Research On The Ritual Drama Of Literati In Ming Dynasty

Dramas of ritual,which were created by literati directly or indirectly,can be called the ritual drama of literati.It is generally believed that drama originated from the ancient sacrificial activities.Later,as drama became secular and commercial gradully,it was always related to religious and folk rituals closely.The participation of the scholars enhanced the literary nature and artistic taste of the drama,and pushed it to maturity.The Yuan Dynasty is generally regarded as the prosperous period of the development of Chinese drama.During this period,dramas played in the public place for entertainment in cities were very active,but the dramas played in rural temples are also flourished at the same time.In spite of the large number of dramas for sacrifice,“the Meeting Challenge with a Single Broodsword”,and "the Dream of West SiChuan",which were created by the most famous playwright Guan Hanqing,have also been believe that they were created for folk ritual,by most scholars.The Ming Dynasty is an important period in the development of Chinese drama.On the one hand,a large number of scholars especially the upper(including members of the royal family)participated into drama creation,on the other hand,the drama kept close to the public life further strengthen.During this period,the family class appeared in large numbers and the hall performance was very common.The emergence of a large number of ritual dramas of literati was the combination of these two aspects.In this paper,the author choose the ritual drama of literati in Ming dynasty,which was the important content of the important period in the history of drama.The paper included four parts.The first chapter defines the concept of "ritual drama of literati ",and points out that the scholars involved in this article are the upper class scholars with higher socioeconomic status.Secondly,summarizes the research status research of ritual drama of literati.The research on literati dramas or ritual dramas,even those which had related to the ritual drama of literati,had not been comprehensive.Finally,the author discusses the origin of the ritual drama of literati.The second part chapter divides the ritual dramas of literati into six classes,according to the characteristics of each type.The third chapter analysis the art characteristics of the ritual dramas of literati,which include beautiful stage,weak story and elegant words.The fourth chapter focuses on the value and significance of ritual drama of literati in Ming dynasty in the history of Chinese drama.It is a unique stage of development in Chinese drama history as it is created by upper scholars and close to popular life.The ritual drama of literati not only reflects the close relationship between drama and religion,but also people's life.The emergence of the ritual drama of literati proves that drama is closely related to religion and ritual.It also proves that Chinese drama originated from the ancient worship,which is closely related to the ritual.