Like the Indian drama, the Chinese arose from the union of the arts of
dance and song. To the ballets and pantomimes out of which it developed
itself, and which have continued to flourish by the side of its more
advanced forms, the Chinese ascribe a primitive antiquity of origin;
many of them originally had a symbolical reference to such subjects as
the harvest, and war and peace. A very ancient pantomime is said to have
symbolized the conquest of China by Wu-Wang; others were of a humbler,
and often of a very obscure, character. To their music the Chinese
likewise attribute a great antiquity of origin.
There are traditions which carry back the characters of the Chinese
drama to the 18th century before the Christian era. Others declare the
Emperor Wan-Te (fl. about A.D. 580) to have invented the drama; but this
honour is more usually given to the emperor Yuen-Tsung (A.D. 720), who
is likewise remembered as a radical musical reformer. Pantomimes
henceforth fell into disrepute; and the history of the Chinese drama
from this date is divided, with an accuracy we cannot profess to
control, into four distinct periods. Each of these periods, we are told,
has a style, and each style a name of its own; but these names, such as
"Diversions of the Woods in Flower," have little or no meaning for us;
and it would therefore be useless to cite them.
The first period is that of the dramas composed under the T'ang dynasty,
from A.D. 720 to 907. These pieces, called _Tchhouen-Khi_, were limited
to the representation of extraordinary events, and were therefore, in
design at least, a species of heroic drama. The ensuing times of civil
war interrupted the "pleasures of peace and prosperity" (a Chinese
phrase for dramatic performances)--which, however, revived.
Classical age.
The second period is that of the Tsung Dynasty, from 960 to 1119. The
plays of this period are called _Hi-Khio_, and presented what became a
standing peculiarity of the Chinese drama, viz. that in them figures a
principal personage _who sings_.
The third and best-known age of the Chinese drama was under the Kin and
Yuen dynasties, from 1125 to 1367. The plays of this period are called
_Yuen-Pen_ and _Tsa-Ki_; the latter seem to have resembled the
_Hi-Khio_, and to have treated very various subjects. The _Yuen-Pen_ are
the plays from which our literary knowledge of the Chinese drama is
mainly derived; the short pieces called _Yen-Kia_ were in the same
style, but briefer. The list of dramatic authors under the Yuen dynasty,
the most important period in Chinese literary annals, which covered the
years 1260 to 1368, is tolerably extensive, comprising 85, among whom
four are designated as courtesans; the number of plays composed by these
and by anonymous authors is reckoned at not less than 564. In 1735 the
Jesuit missionary Joseph Henry Premare first revealed to Europe the
existence of the tragedy _Tchao-Chi-Cu-Eul_ (_The Little Orphan of the
House of Tchao_), which was founded upon an earlier piece treating of
the fortunes of an heir to the imperial throne, who was preserved in a
mysterious box like another Cypselus or Moses. Voltaire seized the theme
of the earlier play for a rhetorical tragedy, _L'Orphelin de la Chine_,
in which he coolly professes it was his intention "to paint the manners
of the Chinese and the Tartars." The later play, which is something less
elevated in the rank of its characters, and very decidedly less refined
in treatment, was afterwards retranslated by Stanislas Julien; and to
the labours of this scholar, of Sir J. F. Davis (1795-1890) and of
Antoine Bazin (1799-1863), we owe a series of translated Chinese dramas,
among which there can be no hesitation whatever in designating the
master-piece.
Pi-Pa-Ki.
Decline and decay.
The justly famous _Pi-Pa-Ki_ (_The Story of the Lute_) belongs to a
period rather later than that of the Yuen plays, having been composed
towards the close of the 14th century by Kao-Tong-Kia, and reproduced in
1404, under the Ming dynasty, with the alterations of Mao-Tseu, a
commentator of learning and taste. _Pi-Pa-Ki_, which as a domestic drama
of sentiment possesses very high merit, long enjoyed a quite exceptional
popularity in China; it was repeatedly republished with laudatory
prefaces, and so late as the 18th century was regarded as a monument of
morality, and as the master-piece of the Chinese theatre. It would seem
to have remained without any worthy competitors; for, although it had
been originally designed to produce a reaction against the immorality of
the drama then in fashion, especially of Wang-Chi-Fou's celebrated
_Si-Siang-Ki_ (_The Story of the Western Pavilion_), yet the fourth
period of the Chinese drama, under the Ming dynasty, from 1368 to 1644,
exhibited no improvement. "What" (says the preface to the 1704 edition
of _Pi-Pa-Ki_) "do you find there? Farcical dialogue, a mass of scenes
in which one fancies one hears the hubbub of the streets or the ignoble
language of the highways, the extravagances of demons and spirits, in
addition to love-intrigues repugnant to delicacy of manners." Nor would
it appear that the Chinese theatre has ever recovered from its decay.
Theoretical aims.
In theory, no drama could be more consistently elevated in purpose and
in tone than the Chinese. Every play, we learn, should have both a moral
and a meaning. A virtuous aim is imposed upon Chinese dramatists by an
article of the penal code of the empire; and those who write immoral
plays are to expect after death a purgatory which will last so long as
these plays continue to be performed. In practice, however, the Chinese
drama falls far short of its ideal; indeed, according to the native
critic already cited, among ten thousand playwrights not one is to be
found intent upon perfecting the education of mankind by means of
precepts and examples.
Religious drama.
Historical.
Domestic.
The Chinese are, like the Hindus, unacquainted with the distinction
between tragedy and comedy; they classify their plays according to
subjects in twelve categories. It may be doubted whether what seems the
highest of these is actually such; for the religious element in the
Chinese drama is often sheer buffoonery. Moreover, Chinese religious
life, as reflected in the drama, seems one in which creed elbows creed,
and superstitions are welcome whatever their origin. Of all religious
traditions and doctrines, however, those of Buddhism (which had reached
China long before the known beginnings of its drama) are the most
prominent; thus, the theme of absolute self-sacrifice is treated in one
play,[23] that of entire absorption in the religious life in
another.[24] The historical drama is not unknown to the Chinese; and
although a law prohibits the bringing on the stage of "emperors,
empresses, and the famous princes, ministers, and generals of former
ages," no such restriction is observed in practice. In _Han-Kong-Tseu_
(_The Sorrows of Han_), for instance, which treats a national historic
legend strangely recalling in parts the story of Esther and the myth of
the daughter of Erechtheus, the emperor Yuen-Ti (the representative, to
be sure, of a fallen dynasty) plays a part, and a sufficiently sorry
one. By far the greater number, however, of the Chinese plays accessible
in translations belong to the domestic species, and to that subspecies
which may be called the criminal drama. Their favourite virtue is piety,
of a formal[25] or a practical[26] kind to parents or parents-in-law;
their favourite interest lies in the discovery of long-hidden guilt, and
in the vindication of persecuted innocence.[27] In the choice and
elaboration of such subjects they leave little to be desired by the most
ardent devotees of the literature of agony. Besides this description of
plays, we have at least one love-comedy pure and simple--a piece of a
nature not "tolerably mild," but ineffably harmless.[28]
Range of Characters.
Free in its choice of themes, the Chinese drama is likewise remarkably
unrestricted in its range of characters. Chinese society, it is well
known, is not based, like Indian, upon the principle of caste; rank is
in China determined by office, and this again depends on the results of
examination. These familiar facts are constantly brought home to the
reader of Chinese plays. The _Tchoang-Yuen_, or senior classman on the
list of licentiates, is the flower of Chinese society, and the hero of
many a drama;[29] and it is a proud boast that for years "one's
ancestors have held high posts, which they owed to their literary
successes."[30] On the other hand, a person who has failed in his
military examination, becomes, as if by a natural transition, a
man-eating monster.[31] But of mere class the Chinese drama is no
respecter, painting with noteworthy freedom the virtues and the vices of
nearly every phase of society. The same liberty is taken with regard to
the female sex; it is clear that in earlier times there were few
vexatious restrictions in Chinese life upon the social intercourse
between men and women. The variety of female characters in the Chinese
drama is great, ranging from the heroine who sacrifices herself for the
sake of an empire[32] to the well-brought-up young lady who avers that
"woman came into the world to be obedient, to unravel skeins of silk,
and to work with her needle"[33]--from the chambermaid who contrives the
most gently sentimental of _rendezvous_,[34] to the reckless courtesan
who, like another Millwood, upbraids the partner of her guilt on his
suing for mercy, and bids him die with her in hopes of a reunion after
death.[35] In marriage the first or legitimate wife is distinguished
from the second, who is at times a _ci-devant_ courtesan, and towards
whom the feelings of the former vary between bitter jealousy[36] and
sisterly kindness.[37]
Construction and conduct of plots.
The conduct of the plays exhibits much ingenuity, and an aversion from
restrictions of time and place; in fact, the nature of the plot
constantly covers a long series of years, and spans wide intervals of
local distance. The plays are divided into acts and scenes--the former
being usually four in number, at times with an induction or narrative
prologue spoken by some of the characters (_Sie-Tsen_). Favourite plays
were, however, allowed to extend to great length; the _Pi-Pa-Ki_ is
divided into 24 sections, and in another recension apparently comprised
42. "I do not wish," says the manager in the prologue, "that this
performance should last too long; finish it to-day, but cut out
nothing"--whence it appears that the performance of some plays occupied
more than a single day. The rule was always observed that a separate act
should be given up to the _denouement_; while, according to a theory of
which it is not always easy to trace the operation, the perfection of
construction was sought in the dualism or contrast of scene and scene,
just as the perfection of diction was placed in the parallelism or
antithesis of phrase and phrase. Being subject to no restrictions as to
what might, or might not, be represented on the stage, the conduct of
the plots allowed of the introduction of almost every variety of
incidents. Death takes place, in sight of the audience, by
starvation,[38] by drowning,[39] by poison,[40] by execution;[41]
flogging and torture are inflicted on the stage;[42] wonders are
wrought;[43] and magic is brought into play;[44] the ghost of an
innocently-executed daughter calls upon her father to revenge her foul
murder, and assists in person at the subsequent judicial enquiry.[45]
Certain peculiarities in the conduct of the business are due to the
usages of society rather than to dramaturgic laws. Marriages are
generally managed--at least in the higher spheres of society--by ladies
professionally employed as matrimonial agents.[46] The happy resolution
of the _nodus_ of the action is usually brought about by the direct
interposition of superior official authority[47]--a tribute to the
paternal system of government, which is the characteristic Chinese
variety of the _deus ex machina_. This naturally tends to the favourite
close of a glorification of the emperor,[48] resembling that of Louis
XIV. at the end of _Tartufe_, or in spirit, at all events, those of the
virgin queen in more than one Elizabethan play. It should be added that
the characters save the necessity for a bill of the play by persistently
announcing and re-announcing their names and genealogies, and the
necessity for a book by frequently recapitulating the previous course of
the plot.
The principal personage who sings.
Poetic diction.
One peculiarity of the Chinese drama remains to be noticed. The chief
character of a play represents the author as well as the personage; he
or she is hero or heroine and chorus in one. This is brought about by
the hero's (or heroine's) _singing_ the poetical passages, or those
containing maxims of wisdom and morality, or reminiscences and examples
drawn from legend or history. Arising out of the dialogue, these
passages at the same time diversify it, and give to it such elevation
and brilliancy as it can boast. The singing character must be the
principal personage in the action, but may be taken from any class of
society. If this personage dies in the course of the play, another sings
in his place. From the mention of this distinctive feature of the
Chinese drama it will be obvious how unfair it would be to judge of any
of its productions, without a due appreciation of the lyric passages,
which do not appear to be altogether restricted to the singing of the
principal personage, for other characters frequently "recite verses." In
these lyrical or didactic passages are to be sought those flowers of
diction which, as Julien has shown, consist partly in the use of a
metaphorical phraseology of infinite nicety in its variations--such as a
long series of phrases compounded with the word signifying _jet_ and
expressing severally the ideas of rarity, distinction, beauty, &c., or
as others derived from the names of colours, birds, beasts, precious
metals, elements, constellations, &c., or alluding to favourite legends
or anecdotes. These features constitute the literary element _par
excellence_ of Chinese dramatic composition. At the same time, though it
is impossible for the untrained reader to be alive to the charms of so
unfamiliar a phraseology, it may be questioned whether even in its
diction the Chinese drama can claim to be regarded as really poetic. It
may abound in poetic _ornament_; it is not, like the Indian, bathed in
poetry.
Merits of the Chinese drama.
On the other hand, the merits of this dramatic literature are by no
means restricted to ingenuity of construction and variety of
character--merits, in themselves important, which no candid criticism
will deny to it. Its master-piece is not only truly pathetic in the
conception and the main situations of its action, but includes scenes of
singular grace and delicacy of treatment--such as that where the
remarried husband of the deserted heroine in vain essays in the presence
of his second wife to sing to his new lute, now that he has cast aside
the old.[49] In the last act of a tragedy appealing at once to
patriotism and to pity, there is true imaginative power in the picture
of the emperor, when aware of the departure, but not of the death, of
his beloved, sitting in solitude broken only by the ominous shriek of
the wild-fowl.[50] Nor is the Chinese drama devoid of humour. The lively
abigail who has to persuade her mistress into confessing herself in love
by arguing (almost like Beatrice) that "humanity bids us love men";[51]
the corrupt judge (a common type in the Chinese plays) who falls on his
knees before the prosecuting parties to a suit as before "the father and
mother who give him sustenance,"[52] may serve as examples; and in
_Pi-Pa-Ki_ there is a scene of admirable burlesque on the still more
characteristic theme of the humours of a competitive examination.[53] If
such illustrations could not easily be multiplied, they are at least
worth citing in order to deprecate a perfunctory criticism on the
qualities of a dramatic literature as to which our materials for
judgment are still scanty.
Scenery and costume.
Actors.
While in the north of China houses are temporarily set apart for
dramatic performances, in the south these are usually confined to
theatres erected in the streets (_Hi-Thai_). Thus scenic decorations of
any importance must always have been out of question in the Chinese
theatre. The costumes, on the other hand, are described as magnificent;
they are traditionally those worn before the 17th century, in accordance
with the historical colouring of most of the plays. The actor's
profession is not a respectable one in China, the managers being in the
habit of buying children of slaves and bringing them up as slaves of
their own. Women may not appear on the stage, since the emperor
K'ien-Lung admitted an actress among his concubines; female parts are
therefore played by lads, occasionally by eunuchs.