明清帝王、士大夫、庶民百姓之戲曲生活（下）──明清士大夫及庶民百姓之戲曲生活

The Operatic Life of Emperors, Scholar Officials and the Common People In the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II): The Operatic Life of Scholar Officials and the Common People In the Ming and Qing Dynasties

本文考述戲曲在明清兩代所以能夠興盛而歷久不衰的根本動力，其實是在於明清兩代人上自帝王，下至庶民百姓的日常生活中。論社會階層，在帝王與庶民之間，尚有宗人貴族、政府主官、士大夫三種類型，其宗人貴族指諸王封君，其政府主官指督撫及府州縣之正堂，士大夫則有功名或無功名之智識分子。諸王封君雖類近內廷帝王，但對戲曲盛衰不具影響力之導向；政府主官實為士大夫之一環，但以其職司牧民，對戲曲之左右力又有非一般士大夫所能為者；而士大夫則實際掌握戲曲之創作，為戲曲之實踐者，其對戲曲之重要性不止不下於帝王，而且有非其所能望及項背者。至於庶民百姓，自古無不以戲曲為娛樂教化，對戲曲作全面之接受。因之若就此五層面而言，自以掌絕對權力之內廷帝室和手操創作能力之士大夫為主體。其他三方面則為次要之附體。而所謂「戲曲生活」，則從其對戲曲之演出、好惡、影響三方面來具體呈現。
至於明清記載中藝絕群倫的演員，除了先天的稟賦，後天的努力外，還有名師嚴格的教習，是為優伶所以技藝精湛的普遍原因。又今之所謂「舞台美術」，於明清已有人開始嘗試營造，並且講究穿關砌末的運用。總上所論，蓋可見明清戲曲藝術已臻十分精湛，為帝生、貴族、士大夫乃至庶民所熱愛，為其生活中不可或缺之一環，而其極盛與發達，則在晚明清初一兩百年之間。

This study contends that xiqu opera during the Ming and Qing dynasties gained flourishing and extensive popularity because of its grounding in the daily lives of both emperors and the common people. In terms of social division, between emperors and the common people lay a social straturm of nobles, governmental officials, and scholar officials. Nobles here denotes those invested with royal and noble titles, while the government bureaucracy denotes governors of various provinces as well as county magistrates, and the notion of scholar officials denotes intellectuals with or without official rank. Although those invested with royal and noble titles were similar in some respects to emperors in the royal court, they did not influence the rise and fall of xiqu opera. Scholar officials who also served in government had more influence on xiqu opera than common scholar officials. Nonetheless, scholar officials were actually the ones who controlled the creative practices of xiqu opera. The important influence scholar officials had on xiqu opera was considerable, surpassing even that of emperors. As the common people have treated xiqu opera a source of convivial entertainment since ancient times, they accepted xiqu opera completely. Hence, if we take the above five social categories as points of analysis, one can take as main subjects the emperors who possessed absolute political authority and scholar officials who controlled the creation of xiqu opera, with the other three being secondary. “Chinese operatic life” is made manifest through performance culture, popularity, and influence.
In terms of understanding outstanding xiqu actors that are discussed in historical records from the Ming and Qing periods, in addition to those with innate talent who improved themselves through great effort, there were also those who received strict training from xiqu masters. These master-pupil relationships were the general reason why the actors could develop such exceptional skills. As to what we would call “stage design” today, there were already attempts during Ming and Qing times to build sets, as well as to utilize costumes and props in a judicious manner. Based on the above, we can see that Ming-Qing xiqu was an exquisite artistic practice, popular among emperors, nobles, and scholar officials during the Ming and Qing dynasties and essential in their lives. Xiqu opera reached its greatest popularity for about one or two hundred years between the late Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasties.