On a bamboo-and-plank stage at a riverside village, a scholar and a lady stand as a pair, a flute player and a drummer at the side, reeds and water in the foreground.
Southern Drama
Song and Yuan southern drama, such as Zhang Xie zhuangyuan and Pipa ji
Introduction
Southern drama (nanxi) arose in the Wenzhou area at about the time the Song court moved south, and it is also called Yongjia zaju or Wenzhou zaju. Its scenes are called chu, their number is not fixed, and it is not bound to set musical modes; among the role types, the sheng, dan, jing, chou and mo, both leading and supporting roles may sing, in solos, relays, duets and choruses. Jingchai ji, Liu Zhiyuan baitu ji, Baiyue ting and Shagou ji were popular in the late Yuan and early Ming, and Gao Ming wrote Pipa ji. In the Jiajing years of the Ming, Wei Liangfu reformed the Kunshan style of singing; chuanqi grew out of southern drama and later gradually replaced it.