Kunqu Opera was originally named Kunshan Tune, or Kunqu Opera for short. At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, it originated in Kunshan, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, and was later called Kunqu Opera. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Kunqu Opera spread from Suzhou to the north and south of the Yangtze River, producing Suzhou, Beikun and Xiang Kun successively.
According to Hunan local opera records, Xiang Kun, also known as Guiyang Kunqu Opera, is the birthplace of Xiang Kun. According to experts' research, during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, troupes singing Kunqu opera in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces entered Hunan from Anhui and Jiangxi. The main strongholds are Changsha and Wuling (Changde), along Xiangjiang River and through Hengyang to Guiyang and Chenzhou. In the early Ming Dynasty, Guiyang was the government, and then the state, which belonged to Hengshan government. So Guiyang Kunqu Opera and Hengyang Kunqu Opera come down in one continuous line.
Kunqu Opera is a dazzling pearl in China's classical opera art. In May, 20001,UNESCO released Kunqu Opera as the first representative of human oral and intangible heritage.
After full investigation, Professor Qin Zhou and his research team collected and sorted out Fu Tongkun's drama 4 1 1 with performance or teaching records in the past 60 years, and made a book Kunqu Collection.
Kunqu Opera Collection A (a set of 6 volumes) is divided into three parts: A, B and C, which are published one after another.
Jia Xu Bian photocopies and publishes the complete live moving version of the selected 4 1 1 rhyme Kunqu opera, and the lyrics, Gong Pu, Nianbai and Jack are still original without any modification. All the quoted materials are marked with their sources for readers' reference.
Kunqu Opera masterpiece: Peony Pavilion;
It is one of the representative works of Tang Xianzu, a playwright in Ming Dynasty, with 55 works describing the love story between Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei.
Tang Xianzu's Peony Pavilion, Zi Chai Ji, Conan Ji and Handan Ji are also called Linchuan Four Dreams. The original name of the play is The Story of Resurrection, which was written in 1598.
Tang Xianzu is called "Shakespeare of the East". He mentioned five similarities between Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare: First, the year of birth and death is almost the same (the former is 1550- 16 16, and the latter is1564-16/kloc).
Outline of Peony Pavilion;
Liu Mengmei, a poor scholar, dreamed that there was a beautiful woman standing under the plum tree in a garden, saying that she had married him, and she often missed her ever since. Du Bao's daughter, the magistrate of Nan 'an, was named Li Niang, with both talent and appearance, and studied under Chen Liangliang. She was hurt by the chapter of The Book of Songs, looking for spring. When she came back from the garden, she saw a scholar with weeping willows in her sleepy dream. They met at the Peony Pavilion. From then on, Du Liniang became depressed and emaciated. He couldn't get sick. Before she died, she asked her mother to bury her under the plum tree in the garden, and asked Chunxiang, the maid, to hide her self-portrait under the stone in Taihu Lake. His father was promoted to Huaiyang, entrusted Chen Liangliang to bury his daughter, and built a "plum blossom view".
Three years later, Liu Mengmei went to Beijing to take the exam, spent the night in Meihua Temple, and found a portrait of Du Liniang under the stone of Taihu Lake, and found that Du Liniang was the beauty he had seen in his dream. Du Liniang's soul wandered into the backyard, and Liu Mengmei met again. Liu Mengmei dug the grave and opened the coffin, and Du Liniang came back to life. They got married and went to Lin 'an. Du Liniang's teacher, Chen Liangliang, saw Du Liniang's grave being dug, so he condemned Liu Mengmei's grave robbery. Entrusted by Du Liniang, Liu Mengmei wrote home to announce the good news of rejuvenation after taking the exam in Lin 'an, and was imprisoned by Du Bao as a result. After the list was published, Liu Mengmei changed from a prisoner to a champion, but Du Bao refused to recognize her daughter's marriage and forced her to divorce. This argument appeared before the emperor, and Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei finally got married.
Peony Pavilion is a love drama. Du Liniang, a young girl, lived in a boudoir for a long time and was influenced by feudal ethics. However, she still feels homesick. In her dream, she had a tryst with scholar Liu Mengmei and died for love. After her death, she married Liu Mengmei, and finally came back to life and married Liu on earth.
Through the unswerving love between Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei, the script praises the indomitable struggle of young men and women for the pursuit of a free and happy love life, and expresses the hazy desire to break free from the feudal cage, smash the shackles of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, pursue individual liberation and yearn for an ideal life.
In content, The Peony Pavilion still shows the ancient theme of "the conflict between love and civilization".
However, in The Peony Pavilion, "civilization" has a special connotation, that is, Neo-Confucianism and ethics advocated by Ming officials.
Du Liniang's longing for love is natural. Although she was taken care of for a long time, she still had a strong desire for love and finally got it.
The significance of The Peony Pavilion lies in affirming the objectivity and rationality of love desire by visual means and strongly criticizing the unreasonable "civilization".
The Peony Pavilion is similar in thought to The Romance of the West Chamber, but The Romance of the West Chamber focuses on the feelings before desire, while The Peony Pavilion focuses on the feelings after desire. The Romance of the West Chamber describes the natural development of emotions, and more expresses the good wishes of all sentient beings in the world, while The Peony Pavilion particularly highlights the conflict between emotion (desire) and reason (ceremony), emphasizing the objectivity and rationality of emotions. This difference is caused by the difference of the times.
"Peony Pavilion" lyrics: a dream in the garden;
Wandering on the ground, dreaming of warblers, the years are full of people standing in the yard and throwing away the residual embroidery thread. This spring is like last year. Xiao Lai looked at Mei Guaner and stayed in the dressing room. You are leaning against the bar with Yichun steamed bread beside you. It's boring and unreasonable to cut without stopping. I have ordered the flowering warbler Yan to borrow the spring to see it. Choose a new fragrance and change the silk dress until one of them tilts the mirror and combs her hair.
Bu Bujiao's beautiful fine silk blows to the leisure room, and the spring scenery is like a line. Stop for a long time, the colorful clouds with full buds and half curtains don't wear Ling Hua. How to show your whole body when you step on the boudoir?
I helped you when I was drunk, and all the skirts and shirts that gave birth to flowers looked beautiful. Do you know that my hobby is natural? No one can see the benefits of just three springs. If you don't watch out for fish, geese and birds, you will die of shame. The gallery gold powder is semi-sporadic. The director of billiards is covered with moss. Stepping on grass is afraid of mud. New embroidered socks cherish flowers and hurt little golden bells. How can you know spring scenery until you get to the garden?
Soap robes have been opened all over the world, and it seems that they have all been ruined. When the weather is fine, it is a kind of enjoyment. Who is at home? Morning and evening scrolls, clouds, cuixuan, rain and wind, smoke and waves painting boats. What a shame the people of Jinping saw!
My good sister sings red azaleas all over the mountain, and the tobacco outside the tea is drunk and soft. Although the peony is good, why did he come back in spring first? Quiet and quiet, Yan language is as clear as warbler.
Because of the deficiency of the ending view, his admiration for the twelve pavilions was in vain. Why don't you go home and relax? The bottle is inserted into the mountain purple furnace to add the fragrance of sinking water. A sudden spring outing and a taste of Yichun noodles. Spring, spring! I have to be with you. How to send away spring? What a sleepy weather!
It's hard for Chun Qing to send a goat without creating chaos. Suddenly, he was pregnant with public grievances, and he chose a famous family for me. A good marriage leaves youth far away. Who has seen my sleep? Ask for another shy dream, who will flow in the dark with spring. Delay, where is this desire? Drowning, splashing, except for begging for heaven.
The peach blossom on the mountain is as beautiful as a flower, and it seems fleeting to you. Is it because you wander in the secluded boudoir, feel sorry for yourself, turn around this peony fence, and get close to the edge of lakes and mountains, with loose collar buttons and wide clothes? The teeth are stained. Then wait for you to take a warm and patient nap. Where did you meet? I have to look at each other so early. Don't you say anything when interests meet?
Thrush is in good order, the sun is shining and flowers are blooming. The carved columns are full of treasures, and the clouds are light and the wind is clear. Du Chun treasures wheatgrass from being shaken by the breeze, which makes beautiful women and talented people miss her dream very much.
On the edge of lakes and mountains, clouds are steaming and Xia Wei. Outside the carved fence, outside the carved fence, red turns green. Bees are not worried about butterfly love because of dreams. A fragrant wind was sent into the forest garden.
Wuyi: one side is soft and sweet, and the other side is crisp and round. Butterflies are flying among the flowers. Bees are dazzling while running wildly. On the one hand, it is the light of the soul, on the other hand, it is the vertical line of green willows, which looks so colorful and the scenery on the earth is so brilliant!
When the mountains are pink, people will borrow flowers to sleep in the grass, but the clouds are cloudy, red, pine and green. Seeing you snuggling together, I can't wait to be with you like meat. The funny thing is that it rains rouge and it rains fresh. I want to go, but I still miss it. It's too early. Don't you think it's good to meet? Sleep away a cloud in Wushan. My husband sat by Don Juan Giovanni's embroidered window and scolded her for the flowers and birds embroidered on her skirt. Be a hard-working mother.
Mian Daiyun came to Meng Er's side, but she woke up the screen window helplessly and couldn't sleep. I spilled fresh, and my cold sweat was sticky. Flash across the long pace of my heart? , meaning soft bias. If you don't argue, just bite the bullet and sit up, and whoever owes you will stay and sleep.
In the end, I was sleepy, and I was not sleepy when I was tired of swimming. Spring is bursting! I'm in the mood. That dream is not far away.