MUZI MUZIChinese Matrix

Yuan Zaju

The stage of Guan Hanqing and his peers

Introduction

Yuan-era northern drama of four acts and a single lead singer

Yuan zaju was the northern-music drama that flourished in the Yuan dynasty. Growing out of Song and Jin variety plays, yuanben skits and zhugongdiao ballads, it became a mature theatre form under the Yuan. A play usually has four acts, sometimes with one or two wedge interludes; each act sets one suite of northern songs in a single mode, sung by one lead role, male or female, while the others mainly speak. Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan, Zheng Guangzu and Bai Pu are known as the four masters of Yuan drama, with works such as The Injustice to Dou E, Autumn in the Han Palace and Rain on the Paulownia Tree, while Wang Shifu's Romance of the Western Chamber runs far beyond the usual length. After the Yuan, zaju declined in the Ming under southern influence, and by the Qing it was mostly read rather than staged.

Representative works

  1. The Injustice to Dou EGuan Hanqing's Yuan zaju in a prologue and four acts, on Dou E's wrongful sentence and her three dying vows
  2. Romance of the Western ChamberWang Shifu's Yuan zaju in five parts and twenty-one acts, telling how Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying come to marry
  3. Autumn in the Han PalaceMa Zhiyuan's Yuan zaju sung by Emperor Yuan's role, ending in his longing at a lone goose's cry
  4. The Orphan of ZhaoJi Junxiang's Yuan zaju of Cheng Ying's sacrifice for the Zhao orphan, the first Chinese play in a European language
  5. The Single-Sword MeetingGuan Hanqing's Yuan zaju in four acts, sung in turn by Qiao Gong, Sima Hui and Lord Guan himself
  6. Rescuing a Sister from the Wind and DustGuan Hanqing's Yuan zaju comedy in which Zhao Pan'er tricks a divorce letter out of Zhou She to free Song Yinzhang
  7. Rain on the Paulownia TreeBai Pu's Yuan zaju in a prologue and four acts, ending with Emperor Xuanzong woken by rain on the paulownia
  8. On the Wall and on HorsebackBai Pu's Yuan zaju, sung throughout by Li Qianjin, on a meeting over a wall and seven years of hidden marriage
  9. The Soul of Qiannü Leaves Her BodyZheng Guangzu's Yuan zaju from a Tang tale, in which Qiannü's spirit leaves her body to follow Wang Wenju to the capital

Timeline

Yuan dynasty (c. 1260-1368)
1260 · OriginIn the early Yuan, building on Song-Jin variety plays, yuanben and zhugongdiao, zaju settled into its northern-music form of four acts, wedges and a single lead singer.1290 · ImpactIn Dadu Guan Hanqing wrote The Injustice to Dou E and other plays; with Wang Shifu, Ma Zhiyuan and Bai Pu he marked the high point of Yuan zaju writing.1400 · EvolutionIn the Ming, northern zaju came under southern-music influence, turned into southern zaju, and gave up its leading place to nanxi and chuanqi.
  1. 1260OriginIn the early Yuan, building on Song-Jin variety plays, yuanben and zhugongdiao, zaju settled into its northern-music form of four acts, wedges and a single lead singer.
  2. 1290ImpactIn Dadu Guan Hanqing wrote The Injustice to Dou E and other plays; with Wang Shifu, Ma Zhiyuan and Bai Pu he marked the high point of Yuan zaju writing.Literature › The Injustice to Dou E
  3. 1400EvolutionIn the Ming, northern zaju came under southern-music influence, turned into southern zaju, and gave up its leading place to nanxi and chuanqi.