Lesson 21 Literary Art of the Pre-Qing Period

Dream of the Red Chamber

The Qing dynasty saw unprecedented achievements in the creation of novels, the most artistically accomplished and influential of which was Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber. Cao Xueqin devoted his life to the painstaking creation of this long novel, which was originally called The Stone Chronicle, and basically finalized the first 80 books during his lifetime. It was later renewed by Gao Osprey, with the title Dream of the Red Chamber, and printed for interviews in the late Qianlong period.

Dream of the Red Chamber" focuses on the tragic love story of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu, a young nobleman. Through the rise and fall of the four families of Jia, Shi, Wang and Xue, it profoundly reflects the social reality and sharp contradictions at the end of feudal society, exposing the extravagance and ugliness of the ruling class, thus revealing the historical fate of feudal society towards its demise. The author not only portrays typical characters such as Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu who rebel against traditional rituals and pursue individual liberation, but also passionately celebrates the spirit of resistance of the enslaved and ravaged slave girls and angrily criticizes the stubborn forces represented by the autocratic patriarchs, which has profound social significance.

The background of "Dream of the Red Chamber" is vast, the plot is complex, and there are many characters, more than 700 of whom are named in the book, but the author has achieved a very high level of artistry with a rigorous structure, a clear hierarchy, and a concise and vivid language that brings the progress of the story and the characters to life. Although this ideological and artistic novel was banned by the rulers after its release, it was spread among the people and could never be banned. To date, Dream of the Red Chamber has been translated into many languages and has become a rare literary masterpiece in the world's cultural treasury.

Kunqu and the Art of Peking Opera

The ancient Chinese opera art developed into a more prosperous period in the Qing Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, the drama was closely related to the social reality and reflected the people's voices, which was loved by the public. At that time, watching drama had become a major cultural activity for people in urban and rural areas. During the Qing dynasty, the number of theatrical genres was increasing, with a wide variety of plays, rich and colorful contents, new and innovative performing arts, and a competition of genres and styles, which were appreciated by both the elegant and the vulgar. Among them, the most influential ones were Kunqu and Peking Opera.

Kunqu, also known as Kunju and Kunqiang, was originally the Kunshan cadence popular in the Kunshan area of Suzhou. During the Ming Dynasty, after improvement, kunqu developed greatly, and the performing art became more and more mature, becoming a national drama genre, represented by "The Peony Pavilion" written by Tang Xianzu. Kunqu not only embodies the soft and gentle characteristics of the southern opera, but also retains some of the impassioned voice of the northern opera, and combines poetry, song and folklore with the soft and beautiful dance, giving people full artistic enjoyment. In the early Qing Dynasty, the art of kunqu reached its peak with Hong Sheng's The Palace of Eternal Youth and Kong Shangren's The Fan of Peach Blossoms, two political and historical dramas with touching content, plunging plots and elegant lyrics, which became the heirloom of kunqu.

After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, kunqu gradually fell into the realm of conformity, and the plays performed were mostly vulgar works that escaped reality or sang praises of virtue, and were enjoyed by the court and the aristocracy, becoming the playthings of the ruling class and the upper classes. Due to its isolation from the general public and real life, kunqu gradually went into decline.

During the Qianlong period, Beijing became a place where various local operas were staged, forming a group of talented performers, and in 1790, on the occasion of the 80th birthday of the Qianlong Emperor, four major Huiban groups from the south, organized by Huizhou merchants, came to Beijing to present their performances. Huiban's singing words were easy to understand, and the singing tone was high and bright, which won the audience's love and instant reputation in the capital. Later, Huiban continued to absorb the advantages of local operas such as Kunqu, Qinqiang, Jingtong, Hantong, etc., to create and improve them, and gradually formed into a new genre "Pihuang Opera" during the Daoguang period. It was called "Beijing opera" or "Peking opera" because of the advantages of other operas and the local characteristics of Beijing. With the support of the imperial family and the continuous innovation of artists, Peking Opera has become the most important genre and has spread in all directions.（819words）