Tang Xianzu’s appreciation of "Visiting the Garden" is as follows:
This song describes the aristocratic lady Du Liniang visiting the back garden of her home. She found that there were bright colors and reds accompanied by broken wells and broken walls. No one was enjoying them, and the beautiful scenery was empty. As time goes by, I feel surprised and regretful, expressing my sigh that the beautiful youth has been imprisoned and strangled. The language of the whole song is exquisite, and the music is written with the technique of lyrics. The lyricism, scenery and psychological activities of the characters are all delicate, vivid, truly touching, and flow with the beauty of elegant rhythm.
This libretto is the most famous piece of "The Peony Pavilion" and has been sung for a long time. The whole song is elegant yet subtle, sincere and swaying with the scenery, fully demonstrating Du Liniang's emotional flow when visiting the garden, and embodying the characteristics of the integration of emotion, scenery, drama and thought.
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Tang Xianzu was a Chinese dramatist and writer in the Ming Dynasty. Han nationality, native of Linchuan, Jiangxi. He served as doctor of Taichang Temple and director of the Ministry of Rites. Due to the impeachment of Shen Shixing, he was demoted to Xu Wendianshi. He was later transferred to the magistrate of Suichang County, Zhejiang Province. He was dismissed because he was not attached to the powerful, and he never served again.
In terms of opera creation, we are opposed to imitation of ancient times and rigidity in rhythm. His works include the legendary "The Peony Pavilion", "The Handan Chronicle", "The Nanke Chronicle" and "The Purple Hairpin Chronicle", collectively known as "Four Dreams in Yumingtang", of which "The Peony Pavilion" is the most famous. In the history of opera, he is as famous as Guan Hanqing and Wang Shifu, and plays an important role in the history of Chinese and even world literature.