called the NorthernWestern Wing to distinguish it from the version of the Southern Western Wing)by Wang Shifu has always been highly praised by people and widely spreadfor being called a work “conquering the world” by people in Ming Dynasty. Ithas not only influenced the creation of literati generation after generation inMing and Qing dynasties due to its beautiful tune and lyrics as well asimpressive stories, but also been performed and handed down by people byways of acappella singing and stage performance, etc., still emitting its uniquecharm in Chinese classical literature history.The paper first discriminates and analyzes the classification, pedigreeand text differences and similarities of performance scripts of the Story of theWestern Wing by Wang Shifu in various ages. Then it discusses relevantforms and conditions of performance since Ming Dynasty, such as artisticattribute, evolution process, etc. of multiple stage performance forms ofWang’s the Story of the Western Wing. Meanwhile, it also slightly mentionssuch subjects as the evolution between the Southern Western Wing and theNorthern Western Wing, string instruments and Four Great CharacteristicMelodies (Yiyangqiang, Yuyaoqiang, Kunqiang and Haiyanqiang), etc.Finally, the paper gives a brief statement on the performance of the two kindsof modern the Northern Western Wing.