So, how did the ancients sing Yuanqu? There are two kinds of Yuanqu: Sanqu and Opera.
Sanqu is divided into poems and collections. There is only one song called poem, and many songs are called collection number. The so-called one tune is the lyrics under one tune, and the so-called multi-tune is the lyrics under the same palace tune. There are as many tunes as there are. Qupai rules the rhythm of lyrics creation, and Gongdiao rules the way of singing songs. Sanqu is an independent poetic genre, which is only suitable for oratorio performances.
The opera in Yuan Qu is a zaju, a kind of stage play. The biggest difference between zaju and Sanqu is that the former has a complete story with characters and plots, while the latter is just a simple lyric poem.
The general rule of zaju is "four folds and one wedge", which is the most common script structure form of Yuan Zaju.
"One fold" is equivalent to a modern "scene". "Wedge" refers to the fact that before the whole performance, or between folds, clowns usually come out to introduce the plot, or make antics and wisecracks to fill the gap when changing scenes behind the scenes.
A few works also have a 50% discount, and some use two wedges.
Usually, a book is a drama, and individual dramas with long plots can be written into many books, such as Wang Shifu's The West Chamber, just like a modern series.
Only one protagonist in a play has lyrics, and the hero (whose role is Mei Zheng) or the heroine (whose role is Zheng Dan) sings solo. The former is called the last play, the latter is called Danben play, and the other supporting actors generally only have lines.
Yuan Zaju symbolizes the maturity of China's ancient operas! The classification of roles in Yuan Zaju is very clear, which can be divided into Dan, Mei, Jing and Za. Dan includes Zheng Dan, Waidan, Xiao Dan, Dadan, Lao Dan and Chadan. Zheng Dan is the leading actress, and all the other actresses are supporting roles.
The ending includes the ending, ending, ending, ending, ending, ending. The end of the play is the leading actor, and the other ends are secondary actors. They are all comedy characters with low status, and they are all actors outside the above three categories. In addition, there are loneliness (the role of an official), expulsion (the role of an emperor), Boer (the role of an old woman), Lai Er (the role of a little servant), Zi Shu (the role of a scholar) and so on.
The script also marked "Bai Bin" and "Ke Jie" for the actors' performances. Bai Bin is equivalent to "pour white" or "pour white" in modern opera, also called lines. Bai Bin includes two types. Bin is a dialogue between two or more people, while Bai is a monologue of one person, that is, talking to himself. Jack, also known as Ke Fan, Jack and J.J., refers to the explanation of performances other than singing, one is the explanation of characters' movements, the other is the explanation of characters' expressions, the third is the explanation of martial arts movements, and the fourth is the explanation of song and dance movements interspersed in the play.
Summary: Simply put, Sanqu in Yuanqu is like a solo on the modern stage, while Zaju is like a traditional opera performance in a theater, each with its own special rules of singing and performance.