英文摘要 |
In recent years, there has been a good deal of emphasis placed on research into nanxi (southern drama) in drama studies. However, there is considerable controversy about important questions concerning the name, origin, formation and propagation of nanxi and no satisfactory conclusions have been reached. This article aims to discuss these points, and is divided into four parts. First, the name nanxi. Second, the origin of nanxi; from huling shengsou to the Yongjia zaju. Third, the formation of nanxi: xiwen (“southern dramatic scripts”), xiqu (“musical drama”)and Yongjia zaju. Fourth, the propagation of nanxi and its internal differentiation: from Fujian ancient theater to the varieties of drama associated with different nanxi sub-dramatic and singing styles. In literature related to the origin of nanxi, it has many alternate names; scattered among this literature is enough evidence to show its origin, formation and propagation. For example, “huling shengsou” is a kind of xiaoxi (“skit”) formed in the early years of Yongjia, based on rural songs and dances of the locality; this was at about the time of the Xuanhe period of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song (1119-1125). “Yongjia zaju” or “Wenzhou zaju” is “huling shengsou” which absorbed “guanben zaju” (“court drama”). The latter entered into popular culture, taking for its music local folk songs and ditties at about the time of the court's transition to the south (1127). Xiwen or xiqu are ways of elaborating the plots and musical numbers from the abundant material of the shuochang (“story-telling” or chant-fable) tradition, thus making it into a daxi (“full-scale drama”)as a part of “Yongjia zaju.” This was at about the time of the Shaoxi period of the Emperor Guangzong of the Song (1190-1194). The name “Yongjia zaju” implies that it had already been propagated elsewhere; by the Xianchun period of the Sung Emperor Duzong (1265-1274), it had already spread to Hangzhou and to Nanfeng in Jiangxi. At about the same time, it was in Wuzhong (present-day Suzhou), Jiangsu; in the Minnan region of Fujian, its scripts should have already reached places such as Putian, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou by the reign of Guangzong. According to later play redaction investigations, Chaozhou in Guangdong should have been exposed to the influence of xiwen; however, this did not necessarily occur during the Southern Song. Terms such as “nanqu xiwen,” “nan xiwen,” and “nan xi,” calling these forms “southern,” were used in the Yuan and Ming as contrast with corresponding “northern” forms, such as “beiqu zaju,” “bei zaju,” and “beiju.” They refer to types of drama which, as they spread to various localities, picked up the influence of the local dialects, folk songs, and so forth. In this way they formed regional subdrama styles. Thus we know that nanxi was a local xiaoxi form with rustic songs and dances, which then was influenced by the guanben zaju of the Song. Next it was stimulated by what it took from shuochang and developed into daxi, and then spread into a variety of areas, taking on a variety of dialects and musical forms, to become a tradition of dramatic stylistics with a long historical heritage. |