Wang Shifu

Wang Shifu

Wang Shifu (1260-1336), famous for his virtue, was born in Dadu (now Beijing), and his ancestral home is Dingxing (now Dingxing county), Baoding City, Hebei Province. He is a famous writer of Zaju in Yuan Dynasty and the author of Zaju xixianji.

Wang Shifu is as famous as Guan Hanqing, Bai Pu and Ma Zhiyuan. His works fully inherit the exquisite language art of Tang poetry and Song Ci, and absorb the lively oral language of the people in the Yuan Dynasty. He has created a brilliant vocabulary of Yuan opera, which has become an outstanding representative of the "literary talent school" in the history of Chinese opera.

He has written 14 kinds of zaju, and there are three kinds of zaju, including Xixiangji, lichuntang and broken kiln. The romance of the Western chamber is not only his masterpiece, but also one of the best works in Yuan Dynasty. The story of Liu yue'e and LV MENGZHENG in broken kiln is not written by Wang Shifu. In addition, there are two kinds of "selling tea boats" and "Furong Pavilion", each of which has a song and a discount.

Profile

Wang Shifu (about 1260-1336) was born in Dadu (today's Beijing City) and his ancestral home was Dingxing (today's Dingxing county), Baoding City, Hebei Province. He is a famous dramatist in Yuan Dynasty. Fourteen kinds of dramas are recorded. The extant Zaju include the romance of the west chamber, Lichun hall and so on. The romance of the Western chamber is based on the legend of Yingying in Tang Dynasty and Dong Jieyuan's Xixiangji zhugongdiao in Jin Dynasty. In the Zaju at that time, the title of "world champion" had a great influence on later generations.

He is the author of the drama romance of the west chamber. Tianyige's version of the book of recording ghosts called him Dexin. He is from Dingxing, Hebei Province. All the books of Lu GUI were listed in the list of "famous and talented people whose forefathers had died", probably from Jin Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty. According to the preface of Zhongyuan phonology written by Zhou Deqing of Yuan Dynasty, Wang Shifu died before the first year of TAIDING (1324). Jia Zhongming of the Ming Dynasty added the book of recording ghosts, in which there was a poem "Lingbo Fairy" hanging on Wang Shifu: "Fengyue camp is full of banners and banners, Yinghua village is full of swords and halberds, Cuihong township is brave and resourceful. The style of the composition chapter is beautiful, and the middle-class scholars are inferior. The new drama, the old legend, "the romance of the West Chamber" won the first place in the world "Fengyueying", "yinghuazhai" and "Cuihong township" all refer to the brothels, guildhalls and troupes where prostitutes lived in the Yuan Dynasty. Obviously, Wang Shifu was familiar with the lives of these prostitutes, so he was good at writing "children's customs" and other plays. According to the Ming and Chen dynasties, the Beigong CI Ji collected the divertimento of Shang Tiao Ji Xian bin Tui Yin, which was written by Wang Shifu. Among them, there are "six points in one hundred years, and several of them are from all over again". It can be seen that he had retired from office at the age of 60. But in the song, there are "the Yellow Pavilion in the world of mortals was ashamed in the past" and "Gao copied the master of Jinglun", so he once served as a senior official in the capital, which seems to be different from Wang Shifu, a dramatist.

In the Sanqu ShangDiao jixianbin and retiring collected by Wang Shifu in Beigong CI Ji, it is written: "thinking of the Yellow Pavilion in the world of mortals, I was ashamed in the past, but now I am white haired and green here", "Wang can, who is far away, old and quiet, has no ambition, knows the opportunity; Zhuang Zhou, who has no dream and sees the scenery", "I am afraid of the evil plot of wolves and tigers, so I don't speak when I meet someone, I only nod my head, don't swallow the hook when I see the bait, and copy high It can be seen that Wang Shifu was an official in his early years. His official career was not without ups and downs, and he retired in his later years. In the song, there are "Qiexi's body ascends Zhongshou" and "six points of one hundred years" in it. It can be inferred that he will live to be at least 60 years old. This Sanqu was also found in Yongxi Yuefu without signature. Therefore, academics have different views on who its author is.

Xixiangji is not only his masterpiece, but also one of the best works in Yuan Dynasty. At the end of the romance of the Western chamber, for the first time in the history of Chinese literature, it positively expresses the good wish that all lovers in the world will be married, expresses the progressive proposition against feudal ethics, feudal marriage system and feudal hierarchy system, and encourages young men and women to fight for the freedom of love and marriage.

Brief introduction

There are 13 kinds of Zaju by Wang Shifu. Today, there are three kinds of Songs: Cui Yingying waiting for the moon in the west chamber, LV MENGZHENG's story of breaking the kiln in the wind and snow, and four great kings singing and dancing in Lichun hall. Both Han Caiyun, silk and bamboo lotus Pavilion and Su Xiaoqing, a moonlit night peddler of tea boats, have lost songs. The remaining only names can be found in the book of recording ghosts, including Donghai County in gonggaomen, filial parents Mingda selling children, caozijian seven steps into a chapter, gifted scholars and beauties Duoyue Pavilion, Zhao Guangpu entering Meijian, shijiulichun garden, lujihuaiju, shuangjuyuan and jiaohongji.

There are different views on Wang Shifu's repertoire in the academic circles, either that Jiao Hong Ji is not the master of Wang's repertoire, or that Shi Jiu Li Chun Yuan is not Wang's work, or that today's "broken kiln Ji" is Guan Hanqing's work. In Ming and Qing Dynasties, Wang Shifu's descriptions and rumors of "monk Yueming Du Liucui" and "tiaogou Tiao Dao in Xiangyang mansion" were unreliable. In addition, since the Ming Dynasty, it is not believable that Wang Shifu was the successor of Guan Hanqing or Guan was the successor of Wang in Xixiangji.

Wang Shifu also has a small number of Sanqu, including one Xiaoling and three kinds of divertimento (including one incomplete set), which are scattered in Zhongyuan phonology, Yongxi Yuefu, Beigong CI Ji and Jiugong Dacheng. Among them, Xiaoling's Zhonglv December Guoyao folk song and bieqing are more distinctive, with beautiful Ci and euphemism, which are similar to the CI style of Xixiangji.

Among Wang Shifu's three kinds of zaju, the five volume and 21% discount of Xixiangji is not only his representative work, but also one of the best works in Yuan Dynasty.

Enjoy the Western Chamber

content validity

The earliest source of Xixiangji is the legendary novel yingyingzhuan written by Yuan Zhen in Tang Dynasty, but it is based on Xixiangji zhugongdiao by Dong Jieyuan in Jin Dynasty. It is similar to Dong Xixiang in plot, but it is further processed, developed and improved in every aspect, which makes the dramatic conflict more intense and the characters more distinctive, especially in psychological description, which is meticulous, accurate and fascinating. Romance of the west chamber is a bright star in Chinese classical opera. In Zhongyuan Yinyun, the third fold of the first book of Xixiangji was used as an example of "Dingge".

At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Jia Zhongming's Diao Qu (lingboxian) said that Wang Shifu wrote Ci poems with enviable charm and low rank among scholars. The new drama, the old legend, the romance of the Western chamber, the world champion. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Quan's Taihe zhengyinpu praised Wang Shifu's Ci poems as "beauty among flowers", "euphemistic narration, which was very interesting to poets" and "excellent sentences". It can be seen that his works were highly valued in the Yuan Dynasty and the yuan and Ming Dynasties, and the romance of the Western chamber was known as the "crown of Zaju" at that time.

Zhang Sheng met Cui Yingying, the prime minister's daughter in Pujiu temple. She fell in love at first sight, but had no plans to get close. When the rebel sun Feihu leads the soldiers to encircle the temple, he wants to force suoyingying to be the wife of the village. With the help of his friend general Baima, Zhang Sheng gets rid of the crisis by marrying Cui's mother. Unexpectedly, Cui's mother broke her promise to marry, and Zhang Sheng fell in love with each other. Yingying loves Zhang Sheng, but she doesn't want to express herself. After many twists and turns, with the help of Hongniang, Yingying finally meets Zhang Sheng in private. Aware of the signs, Cui's mother interrogates Hongniang, but is hit by Hongniang's words. She reluctantly agrees to the marriage, but on the grounds of her family status, she orders Zhang Sheng to go to Beijing immediately to take the exam. After seeing Zhang Sheng off at the ten mile long Pavilion, he went to Beijing to test for the number one scholar. Zheng Heng took the opportunity to make up a lie, saying that Zhang Sheng had married another in Beijing, and the old lady once again refused to marry Yingying to Zheng Heng. After Zhang Sheng came, Zheng Heng was killed and Cui and Zhang got married.

plot

It describes the story of the scholar Zhang Sheng meeting Cui Yingying, the daughter of Cui Xiangguo, in a temple. They fall in love. With the help of Hongniang, their maid, they finally break through the shackles of feudal ethics. Wang Shifu's Zaju the romance of the Western chamber has a distinct and profound theme of anti feudalism. The love story between Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying no longer stays in the mode of "gifted children and beautiful women", nor does it regard "the husband is the wife" as the ideal of marriage. They denied the traditional way of marriage in feudal society and always pursued sincere feelings. Love has been placed above fame and wealth. At the end of the romance of the Western chamber, for the first time in the history of Chinese literature, it positively expresses the good wish that all lovers in the world will be married, expresses the progressive proposition against feudal ethics, feudal marriage system and feudal hierarchy system, and encourages young men and women to fight for freedom of love and freedom of marriage. There are two clues to the dramatic conflict in the romance of the west chamber. One is the conflict between "old lady", the representative of feudal forces, and Cui Yingying, Zhang Sheng and Hongniang. This is a conflict between the feudal forces who maintain the feudal ethics and the rebels who oppose the feudal ethics and pursue the independence of marriage.

In addition, the romance of the west chamber has another clue of dramatic conflicts caused by the contradictions among Cui Yingying, Zhang Sheng and Hongniang. Although these conflicts are secondary, they are numerous and complicated. They are often intertwined with the main contradictions and interact with each other. They promote the development of the dramatic plot chain by chain and have a strong dramatic effect. This is exactly what makes the romance of the West Chamber amazing. There are not many characters in the romance of the west chamber, but many plays, and the plot is tortuous. The structure and scale of the romance of the west chamber is unprecedented in the history of Chinese drama. It breaks through the common practice of Yuan drama, and uses a long masterpiece to show a tortuous and moving complete love story. Therefore, it avoids the shortcomings of simplification of plot and patterning to a certain extent caused by the limitation of space in other Yuan zaju, and can unfold the plot and portray the characters with ease. This is a pioneering work of Wang Shifu. The most outstanding artistic achievement of the romance of the west chamber is the successful portrayal of vivid characters with different personalities. Wang Shifu is very good at accurately grasping the character's character characteristics according to the character's status, identity, education and the specific relationship between each other

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