A Study On The Play Of Wu Bing's A Tale Of Conveying Affections

Wu Bing is a first-rate writer in the late Ming Dynasty.Throughout his lifetime,he was loyal to the monarch.He was patriotic and upright,as well.In his old age,he followed Emperor Yongli faithfully.During the Incident of Wugang,he escorted the Emperor's heir to Chengbu,and was unfortunately captured by the Qing army.Later,the Qing army sent him to Hengzhou,where he died without surrender.One of his existing works is Five Plays of Canhua Study.His plays have been applauded for exquisite diction,elaborate structure and beautiful melody.A Tale of Conveying Affections was the first play which Wu Bing finished and the only play which had one still-existing separate edition.Therefore,its way of dissemination was peculiar.A Tale of Conveying Affections has a standard tune structure.As for tune structure,the selections of Qupais and Cycles are tightly knit on the whole and not without flexibility.The Qupais that A Tale of Conveying Affections chooses are mostly from the standard music score of Chinese operas in the late Ming Dynasty.The use of some Qupais reflects the actual use of the stage in that period.All of the Qupais have tuneful swing and normal rhyme.A Tale of Conveying Affections has axdopted numerous cycles,including south cycle,north cycle and the combined cycle of north and south cycle.The diversity and flexibility of his adopting cycles and the emphasis on arranging the scenes and characters and combining the plot with the cycles reveal Wu Bing' s proficiency in cycle skills and familiarity with the performances.In terms of the arts of tune structure,A Tale of Conveying Affections has laid a good foundation for Wu Bing's four subsequent plays.The art of A Tale of Conveying Affections' s plot structure is also distinctive.A Tale of Conveying Affections has adopted two lane structures of " One Shen with Two Dans”,as a change and development of the traditional structure of " One Shen with One Dan”.In A Tale of Conveying Affections,the male main character is strong-willed and acts vigorously.His proactive actions are throughout the whole story,which indicates a breakthrough in terms of the male characters in traditional plays.By contrast,the female main characters are more reactive,which means they behave in response to what happens to them only,thus leaving behind less artistic appeal.In A Tale of Conveying Affections,the interludes and minor characters highlight the changes of the key narrative structures.When Wu Bing arranges the play's plots,he has fully applied the skills like coincidences,delays and misunderstandings,which fully reveals his skills.A Tale of Conveying Affections attaches importance to the arrangement of Jing and Clown assume the double functions of presenting structure and thoughts which contribute to the integral part of the play.In his following plays,Wu Bing is more proficient in creating roles like Jing and Clown.His art of creating Jing and Clown has exerted a profound influence on later generations.The thought of " conveying affections”was first seen in A Tale of Conveying Affections which is the typical reflection of Wu Bing's thought of " affection".Thoughts on conveying affections the preface of A Tale of Conveying Affections:praises the true affections and affirms the power of true love,which clearly demonstrates Wu's inheritance of Tang Xianzu's thought on the extremity level of affection.As the theoretical summary of conveying affections,Thoughts on conveying affections has paved the way for the creation of Five Plays of Canhua Study.A Tale of Conveying Affections has fully discussed affections,intensified the strength of true affections and endowed the " affection”with " talents",which not only reveals the basic respect for women seeking love but also acts as the specific demonstration and further improvement of Wu Bing's thought of conveying affection.A Tale of Conveying Affections is the purest play in Five Plays of Canhua Study which praises the extremity level of affection,whose purity is quite peculiar in the late Ming Dynasty.Represented by A Tale of Conveying Affections,a number of plays with themes of praising the extremity level of affection blossomed at that time.These works are actually responding to Tang Xianzu' s thoughts on the extremity level of affection,leading to the canonization of Peony Pavilion.A Tale of Conveying Affections also pays a certain amount attention to the social reality.It has revealed the ugliness of potentates,demonstrated the chaos of bureaucracy,and conveyed the worries for both family and country.The setting of " One Shen with Two Dans”is the demonstration of the condition of love and marriage in the society of late Ming Dynasty,revealing the idealized love of Feudal scholar-officials.The openly description of a gifted scholar going after two beauties is the direct expression of literati's ideals as well as the demonstration of the contradictions between the dramatist's ideals and realities.From the contemporary perspective,the plot is the reconciliation of thought and literati's aesthetic manner.Its historic limitation has somehow affected the depth of this play.Being limited by literati's aesthetic manner is not just the deficiency of Five Plays of Canhua Study.More precisely,it is the common weakness of almost all the amorous comedies in the late Ming Dynasty.The tune structure,plot structure and thought presentations in A Tale of Conveying Affections possess unique features.More impressively,these three factors have been skillfully integrated into a unit.Therefore,A Tale of Conveying Affections is an outstanding play which definitely wins a place in the plays of late Ming Dynasty.Besides,it also lays solid foundation for Wu Bing's following four plays and contributes to the development of plays in the late Ming Dynasty.