User:Wudi1106/sandbox

SID 470281914

Seminar Leader: Tom

Article Title:

Western Drama and Chinese Opera : treasure of old era

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Wudi1106/sandbox

Associated WikiProjects:  WikiProject Opera/Online research

Abstract

As the the epitome of eastern and western civilization, there are many distinctions between Ancient Greek Drama and Chinese Opera. First of all, the themes of Ancient Greek Drama are mostly politics, ethics, conflicts and struggles with the fate, while Chinese Opera is mostly based on the reality of the life, reflecting the contradicions among people at different levels of the society. This comparison is a mirror of different civilizations, which are maritime civilization and agriculture civilization respectively. Besides, Ancient Greek Drama is more like a type of theater, whereas Chinese Opera is more like a kind of music, so obviously the performance forms are far apart. Although there are many differences between these two art forms, with the development of the time, the intercultural communication between east and west promote the transimission and aesthetic interflow so that some wonderful collisions happened between Ancient Greek Drama and Chinese Opera. The drama of Shakespeare was adapted into Chinese opera in over twenty genres of forms. Adapted Hamlet has become one of the most influential foreign plays in peking opera, and its influence in Yue opera {{see also| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_opera)is the same. Moreover, some of the chinese theater in the United States has also evolved from chinese artist into chinese-american immigrants, which is another manifestation of cultral integration. At the same time, cultral exchange has many advantages, one of which is that it has changed the situation of declining audience in both drama and opera by bringing in new forms or content. This form of communication has given new life to traditional culture meanwhile foreign culture has also attracted the interest of domestic people.

Infobox

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 * name              = Western Drama and Chinese Opera : treasure of old era


 * composer       = Steven Wu


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 * language          =  English

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titles of sections

- diverse themes

- started articles

- performing form

- cultural exchange

- development

- references

1.diverse theme

Ruihui Han,2004, The differences and reasons of Religious influences on chinese and western dramas, Asian Culture and History; Vol. 6, No. 2; 2014

This article is more about western drama, which shows that the themes of the drama always tend to be related to religions. The quther describes that abstinence is advocated by both Buddhism and Cristianity, but there is a significant difference between them, which is that Buddhism emphasizes people's integration into the  real life, but BuddhismChristianity does the opposite. So Western Drama is full of the transcendence and get rid of the mundane life. Apart from this, the article also takes the description of ghost as an example to verify the diverse themes. In Chinese drama, the ghosts would always be involved in the real world, but the in the western drama, one rarely finds that a ghost returns to the true world under the influence of Christianity. So it can be concluded that different believes of religious make quite other color and seek for the truth separately, which both will be reflected  in each theme. ( ...used in theme section of wikipedia)

2. started articles

The Musical Quarterly. The Musical Quarterly is the oldest academic journal on music in the United States and also is one of the most essential one. (source: Ramsey, Guthrey P., Jr. (Spring 1996). "Cosmopolitan or Provincial?: Ideology in Early Black Music Historiography, 1867–1940". Black Music Research Journal. 16 (1): 21)

The Minstrel.The Minstrel was an influential French music journal published weekly from 1833 until 1940. Although it is no longer published, it still has a great influence of western daram and is one of the best sources for us to learn about the history of western drama.(source:the journals are available via Gallica)

Historical Dictionary of Chinese Theater. This is a book written by  Tan Ye and was published in the America. A lot of basic knowledge about Chinese opera is introduced in this book, therefore it is highly recommended as an introductory book.(source:  Tan Ye (2008). Historical Dictionary of Chinese Theater. Scarecrow Press. p. 336.) (Used to implement the started articles section of Wikipedia)

3. performing form

Lindy LI Mark, 2014,'chinese opera : song and music, Ethnomusicology', Vol. 5, No. 2 (May, 1961), pp. 138-139

Harrop, Stephe. "Physical Performance and the Languages of Translation." Theorising Performance: Greek Drama, Cultural History and Critical Practice. Ed. Edith Hall and Stephe Harrop. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010. 232–240.

Wang-Ngai, Siu, and Peter Lovrick. Chinese Opera: The Actor's Craft. Hong Kong University Press, 2014. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7zsx31.

Lindy Li Mark explained that Chinese Opera includes variable musical styles in different regins. She used Chinese Opera: songs and music (Folkways FW8880) as an example. The music in the opera is caused by a changing intonation, shouting in the rhythm meter with percussion punctuation. The use of nasal is also different from European tremolo function. Chinese Opera changed from a sort of action performance to more expressive music. Mr. Xiao's article states that Chinese opera uses high-pitched falsetto, jingle gongs and some strange props as the stage language. In addition, focusing on the actors themselves rather than familiar stories,which causes that actors' movements, facial paintings, dialects and costumes can all help audiences appreciate Chinese opera.(Used to implement the table section of Wikipedia)

In contrast, Harrop mentioned that a key aspect of theatrical performance is more physical experience, at the same time the actor's performance is an important means of communicating and explaining to the audience. Moreover Harrop also introduces that  some of the major challenges that the contemporary actors are facing is how to apply the method of Greek tragedy into the actor training and the ways in which such perspectives appear to endorse acting approaches drawn from Stanislavski’s early pedagogy. Of course, the surviving texts of Greek tragedy, which is understood in the relation to the early performance culture, potentially offered a much richer and more easier way for current actors. (Used to implement the table section of Wikipedia)

Meanwhile, Siu Wang-Ngai explained that how chinese opera sloves theatrical problems in her book. People realize that watching a Chinese opera requires more than just knowing the story, which they can easily get from reading a plot synopsis or following subtitles. So relying on mime, or pure stage movement, to indicate physical realities is one of the primary solutions that Chinese opera developed for theatrical problems. The Chinese theatrical solution is not to present the real things themselves but instead to evoke them through what were most associated with the real world. Besides of that, there is another interesting example. The Sichuan opera is famous for its tales of the fantastic. Ghosts, demons, and fairies share the stage with emperors, beauties, and heroes. At the same time, it even has a special role type for female ghosts and fox spirits. The Sichuan opera makes full use of all the special skills to tell these stories. One of the most famous of these is face changing. Audiences are shocked to see an actor or actress changing his face in the blink of an eye. These metamorphoses show that emotions like sudden terror, or extremely angry or very happy or some other mood.(Used to implement the table section of Wikipedia)

4. cultural exchange

He, C. Neohelicon (2011) 38: 397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-011-0104-y

Wu, Hui.Shakespeare in Southern Africa; Grahamstown, South Africa Vol. 20, (2008): 1-12.

Cecilia J. Pang, (re)cycling culture: Chinese Opera in the united states, Comparative Drama, Volume 39, Numbers 3, 4, Fall 2005-06, pp. 361-396.

This source provides some resultful viewpoints to Chinese Opera that is developing in the United States. In the view of the development of the history of Chinese Opera in the United States, there are several main sections. From cultural nurturers : Hong Took Tong to cultural ambassador: Mei Lanfang, this development has gone through several different stages, and there have been many rapid progresses. With the rise of opera company, america's multiculturalism was expanded dramaticaly in the21st century. Besides, in contemporary China, the adaptations and performances of Western plays have played an important role within and without theatre. In those intercultural adaptations, Western plays are translated, appropriated and staged by interweaving Chinese and Western performing cultures. So far, the adaptations of Western plays have brought about transformative effects on both the Western playwrights and Chinese theatre. Compared with the early ones, contemporary adaptations of Western plays have acquired some new characteristics.

The second report is used to indicate that the cross-cultural adaptations are profitable for chinese culture, especially in the revitalization of chinese drama and culture.

a.     Biliingual performance is a fancy way to chinese spectators, such as Romeo and ZhuYingtai(2008) in French, Japanese, English, and mandarin chinese.This novel form can attract more young Chinese audiences, which is very beneficial to the development of the industry, and it can also be applied to other cultural forms.

b.      Chinese adaptions of western plays. Back to the old era, Shakespeare' drama is a precedent of adaption, shakespeare's ' human right, reason and individual abilities' bears an uncanny resemblance to chinese culture. Chinese actors use ‘face-changing’ in the adapted production, which also express the volatility of human nature. In this context, old art is endowed with fresh value and inspired new vitality. The change of language, the shift of artistic form, the update of media all enrich culture and broaden audience's horizons. (used in cultrue exchange and benefit section of wikipedia)

The third article indicates that the development of Chinese opera culture in the United States among the 200 years.Chinese opera has been the essential and supreme expression of Chinese culture, and audiences all over the world have enjoyed its lavish concoction of colorful costumes, painterly visages, melodious music, and titillating acrobatics. The writer also summarize that there are four major phases in the history of Chinese opera in the United States. The first state was initiated by the arrival of HongTookTong, who, as cultural nurturers,provided entertainment for the Chinese immigrants far awayf rom home in the 1850s.Second was the visit of Lanfang Mei, who acted as a cultural ambassador and introduced Chinese opera to the American audience in the 1930s. Third was the influx of Hong Kong kungfu stars such as Jackie Chan and Yuenwo Ping,who penetrated the American screen in the 1980s and 1990s with their hybrid cultural acts. Last is the rise of the Qi Shu Fang Peking Opera Company, which has been steadily carving a niche and contributing to the diverse culture of America in the twenty-first century. These are very helpful for studying the cultural exchange between China and the West.

5. development

Yang Xiaona,Hao Yanfang.2009.Journal of Qiqihar Junior Teachers’ College.

This article notes that chinese traditional dramatic has had a glorious history. However, entering the 1980s,it has shown a declining trend.The de-velopment history of Chinese traditional dramatic tells us that the stale contents and rigid patterns are main reasons for the decline of tra-ditional dramatic in modern times.In the face of the reality of traditional dramatic’s decline,we should combine the law of Chinese dra-matic’s development and the modern cultural environments to explore the prospects of the development of dramatic.On the one hand,to keep the essence of traditional dramatic,we should make it as a unique ethnic art from generation to generation;On the other hand,to catch up with the times,we should develop newstyles of Chinese traditional dramatic,which is the exact way of the future development of traditional dramatic.Besides, this article also recall dramatic decline after chinese the Great Cultural Revolution, about 5 percent of viewers leave away from opera. A a large number of elements that influence the drama and opera, like pop culture, electronic music,etc.

References

[1]. Ruihui Han,2004, The differences and reasons of Religious influences on chinese and western dramas, Asian Culture and History; Vol. 6, No. 2; 2014.

[2]. Ramsey, Guthrey P., Jr. (Spring 1996). "Cosmopolitan or Provincial?: Ideology in Early Black Music Historiography, 1867–1940". Black Music Research Journal. 16 (1): 21.

[3].Tan Ye (2008). Historical Dictionary of Chinese Theater. Scarecrow Press. p. 336.

[4].Lindy LI Mark, 2014,'chinese opera : song and music, Ethnomusicology', Vol. 5, No. 2 (May, 1961), pp. 138-139.

[5]. Harrop, Stephe. "Physical Performance and the Languages of Translation." Theorising Performance: Greek Drama, Cultural History and Critical Practice. Ed. Edith Hall and Stephe Harrop. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010. 232–240.

[6]. Wang-Ngai, Siu, and Peter Lovrick. Chinese Opera: The Actor's Craft. Hong Kong University Press, 2014. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7zsx31.

[7]. He, C. Neohelicon (2011) 38: 397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-011-0104-y

[8]. Wu, Hui.Shakespeare in Southern Africa; Grahamstown, South Africa Vol. 20,  (2008): 1-12.

[9]. Cecilia J. Pang, (re)cycling culture: Chinese Opera in the united states, Comparative Drama, Volume 39, Numbers 3, 4, Fall 2005-06, pp. 361-396.

[10]. Yang Xiaona,Hao Yanfang.2009.Journal of Qiqihar Junior Teachers’ College.

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| title = History of Western theatre


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 * group1 = Greek (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_ancient_Greece)


 * group2 = Roman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_ancient_Rome)


 * group3 = English Renaissance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Renaissance_theatre)


 * group4 = Spanish Golden Age (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Golden_Age#Lope_de_Vega_and_Spanish_drama)

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