As far as the concept of "Yuan Opera" is concerned, it actually includes two different literary styles, namely "Sanqu" and "Zaju". Sanqu belongs to poetry, while Zaju belongs to the category of drama. The "Yuan Qu" mentioned in this article refers to "Sanqu". In the history of Chinese literature, Yuan opera stands side by side with Tang poetry and Song lyrics. It is an important genre in Chinese classical poetry. These three literary forms all have their own artistic charm. Compared with poems and lyrics, Yuan Sanqu is closer to secular life, closer to today's language, more open-minded, more in line with modern aesthetic psychology, and can be appreciated based on elegance and vulgarity.
Yuan opera was developed on the basis of Tang poetry, especially Song poetry, and was a selective inheritance and development of previous metrical poetry. It is the crystallization of the integration of Han traditional culture and other ethnic cultures.
"Ci", as a classical metrical poetry style, originally originated from the folk and became popular in the singing house market. However, with the development of society, it gradually became the "patent" of literati at all levels. With continuous improvement, the number of word cards continues to increase. After rapid development in the late Tang and Five Dynasties, it was very prosperous by the early Northern Song Dynasty. In the late Southern Song Dynasty, because a considerable number of writers overemphasized rhythm, pursued skills, and divorced themselves from the reality of life, the development of Ci was restricted to a great extent.
After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, ethnic minorities from the north were able to occupy the Central Plains, forming a multi-ethnic pattern of prosperity. This directly led to the integration of multi-ethnic cultures and laid the social and cultural foundation for the emergence of Yuan Opera as a literary form. The literati and scholar-bureaucrats of the ethnic minority groups who settled in the Central Plains found it difficult to fully accept the typical Central Plains culture of the Song Dynasty, especially its overly strict meter and classical Chinese grammar. So on the basis of inheritance, they jointly transformed the traditional classical metrical poetry with the literati from the Central Plains, and gradually formed the Yuan opera, a completely independent and self-contained literary style. Compared with Song poetry, Yuan music has the following characteristics:
1. Yuan music is a new metrical poem. It is similar to Song poetry in that it also has many "Ci Pai" (called Qu Pai in Yuan music), and there are also certain metrical formula. That is to say, the number of sentences, the number of words, the level, etc. of each Qupai are all metrically standardized. However, it allows adding "lining words" to the fixed formula; some Qupai also allows adding sentences. The addition of this "lining word" is not limited to one place or one word in a Sanqu. Therefore, it is often seen that where a Qupai is prescribed as a three-character sentence, it is actually a five-character sentence; where a Qupai is prescribed as a five-character sentence, it is actually an eight-character sentence; it is also often seen that a Qupai with seven sentences is actually eight-character sentence. This greatly alleviates the phenomenon of excessive restrictions on the author's thoughts and expressions in Song poetry, and the author can make corresponding adjustments as needed. As a result, Yuan music has a new feature of "unification of rhythm and freedom".
Example 1: [Four Pieces of Jade] Linqiong City (Author: Ma Zhiyuan)
A beautiful woman, the son of a famous family, drove an elopement car. Xiangru of the Han Dynasty became a literary scholar. He loved his piano playing and his two poems, and sometimes remarried.
The fixed sentence pattern of [Four Pieces of Jade] Qupai is: three three seven, seven, three three three. In this Sanqu, the last three three-character sentences were added with the character: six sixty-four; the seven-character sentence in the third sentence was added with one character and became eight characters. From this song "Four Pieces of Jade", we can also see the obvious difference in style between Sanqu and Song poetry.
Example 2: [Continuously pulling out] (Author: Ma Zhiyuan)
The chrysanthemums are blooming and they are returning. There are Huxisheng, Helinyou, and Longshanke; they are like Du Gongbu, Tao Yuanming, and Li Taibai; there are Dongting oranges, Dongyang wine, and West Lake crabs. Why! Don’t blame Chu Sanlu!
[Continuous pulling] The fixed formula of Qupai is: three three seven, seven seven four. Three of the seven-character sentences have been transformed into 10-character sentences by adding extra characters. The four-character sentence at the end is divided into two sentences. It is very common to add lining words to sentences in Sanqu. Lining words must be added at the beginning or middle of the sentence. There is no limit to the number of words added, and the characters are not counted.
2. Yuan opera broke the traditional rules of metrical poetry based on classical Chinese words and grammar, and based on the northern dialect at that time, it was divided into four tones, flat and oblique, and rhyme categories. . At the same time, a large number of spoken vocabulary and sentence structures integrate the characteristics of traditional poetry, the charm of folk songs and slang.
It makes this genre more popular and closer to life, forming a brand new literary and language style.
Example 1: [Taotao Ling] Tao Qing (Author: Deng Yubin)
An empty skin bag contains a thousand weights of Qi, and a dry skull wears a very sin. They tried their best to save their children, and they went to great lengths to save their belongings. Brother, you are saved, brother, you are saved, brother, who knows this principle of longevity.
Even in modern society, the vocabulary and grammar of this song "Taotao Ling" are very colloquial and popular. Two of them, "Ye Mo Ge", are the modal particles stipulated in this song.
Example 2: [Intoxicated by the East Wind] Living at leisure (Author: Lu Zhi)
I just left the green water and green mountains and came to a bamboo fence thatched cottage early. Wild flowers are blooming on the roadside, and the wine troughs in the village are being pressed, and people are eating and drinking. The drunken mountain boy did not dissuade us, and put yellow flowers in his white hair.
The words "na take", (over there), and qianqiandada in the song are all common sayings in the dialect.
3. The rhetorical techniques of Yuan opera are also obviously different from traditional classical metrical poetry. The most prominent one is the deliberate use of overlapping words, repeated sentences and adjectives such as onomatopoeia, mimesis, and mimicry to enhance the language effects. In traditional poetry, this type of vocabulary is "different"; in Yuan music, it is true.
It is also common to see a large number of fresh vocabulary from daily life, common sayings and slangs incorporated into the music, which enhances the vividness, life-likeness and expressive ability of Yuan music.
Example: [Tian Jingsha] Instant Events (Author: Qiao Ji)
In spring and spring, the flowers and willows are real, and everything is charming and charming. Delicate and tender, she can act like everyone.
This poem "Tianjingsha" is a clever style of overlapping words, with repeated words used in every sentence. The poem describes a beautiful woman outing in spring.
4. The expression forms of Sanqu can be divided into Xiaoling, Zhongtou, Daiguoqu, Taosu, etc.
Xiao Ling and Zhong Tou: Xiao Ling is also called "Ye'er". The Xiaoling of the song is different from the Xiaoling of the lyrics. As long as a single piece of music has the ability to perform independently, it is called Xiaoling, regardless of its length.
The small order of a song is not divided into monotone, double tone, triple tone and quadruple tone like the lyrics. Instead, one song is chanted one by one. If the meaning is not finished, several more songs can be continued with the same tune. This form of expression is the so-called "repeat".
Bringing over tunes: combining two or three Xiaolings that belong to the same palace tune and can be connected in melody into one tune. The combination of tai guo qu is fixed, and there are only more than 30 tai guo qu in Yuan dynasty.
Set: It is a set of several tunes from the same tune. Its expressive capacity is greater than that of a single small order.
Example 1: Example of "Heavy Head"
[Ban'er] Eight Songs of Impersonating Beauty (Author: Cha Deqing)
Spring Dream
Plough flowers and clouds surround the Jinxiang Pavilion, and butterflies melt into the soft jade screen in spring. Birds chirped three or four times outside the flowers. Startled at the beginning of the dream, half unconscious and half awake.
The incense is sleepy
The people in the window are quiet in the early morning, and the incense from the tripod has dissipated the fire and is still warm. Recline on the show bed and close the door. Eyes are dizzy, half open and half dozing off.
Spring Clothes
Since I wrote about the willow tree, I smiled and twisted the branches to compare with the spring. Lost to Haitang by three or four points. Mix evenly, half rouge and half powder.
This [half] consists of eight consecutive poems, the rest of which are omitted.
Example 2: An example of a song that has been passed over
[Criticizing Yulang for bringing a song to thank the emperor for his kindness] Hate Farewell (Author: Zhong Sicheng)
Romance If you meet a phoenix and a phoenix, their wings will fly apart, and the colorful clouds will scatter easily and the glass will be brittle. The hairpin on the ground is broken, the treasure mirror on the ground is missing, and the silver bottle falls on the ground with a splash.
The fragrance is cold and golden, the candle is dark and the curtain is dark. The thorns rupture the intestines, the tears flood the eyes quickly, and the frown locks in confusion. The sky is high, the geese are high, the moon is bright, and the birds are flying. Farewell for now, but I'd rather be patient so that I can finally rest.
You know in your heart that I am honest. Who is afraid of the gap in love? When you leave, you must use a lamp to announce the good news, and when you come in, you must listen to the horses neighing.