What Did Yuan Dynasty Writers Create in the Vernacular Songs - Article Example

157726 Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) ruled China during the glorious days of Khans. It followed the Song Dynasty and preceded the Ming dynasty. It was established by ethnic Mongols which included Genghis Khan and his famous grandson Kublai Khan. Those were the days of Chinese resentment against the invader rulers, even though the rulers were the military might of those days and China was secure under them. To their credit, it must be mentioned that even though they did not make any overt or covert encouragement for the art forms to flourish, they did not forbid the culture from flourishing under their rule. Poetry during the rule of Yuan Dynasty had writers like Jin-Yuan, Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan. They wrote San-qu, the vernacular songs with tonal patterns from folk music, similar to Short Lyrics of Xiao-ling, and these could be beautifully sung with the melody. It included various types that accommodated acting, rhythmic singing, dancing, performance, and had a colloquial and lively style, that was extremely attractive and jovial. In those days scholars were not highly appreciated and their status was inferior to that of artisans and Buddhist monks, akin to beggars and prostitutes. Mongols discriminated the poets and intellectuals1, who suffered humiliation and poverty in the absence of royal recognition and intellectual respect. They lived as recluses marginalised by the main society, with hardly any financial or social benefits. Even though cities were powerful, administration was in the hands of a chosen few and government was more interested in military conquests than in sensitive arts. Intellectuals suffered under the unimaginative and rude policies. Even though they were highly educated and eminently suitable for administration, they were not encouraged to do so, and even a few who were in it were persecuted in one way or other and poured their aspirations and grievances in creating touching poetry. Origin of Yuan San-qu was necessary because Lyrics of Song Dynasty had lost its lustre and new needs of expression was important in Qu which was giving a direct word meaning and hence, had direct effect on common people. More melodious song tunes came from non-Chinese tunes composed by poet-musicians of the time and Yuan list renders 335 qu tunes that became very popular even in rural China. But during the rule of Yuan, the Southern Sung urban culture remained the same. Administration abolished Civil Service Examinations and introduced new interests and pursuits into the society and cosmopolitanism flourished in the capital city. Yuan dynasty did not stop intellectual growth, but remained placid throughout. Art forms evolved in society and flourished as they were not forbidden and here remains the greatness of Yuan emperors. Counter culture of eroticism, modernity, literary commodity followed one another in quick succession and it was the golden era of the theatre, drama and vernacular songs. These songs are written in uneven lengths, a far cry from the rigid lines of equal lengths of Song Dynasty's initial poems and some of them are so uneven that it hit the eye. Stephen Owen (1996) is of the opinion that ci lyrics were bound by strict prosodic rules and syllable counts. He claims that chenzi 'padding characters' or 'extrametrica syllables' were important characteristics, and these songs saw more colloquial or traditional phrases, touching people immediately. It was appreciated by a wider audience of ordinary people and upper class included, being a combination of noble poetical heritage and some appealingly popular vernacular vulgarity, which everybody appreciated. Its rhyming was dense, strong, powerful but flexible and these characters made it very natural and brought poetry out of earlier rigid conventions. Yuan drama, Zaju, variety plays were more entertaining to common folk and were like market plays for casual entertainment of passing-by crowd. It fascinated all having powerful themes of emotional affect, were set to stirring music and were considered to be leaning on non-Chinese mode of entertainment. Still, there is no doubt that it was appreciated by common Chinese. It was the drama of consciousness and was a perfect blend of seriousness and endearment. These dramas were an amalgamation of various types of arts and were mature, unique creations appealing to low and high classes of society of the day. One of the major exponents was Ma Zhi-yuan, who was born in Dadu (present Beijing), in 1270 and proceeded to become a brilliant poet and playwright. He popularised the vernacular songs with the intention of entertaining public with black humour and unadulterated sadness through both comedy and tragedy. Seven of his plays still survive including Hangong Qiu. Guan Hanqing also born in Dadu in 1241, created a style called Zhaisou. He was a Jin loyalist and playwright of great inspirational enthusiasm. Though accused of being a wild pleasure-seeker, he relentlessly worked with folk artists, acted himself on stage and exposed realities of society and unfailingly articulated common people's sufferings. Through his writings he achieved a lot and encouraged people to voice their unhappiness and fight against oppression. Most of his acting went to drive home this purpose. He was unhappy with the problems plaguing the society. To him goes the credit of creating courageous, rebellious, just, characters that spoke folk language and were closer to the daily common life. He produced 65 plays out of which 14 survive today and he succeeded in creating highly unrealistic plots and somehow managed succeeded in entertaining his audience, because the plots were highly dynamic, combined with erotic love and jocular mirth. Even today hundreds of zaju2 texts are preserved with old and new themes and they are evidences of love, war, devotion to learning and pursuit of intellectuality and religious adherence of those days. Characters included and were highlighted by witty, virtuous but bold high-born women and vibrantly alive seductive courtesans, maidservants who were secretive, but very much part of the theme. Saintly and ethical hermits compete for attention with wicked monks of sinister intentions. Characterisation here touches an all-time high. Yuan Variety Plays were based on vernacular music and the main story unfolded immediately after a short prelude and story had well-ordained four acts. Singing was the main way of expression and recitation was full of funny remarks intended to make audience laugh and they did succeed. San-qu could be compared to modern opera and main leads used to hold goblet and lotus while singing a song on natural elements. The dramatic lyrics of Chinese poetic genre started with Jin-Yuan and continued till Ming Dynasty's coming into power. The musical modes and dramatic lyrics are supposed to have exhibited the high energy and frustration of Chinese literati of the time. They enjoyed social milieu and today it forms a part of Chinese classical literature. Even though the intellectuals and artists did not have a field day of unlimited encouragement of the royal court, Yuan dynasty had nothing against any art forms. When Kublai Khan came to power, he dropped other pretensions of holding rest of Asia, and concentrated only on being the Emperor of China and naturally he was interested in the intellectual and other kinds of wellbeing of Chinese people and this is evidenced by the increasing popularity of Sanqu during the Yuan rule. Sanqu still remains one of the nicest forms of music, dance and opera in Chinese classical art forms. Its being reflection of the society of the day earns its greatest tribute. After centuries, it is doubtful if such free theatre exists in China today. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Stephan Owen, An Anthology of Chinese Literature Beginning to 1911, W.W Norton & Company, 1996 (Please type here the name of the city where the book was printed and published). ONLINE SOURCES: 1. http://www.china-holiday.com/china/chinainfo/yuandrama.htm 2. http://www.answers.com/topic/yuan-dynasty-1 3. Read More