Chuanqi (theatre)

Chuanqi
Traditional Chinese傳奇
Simplified Chinese传奇
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinChuánqí
Wade–GilesChʻuan2-chʻi2
IPA[ʈʂʰwǎŋ.tɕʰǐ]

Chuanqi (traditional Chinese: 傳奇; simplified Chinese: 传奇) is a form of Chinese opera popular in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and early Qing dynasty (1644–1912). It emerged in the mid-Ming dynasty from the older form of nanxi.[1] As it spread throughout the empire, it absorbed regional music styles and topolects and eventually evolved into different local genres,[1] among them kunqu.[2] Of the 2000 plus titles recorded in history, over 600 chuanqi plays are extant and are still performed today, including The Peony Pavilion by Tang Xianzu, The Palace of Eternal Life by Hong Sheng, and The Peach Blossom Fan by Kong Shangren.[3]

This tradition of theatre has the same name Chuanqi (傳奇/传奇) as the tradition of short story and novella, Chuanqi, in Tang dynasty, because at the beginning the plots of the Chuanqi theatre often originated from the Chuanqi stories.

  1. ^ a b Mei Sun (1998). "The Division between Nanxi and Chuanqi". American Journal of Chinese Studies. 5 (2): 248–256. JSTOR 44288587.
  2. ^ Siu, Wang-Ngai; Lovrick, Peter (1997). Chinese Opera: Images and Stories. UBC Press. pp. 7–9. ISBN 0-7748-0592-7 – via Project MUSE.
  3. ^ Ye, Tan (2008). Historical Dictionary of Chinese Theater. The Scarecrow Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-8108-5514-4.