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The roots of Jingju and music-dramas reach far back into the history of China, for as early as the Zhou dynasty (1100–221bc),recordsofritualdanceexist.Dancing was used in ceremonies and festive events, and was often embellished with spoken words and musical accompaniment . The integration of these performance elements found in ancient dance continues on as the essence of Chinese indigenous theatre. Succeeding dynasties saw the addition of other significant components of performance that contributed to the foundations of traditional Jingju. During the Tang dynasty (618–907), considered a pinnacle of classical arts, taste, and style in Chinese history, the Pear Orchard Academy for music and drama training was formed under Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–756) (also known as Minghuang), and for this act he has long been considered one of the early patrons of theatrical performing arts. Although the focus of the Academy was to cultivate entertainers , primarily musicians, from among the women and children of the palace, the conservatory is generally acknowledged as having contributed to the development of theatre.1 The Song dynasty (960–1279) saw the rise of nanxi (southern drama), which found popularity in the Southern Song court in Hangzhou.2 The division of characters into role categories developed during this period, including the ancestors of the four main roles used in contemporary Jingju: the sheng (standard male characters), the dan (female characters), the jing (largerthan -life comic or villain characters), and the chou (smaller-than-life comic characters). A fully recognized theatre form, zaju (lit. “variety drama”), emerged during and was patronized by the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). The Mongols initially abolished the civil service exams, which by the Song had become the main avenue to governmental positions. As a consequence, prospective candidates who were well versed in classical literature and the writing of poetry no longer had an outlet for their talents. Instead, many scholars think, these individuals turned to playwriting, thereby contributing a key aspect, the plays themselves, to complete the theatrical form, in what some consider the Golden Age of Chinese dramatic literature. With the establishment of the Ming dynasty (1368– 1644), China was once again ruled by the ethnic Han majority. Zaju began to be written by literati and performed at court, as well as receiving popular support. With the input of literati playwrights, nanxi, the fairly crude earliest form of southern drama, developed into the more refined and elaborate chuanqi (lit. “transmit the strange”), and also won the patronage of the court. These plays were performed according to a variety of local musical systems that competed with each other. The sixteenth century saw the development of Kunqu (lit. “songs of Kunshan”). Based on a local tradition but borrowingelementsfromoutsidethattradition,Kunqu emergedasthenational,classicaldramaticform,patronized by the court and most literati. Credit for the development of its musical system is given to Wei Liang-fu ) TheWorldof TraditionalJingju 2 @ the wor ld of tr a ditiona l jingju (c.1522–1573),amusicianandperformer.Beautifulmelodiesandclassicallanguagewerecombinedwithgraceful movements to create the Kunqu performance style. The literary element was also a key component in Kunqu, and the plays were valued for the quality of the writing in addition to being a basis for performance. Liang Chenyu (c. 1520–1594) was the first successful Kunqu playwright, and as the form grewin popularity, scholars became more involved in playwriting than ever before. Also during the Ming dynasty, the system of painting faces, using patterns and colors to express the character , flourished, and this contributed yet another aspect of performance that has descended to contemporary Jingju. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), the Qianlong emperor, who reigned from 1736–1796, was an admirer of theatre performance. When his eightieth birthday was celebrated in 1790, performing companies from nearby provinces gathered in the capital city of Beijing to participate in the festivities and pay homage to the emperor. The best of the troupes from Anhui province enjoyed great success in the capital, so other troupes performing in the Anhui style came to Beijing as well, where they interacted with performers from other regions , particularly Hubei and Shanxi. The combination of their talents and regional styles, along with the traditions of Kunqu, the aristocratic Ming theatre, formed the basis for a new theatre form, that of Beijing. The emerging form was called pihuang, a combination of the names for the two principal modes of music incorporated into the new style, xipi, a modal system from Hubei province, and erhuang, a modal system from Anhui province. As the form developed and spread to...

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