''Canjunxi'' () or ''nongcanjun'' was a popular form of Chinese

performing art The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfor ...

during the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

(618–907),

Five Dynasties The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

(907–960), and

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

(960–1279) periods. Initially a comedy duet, ''canjunxi'' became more complex and by the late Tang dynasty featured a combination of music, dance, and storytelling.

Wang Guowei Wang Guowei (; 2 December 18772 June 1927) or Wang Kuo-wei, courtesy name Jing'an () or Boyu (), was a Chinese historian and poet. A versatile and original scholar, he made important contributions to the studies of ancient history, epigraphy, ph ...

(1877–1927) believed it to be a primitive precursor of

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

, while other scholars consider it to be more similar to certain forms of ''

quyi ''Quyi'' ("melodious art") and ''shuochang yishu'' ("speaking and singing art") are umbrella terms for over 300 regional genres of traditional Chinese oral performing arts. ''Quyi'' is distinguished from ''xiqu'' (Chinese opera) by its emphasis o ...

'', such as ''

xiangsheng Xiangsheng (), also known as crosstalk or comic dialogue, is a traditional performing art in Chinese comedy, and one of the most popular elements in Chinese culture. It is typically performed as a dialogue between two performers, or rarely as a ...

''.

Origin

According to a passage from ''Zhao Shu'' (; "Book of Zhao") quoted in the 983 book ''

Taiping Yulan The ''Taiping Yulan'', translated as the ''Imperial Reader'' or ''Readings of the Taiping Era'', is a massive Chinese ''leishu'' encyclopedia compiled by a team of scholars from 977 to 983. It was commissioned by the imperial court of the Song ...

'', ''canjunxi'' originated from the

Later Zhao The Later Zhao (; 319–351) was a dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms in northern China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity. The Jie were most likely a Yeniseian people and spoke next to Chinese one of the Yeniseian languages.Vov ...

dynasty (319–351) during the

Sixteen Kingdoms The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...

period. The adjutant () Zhou Yan () once embezzled several hundred bolts of official silk as the magistrate of

Guantao Guantao County () is a county of southern Hebei province, China, bordering Shandong's Guan County and Linqing to the east across the Wei Canal (). It is under the administration of Handan City, and has a population of 320,000 residing in an area ...

and ended up in prison. Later Zhao's emperor

Shi Le Shi Le (274–17 August 333), courtesy name Shilong, formally Emperor Ming of (Later) Zhao, was the founding emperor of the Jie-led Later Zhao dynasty of China. At a young age he was sold as a slave by Jin officials, but he later helped start a ...

pardoned him, but humiliated him whenever there was a gathering. At these banquets, Zhou had to wear yellow silk clothes and perform comedy duets with another entertainer. When asked what his title was, Zhou would flutter his clothes and reply "I was the magistrate of Guantao once, but have been reduced to your ranks after embezzling these!" as everyone laughed.Jin, p. 14. Another theory was that ''canjunxi'' originated from the

Eastern Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

period (25–220).

Style

Grave figures of ladies in waiting, dancers and musicians 3

The comedic ''canjunxi'' involved two performers, known as ''canjun'' ("adjutant") and ''canghu'' (). By the late

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, there was evidence that female performers had emerged, and that a new style might have been formed by incorporating features of ''gewuxi'' (, "a sort of narrative ballet in which the dancers sometimes spoke simple dialog") into ''canjunxi''.Jin, p. 15. Research on the 966 Japanese ''

gagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that was historically used for imperial court music and dances. was developed as court music of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and its near-current form was established in the Heian period (794-1185) around t ...

'' text ''Shinsen Gakufu'' (,

shinjitai are the simplified forms of kanji used in Japan since the promulgation of the Tōyō Kanji List in 1946. Some of the new forms found in ''shinjitai'' are also found in Simplified Chinese characters, but ''shinjitai'' is generally not as extensiv ...

: , "New Selections of Sheet Music") also suggests that ''canjunxi'' was closely related to a musical style called ''canjun'' and featured dancing, at least in the late-Tang period. The late-Tang play ''Lu Canjun'' () was the first known ''canjunxi'' which clearly told a story, that of

Lu Yu Lu Yu (; 733–804) or Lu Ji (陆疾), courtesy name Jici (季疵) was a Chinese tea master and writer. He is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He is best known for his monumental book ''The Classic of ...

(733–804), a tea master who was also once an entertainer. ''Canjunxi'' at some point evolved into early forms of

, possibly in the 12th century, becoming '' yuanben'' in the

Jin dynasty (1115–1234) The Jin dynasty (, ; ) or Jin State (; Jurchen: Anchun Gurun), officially known as the Great Jin (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 1115 and 1234. Its name is sometimes written as Kin, Jurchen Jin, Jinn, or Chin in ...

and ''

zaju ''Zaju'' was a form of Chinese opera which provided entertainment through a synthesis of recitations of prose and poetry, dance, singing, and mime, with a certain emphasis on comedy (or, happy endings). Although with diverse and earlier roots, ''za ...

'' in the

Southern Song The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. ...

dynasty (1127–1279).

References

* {{Chinese opera Tang dynasty culture Chinese storytelling Chinese comedy Chinese opera