| Nanxi | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 南戲 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 南戏 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Southern drama | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Nanxi (南戲) or xiwen (戲文) was an early form of Chinese opera, developed from ancient traditions of mime, singing, and dancing during the Song dynasty in the 12th century. The name means literally "southern drama", and the form originated in the area around Wenzhou in southeastern China. Nanxi is an abbreviation of nanqu xiwen (南曲戲文, "Southern music theatre text") or nan xiwen.[1]
Nanxi started as combinations of Song plays and local folk songs and ballads, using colloquial language with many scenes. Due to its coarse language, rough prosody, and unsophisticated literary style, Nanxi was considered a low art form during the Song and Yuan dynasties. However, its status was elevated with Tale of the Pipa written by Gao Ming, a play of better literary quality and more complex structure. It was highly regarded by the Ming Hongwu Emperor. By the middle of the Ming dynasty, Nanxi had developed into a more complex dramatic form known as chuanqi, of which is kunqu is a branch.[1]