A History of Chinese Theatre in the 20th Century II

Fu Jin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780429825583
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art General

The 20th century was a dynamic period for the theatrical arts in China. Booming urban theatres, the interaction between commercial practice and theatre, dramas staged during the War of Resistance against Japan and a healthy dialogue between Western and Eastern theatres all contributed to the momentousness of this period. The four volumes of A History of Chinese Theatre in the 20th Century display the developmental trajectories of Chinese theatre over those 100 years.This volume deals with the development of Chinese theatre from 1949 to 2000, covering the fluctuations of 'drama reform', spectacles of the 'Cultural Revolution', and theatre in the immediate years before the opening up of the country. The author demonstrates how Chinese dramatic traditions endured and adapted in the face of modernity and how politics and art interacted.By combining academic rigour with a high degree of readability, this volume is both an essential guide for scholars and students in the history of the arts and general readers interested in Chinese theatre.

Part I

Updating concepts and adapting theatrical industry to market requirements

1Theatrical concepts and theatrical literature

1.1Training schools of Kushan Opera and inheritance of the genre

While the performing market in different places of China met with unprecedented development, it was a pity that Kunju ran into gradual recession.

Kunju was imbued with the traits of both performance and chanting, featured by independence from each other and mutual effect. Since the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the chanting in this genre kept processing as usual, but the performance met with severe crisis. After the holocaust of the Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864), Kunju could no longer restore its prosperity prior to the incident. Up to 1881, a record recounted that no regular Kunju troupes were available even in Suzhou city, the birthplace of this genre, ‘All the troupes flee from calamity. Scores of remaining actors in the city perform in several shabby platforms so as to earn bread for their family members’.¹ Even though some scholars reorganised Kunju troupes in the city, most of the original actors flooded into Shanghai, a metropolis that could offer this genre for secure venues for its development.

During this period, Kunju was caught by depression. Formerly, ‘Four Great Kunju Troupes’ were renowned in theatrical circles, but then only Quanfu Troupe struggled for survival in Shanghai. However, it was not popular in the teahouses or theatres and it had to go down to the countryside to earn a living. Among Kunju troupes in Ningbo, an adjacent city of Shanghai,

only ‘Auspicious Troupe’ went to Shanghai for performance in 1912 and it was highly acclaimed by the audiences as it boasted several well-known actors in a team of about 70 members and repertoires familiar to the public. However, the remaining three troupes in Ningbo could not sustain their business and were disbanded one after another in 1933.²

Moreover, Kunju had been booming in Guiyang Prefecture, Hunan Province, in which people called it ‘Urbane Troupe’ and there were as many as 15 urbane troupes in the region, with complete repertoires and professions by the early Republic of China. It was unexpected that the genre was drastically declining and the last ‘Urbane Troupe’ was dissolved by 1929. For more than 20 years since then, no Kunju troupe was found in Hunan Province.³ Since the mid Qing Dynasty, actors of Kunju kept flowing to North China, among whom some prominent ones were called to the court. When the court performance evolved from Kunju to the northern miscellaneous genres or Jingju, Kunju troupes in the ancient capital also met with trouble for their development. The shift of court taste and interest and the shortage of younger eminent actors were attributable to the declining trend of Kunju. During the Qing Dynasty, there was a traditional literati group in Peking which favored much Kunju. When the last dynasty in China came to an end in 1911, this group was despised by the public, resulting in the collapse of Kunju and this genre existed only in the form of amateur performers in Peking. Some Kunju actors had to shift their business in the suburban areas, something like chanting ditty in Suzhou, because the ditty was not appealing to urban people with refined taste.

During the early Republic of China, there were occasional Kunju gatherings in Peking but they could not reverse the declining trend of this genre. In his A Recollection of Kunshan Opera, Zhang Miuzi claimed:

Gentle and elegant in style, Kunju was much favored by literati circles, which was suitable for household entertainment party. As its singing lines were of literary value, it should be ranked as national drama. However, its plots were too brief and there were no complete story lines, the defects of such genre that could hardly conform to the interest and taste of audiences to such extent that the audiences would go to the toilet when the section of Kunju was put on. Highbrow art finds very few connoisseurs, which has been a law throughout all the ages.

In 1918, Kunju seemed to revive in Peking, as narrated by Zhang Miuzi,

Kunju is booming again in Peking, as the business of the Kunju troupe in Tianle Theatre has risen steeply in recent days, with capacity audiences every night. If Kunju is resurgent, it signifies that the tide will turn for theatrical circles … The troupe in Tianle Theatre is mainly engaged in Jingju, while the episodes of Kunju are the components of the show.⁴

After a long period of suspension, the researchers were agitated so much by occasional Kunju performance that it proved the recession of this genre. Kunju episodes were put on in Tianle Theatre, a sign that there was still Kunju performance at the most. The claim of ‘resurgence’ was merely the fantasy of Kunju fans.

Literati had inextricable ties with the origin and development of Kunju. Since the mid Ming Dynasty, some literati took this genre as the subject for their literary or musical composition, which was not only the mainstream culture, but also was upheld as an aristocratic art for nearly 400 years. The public showed their reverence for this genre, whereas people took it as inferior entertainment and regarded the actresses as prostitutes. It was in such queer context that the genre struggled for survival. In theatrical circles, there was a clear-cut distinction between literati and actors, as shown in ‘chanting ditty’ and ‘amateur performance’. Under normal circumstances, it was a taboo for literati to act on stage, since ‘chanting ditty’ involved literature and music while an amateur performer would be much the same as a prostitute. The entertainment industry had always been taken as an inferior business in China, which was despised by literati and social elites. To enjoy Kunju, officials and merchants would buy little children from poverty-stricken families and train them into actors and actresses, who would form a household troupe during the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. Although Kunju was highly valued in terms of its cultural significance, it didn’t enjoy the due reverence as a stage art. The literati who upheld Kunju would not necessarily care about the actors and their troupe. Although the rejection of being an amateur performer declined in the 1910s, literati merely organised the club for amateur performers, and occasionally performed a section on stage at the most, or wrote some articles on this genre, taking it as a sideline amusement form. During the early Republic of China, Yuan Keding, the second son of famous warlord Yuan Shikai, organised ‘Xiaoxia Club’, and then set up Jianqiu Club, Wenbai Club and Yanyun Club successively, which were mainly for the activities of Kunju fans and amateur performers. According to statistics in 1932, there were six Kunju entities in Shanghai, among which there were 20 to 30 members for each. In addition, Yisheng Club and Li Club were temporarily suspended.⁵

As an elegant genre, Kunju integrated traditional Chinese dance and theatre passed down since the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC) in addition to its combination of the properties of music and literature, gradually evolving an unparalleled theatrical genre. The development of this genre was a legend. However, its literary and artistic achievement could not ensure its invincible position amid the tough market competition. The polarisation of people’s attitudes to Kunju and actors gave rise to double results. First, Kunju had always been faced with fierce market competition, which found it difficult to gain an upper hand over other genres because they conformed more to the taste of the populace. Second, even though the market share of this genre was far from satisfactory, the literati still cherished it, as proved by the fact that there were still some Kunju fans in the cities of the Yangtze River Delta, who organised several clubs and performed at the seasonal temple fairs, although the commercial performance had already been suspended in this area. Yu Zhenfei, a renowned Kunju actor, recounted the situation in detail:

In Lantern Festival (Jan. 15th of Chinese lunar year), some Kunju fans would gather in Dengwei Garden, singing Kunju ditties while enjoying plum blossom. June 24th marked Lotus Festival, during which a number of Kunju fans would hold Kunju party in a theatre in Hangzhou. At night, they would set lotus lamps in the West Lake, rowing the boats and singing Kunju sections. On July 7th (the Chinese Valentine’s Day), the fans would gather in Misty Mansion of Jiaxing City, holding Kunju competition between Shanghai team and Suzhou team. In Mid-Autumn Festival (August 15th), it was rumored that more than one thousand fans from Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province would sing the episodes of Kunju on the slope of Tigre Hill in Suzhou from the twilight to daybreak. When I grew up and became a professional of Kunju, no one organised such gathering. In one Mid-Autumn Festival, dozens of fans went to Haining to watch the yearly tide on Qiantang River, during which we lodged in a fan’s mansion for several days and sang Kunju ditties every night.⁶

Even though the fans were still in high spirits on this genre, its declining signs had already shown in Suzhou, the cradle of the genre. What troubled the professionals and fans was that the remaining Kunju troupes were dismantled one after another. Even the most famous one, Quanfu Troupe, had to make both ends meet by showing in the rural areas. Although it was the toughest time for Kunju, it didn’t mean this genre would perish since it is a theatrical legend integrating the delicate literary and musical elements. At this moment, some fans reached a consensus by setting up a training school so as to transfer this oldest theatrical genre in China. In this context, a theatrical educational institution, Suzhou Kunju Training School, was founded in its birthplace.

This school was built in 1921, a project that was initiated by two Kunju clubs and supported by 12 famous actors and scholars, who were the directors of the Board and each denoted US$100 to form a fund for the school. In the following year, Mu Ouchu, an industrial tycoon and also a fan of Kunju, acted as the chairman of the Board. The school engaged the head of Daohe Club in Suzhou as the schoolmaster and some well-known actors to be the teachers. To collect more funds for the operation of the school, the chairman arranged for the famous actors to offer charity performances in Shanghai for three days and US$8000 thus raised was put into the account of the school.

Located in Suzhou, the school enrolled the children of poverty-stricken families, who were offered free accommodation. In 1921, the school admitted 20 students and 50 in the following years. According to the school regulation, each must have one-year trial learning, during which he would be judged on whether he was a promising student or not, before he began the regular study. The schooling lasted for three years and the students had to work for the school for two more years after they graduated. The school life proceeded in this way: ‘In the morning, get up at the ringing and practice boxing. After breakfast, Chinese language course was given until noon. From 13:00 to 17:00, practice singing, stage body moment and rehearsal. Students might have a free time after supper’.⁷ As educational level varied among the students, they either attended beginner’s level or advanced level of Chinese language course. Compared with other famous schools, such as the ‘new-type’ school of Yisu Club and the school of Nantong Actors’ Club, both of which were highly reform-minded, Suzhou Kunju Training School focused more on students’ reading and writing competence and literature cultivation. Such an effort induced such a result that the graduates from this school were more literate than their peers of other schools.

Most of the funds for the school came from the entrepreneur Mu Ouchu, who offered the critical sponsorship to this most important training school of Kunju and who was so unselfish that he never thought of any return from the students. For several years, he covered the tuition and living expenses of all the students, about US$600 in total per month. The children from the poverty-stricken families could enjoy a life more comfortable than those of ordinary people. In addition to cosy accommodation, they had a haircut every other week and enjoyed a shower. Even several servants were employed to wash clothes for them.

Some gifted students embarked on stage in 1922, while the ordinary students didn’t have such opportunity until 1924. In the spring of 1922, after a trial performance in the parlor of Xu Linyun, one of the initiators of the school, the earliest students began to perform in the name of Suzhou Kunju Training School in Shanghai Xiao Stage from May 20 to May 25. Before the young actors left Suzhou for Shanghai, their stage generation was named ‘chuan’ (with the meaning of inheritance). In two years, the school enrolled 70 students, but it ended up with 44 graduates. From the end of 1925, all the students of the school again offered performance in Xiao Stage, Xuyuan Stage and New World in Shanghai.⁸ During this period, those graduates made a touring performance in the theatres in the cities of Jiangsu Province and Shanghai. The practice not only helped the students to acquire stage experience, but also earned the inevitable revenue for the school to sustain its operation.

In 1927, due to the huge deficit in his enterprises, Mu Ouchu could no longer sponsor the school and he turned to politics, holding the role of Vice Minister of the Industrial and Commercial Ministry under the Nationalist Government. The fall in financial support severely disrupted the school, whose operation depended on the performing revenue of its students. After Mu Ouchu retreated, Sun Yongyu, the schoolmaster, also resigned. Then Yu Zhenfei, the teacher, and yan Huiyu, an industrialist in Shanghai, and Tao Shiquan, head of Shanghai Custom House, took over the school. It seemed that Yu Zhenfei was quite confident of the school’s prospects. He persuaded the other two to pool US$5000 to procure costumes and help with the school’s operation. With such theatrical property, Yu Zhenfei and two other actors organised a Kunju troupe consisting of the school graduates in the name of New Kunju Troupe. At first, the troupe seemed to have a bright prospect in Shanghai Xiao Stage, but soon it met with severe recession. In less than four months, the troupe spent all the said investment.⁹ In 1928, the troupe had to suspend its cooperation with Shanghai Xiao Stage.

This fruitless cooperation meant that the two investors reaped nothing and Yu Zhenfei had to dismally resign. Moreover, the mad management of Lin Ziyi, the head of the troupe, gave rise to many complaints from the new generation of Kunju actors because their rising performing art and reputation could not earn a corresponding revenue. In this situation, their growing resentment finally led to the disruption ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Information
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of figures
• Part I Updating concepts and adapting theatrical industry to market requirements
• Part II China’s theatrical situation during the Anti-Japanese War
• Further reading
• Appendix 1: Names of scripts
• Appendix 2: 戏剧术语 Technical terms
• Appendix 3: 相关历史事件和词语 Relevant historical events and terms in the particular period
• Index