Nurtured Folk Arts
The bud of Chinese theater appeared long ago, but the days of its blossoming and bearing fruit came fairly late. As compared with Europe, Chinese theater has a short history, but due to its long preparation period, it has been complete and natural since its birth. European theater was the outcome of the slave system in ancient times, while Chinese theater (including the embryonic stage)strode across two historical development stages. In a word, Chinese theater was the product of feudal society, and first flourished in the later period of feudal society-the Song (960- 1279), Kin (1115-1234) and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties. The general style and artistic characteristics of Chinese theater were molded by the country's deep-seated national and folk art traditions, especially ancient songs and dances, and the technique of alternating dialogue and songs.
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| The Maturing of Chinese Theater
Chinese theater finally came to maturity during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), after a long period of gestation, with the appearance of the drama TOP Scholar Zhang Xie.
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| The Actor Meng in Costume
During the Spring and Autumn period (722-481 BC), imperial musicians (known as you) were the Successors of the ancient witches and wizards. These musicians performed songs, dances, comedies, music and acrobatics for the emperors, rather than for the gods. Comedians were called paiyou and musicians were called lingyou.
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| Ancient Songs and Dances
Many ancient cultural relics and documents record that at festivals and on other happy occasions, our ancestors sang and danced to imitate food gathering, hunting, fishing, farming, war and herding. Songs and dances also had the themes of love between men and women, and the worship of heaven, earth, gods and totems.
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| The Horn-Locking Play
In the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) there appeared Baixi (also known as Sanyue, or folk music, a counterpart of Yayue, or elegant music, performed in the imperial palace.) In fact Baixi referred to the combination of folk songs, dances, acrobatics, martial arts and magic.
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| Acting Like a God or a Ghost - Exorcism
In the beginning, all songs and dances were performed collectively But as time went by, specialists in singing or dancing emerged. Women singers and dancers were called witches, and men singers and dancers, wizards.
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| Speaking and Singing Arts
Chinese theater is a comprehensive mixture of stage arts, combining poems, songs, music, dances and fine arts into one. This comprehensive art form is not cobbled together haphazardly, but assembled in an orderly way.
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