Research On Chadan In Zaju Of Yuan Dynasty

The introduction gives current states of research on Chadan in zaju of Yuan Dynasty,which shows that studies of this role is not uncharted.The aim of this paper,based on the previous researches,is to discuss the issue with a relatively broad vision.This paper is composed of five parts.Firstly,gives the definition of Chadan and indicate its tendency to a sort of typed role.Chadan that plays the role of bad women does exist in Zaju of Yuan Dynasty.The paper introduces roles which chadan play as with a form.Secondly,explain social problems reflected by images of chadan and introduce its function in drama structure and story progress: problems raised by the disordered marriage,the consciousness of property strengthened by urban residents,people’s desire for the justice.The function of Chadan in the drama structure is fundamental.If they are removed,the whole play cannot be established.Other effects of chadan: work for comedy and warm up the atmosphere to attract the audience,set off good with evil or justice and wisdom with selfishness and ignorance,push the story to the climax,achieve the goal of advocating the righteousness and punishing the wicked.Thirdly,find the social conditions and the art soil of chadan.Zaju of Song and Yuan dynasty is always based on Bianliang and Linan.The economy and civil culture of Bianliang is flourishing and it’s all the same to Linan.Fourthly,analyze chadan from the perspective of literary history.It’s not hard to find some evil women in the history-biography literature.Zaju writers inheriting Sima Qian’s character as a historian,expose the evil of female citizens in the Song and Yuan Dynasties boldly in order to suppress the wicked and advocate the good.The characters of bad women in mystery novels of the Six Dynasties and Tang Dynasty have the tendency to the stigmatism,while the zaju of Yuan Dynasty has not adopted this pattern.The paper make a rough comparison with women images in The Book of Songs,Poetry of the South and Romance in Tang Dynasty to show the true impression of chadan in Song and Yuan Dynasty.Fifthly,point out that the emerge of chadan is related to the decline in status of Yuan dramatists and their change of aesthetic consciousness.Reasons that status of Yuan dramatists go down.Yuan dramatists go to the entertainment venues and their aesthetic consciousness happens to have the same view with the civilians.The epilogue states that chadan is rooted in the society of Song and Yuan Dynasty and it is the crucial part in zaju of Yuan Dynasty and one of the symbols that zaju becomes mature and prosperous.However,due to the limitation that variety play must consist of four episodes,be led by zhengdan and zhengmo,and provide no aria for chadan,this play fails to create any distinctive and round image of chadan,and falls into a patterned routine.Only novels that are not restricted by space or time can get rid of these restrictions and routines,as only novelists have the opportunity to deeply experience the complexity of lower-class life and the richness of human nature,so as to write them into their characters,and create vivid typical characters like Wangpo,Pan Jinlian,Yan Poxi,Pan Qiaoyun in Water Margin.Perhaps it can be said that chadan in zaju of Yuan Dynasty is the artistic soil of the female characters mentioned above.