Yuan Drama

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Yuan Drama

History
During the period of Mongol rule in China, the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), there were great developments and evolution in the area of performance art. It was during this period that a style of theatre referred to as poetic musical drama, or as zaju (tsa chu, "mixed entertainments"), gained greatly in popularity and reached what is viewed as its Golden Age. Therefore, this style later came to be known as Yuan ch'u ("Yuan Songs"), Mongol theatre, or Yuan drama.
This classical and highly stylized form of theatre, an ancestor of the Chinese opera, called for entertainers, both male and female, to sing, act, mime, and play music. Through the use of such skills, the performers presented stories of political intrigue, heroism, villainy, filial devotion, and the faith of lovers. The Yuan plays themselves were often works by Chinese scholars and intellectuals, though Mongols, and others are also noted to have been dramatists .As was the case with many Yuan dramas, the stories were usually based on earlier materials: older Chinese tales and anecdotes that were already familiar to the people. The playwrights, though, took liberties to adapt and rework the materials for their own purpose, sometimes slipping clever political commentaries into their works. The most celebrated and prolific writer among the Yuan playwrights was Guan Hanqing(1241?-1320?).

The development of Yuan drama
The Yuan Dynasty marked a period of Mongol domination in China. During this period, the existing Chinese government and society were practically turned upside-down by the Mongol conquerors; With much of traditional Confucianism put down and degraded by the Mongols, intellectuals found they could think freely for the first time in many long years since much of the Confucian conservatism had stood in the way of the true creative power in Chinese.
While high-seated Chinese officials lost status during the Yuan era, entertainers - musicians, act...