''Chuanqi'' is a form 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 ...

popular in the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

(1368–1644) and early

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

(1636–1912). It emerged in the mid-Ming dynasty from the older form of '' nanxi''. As it spread throughout the empire, it absorbed regional music styles and

topolect Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of main ...

s and eventually evolved into different local genres, among them ''

kunqu Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. Kunqu is one of the oldest traditional operas of the Han nationality, and is also a treasure of Chinese traditional cult ...

''. Of the 2000 plus titles recorded in history, over 600 ''chuanqi'' plays are extant, including ''

The Peony Pavilion ''The Peony Pavilion'' ( zh, t=牡丹亭, s=牡丹亭, p=Mǔdān tíng, w=Mu-tan t'ing), also named ''The Return of Soul at the Peony Pavilion'', is a romantic tragicomedy play written by dramatist Tang Xianzu in 1598. The plot was drawn from the ...

'' by

Tang Xianzu Tang Xianzu (; September 24, 1550 – July 29, 1616), courtesy name Yireng (), was a Chinese playwright of the Ming Dynasty. Biography Tang was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi and his career as an official consisted principally of low-level ...

, ''

The Palace of Eternal Life ''The Palace of Eternal Life'' (), also translated as ''The Palace of Eternal Youth'', is a play written by Hong Sheng () in the Qing dynasty. He absorbed certain material from the long narrative poem '' The Song of Everlasting Sorrow'' writte ...

'' by Hong Sheng, and ''

The Peach Blossom Fan ''The Peach Blossom Fan'' () is a musical play and historical drama in 44 scenes that was completed in 1699 by the early Qing dynasty playwright Kong Shangren after more than 10 years of effort. The play depicts the drama that resulted in ...

'' by

Kong Shangren Kong Shangren (; 1648 – 1718) was a Qing dynasty dramatist and poet best known for his ''chuanqi (theatre), chuanqi'' play ''The Peach Blossom Fan''"Frommer's China", Simon Foster et al., 2010, p. 383, about the last days of the Ming dynasty. ...

Music

Whereas its precursor '' nanxi'' predominantly used southern Chinese tunes, which were

pentatonic A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancie ...

melismatic Melisma ( grc-gre, μέλισμα, , ; from grc, , melos, song, melody, label=none, plural: ''melismata'') is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referr ...

, slow and soft, ''chuanqi'' widely incorporated northern tunes which were

heptatonic A heptatonic scale is a musical scale that has seven pitches, or tones, per octave. Examples include the major scale or minor scale; e.g., in C major: C D E F G A B C—and in the relative minor, A minor, natural minor: A B C D E F G A; the m ...

, syllabic, fast and forceful. This process had begun in the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

(1271–1368), which reunified northern China (the former

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 southern China (the former

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an 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. The Song conquered the rest ...

(960–1279)), as ''nanxi'' increasingly absorbed the northern tunes of ''

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 ...

'', a northern Chinese opera form. After ''chuanqi'' came into being in the middle of the

, its popularity spread throughout the various areas of China, each with its distinct traditional musical style and

. Over time, four major sub-genres (or "singing styles" 唱腔) were recognized: ''haiyanqiang'' (" Haiyan style"), ''yuyaoqiang'' ("

Yuyao Yuyao () is a county-level city in the northeast of Zhejiang province, China. It is under the jurisdiction of the sub-provincial city of Ningbo. It is located west of central Ningbo, east of Hangzhou, bordering Hangzhou Bay in the north. Yuyao ...

style"), ''yiyangqiang'' ("

Yiyang Yiyang () is a prefecture-level city on the Zi River in Hunan province, China, straddling Lake Dongting and bordering Hubei to the north. According to the 2010 Census, Yiyang has a population of 4,313,084 inhabitants residing in an area of . The ...

style"), and ''kunshanqiang'' ("

Kunshan Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. Name There is a strong pos ...

style", later known as ''

''). ''Haiyanqiang'' and ''yuyaoqiang'' did not last long; ''yiyangqiang'' evolved into a large variety of regional forms and disappeared as a genre in the process; while ''kunqu'' became the standard genre in the

Role type

''Chuanqi'' used 12 major role types: *'' Sheng'': male lead *'' Xiaosheng'': young male *''

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

'': female lead *'' Laodan'': old female *''Xiaodan'' (小旦): young female *'' Chou'': clown *'' Jing'': comic *''Zhongjing'' (中淨): secondary comic *''Mo'' (末): Secondary male *''Wai'' (外): Secondary female *''Tie'' (貼): Secondary young female *''Za'' (雜): Extra

Play structure

Unlike ''nanxi'' plays, ''chuanqi'' plays are divided into ''chu'' (齣), or acts, each with a subtitle. The four-line poem which appears before the prologue in ''nanxi'' is placed at the end of the first ''chu'' in ''chuanqi''.

References

{{Chinese opera Chinese opera Ming dynasty art Ming dynasty literature