LV Tiancheng

LV Tiancheng

Lu Tiancheng (1580-1618), a famous writer, was a dramatist and critic of Ming Dynasty.

Biography of characters

Lu Tiancheng (1580-1618) was a famous writer. He was born in Yuyao County of Ming Dynasty and was the great grandson of Lu Ben. For all students, he also works on ancient Chinese words. He had a good relationship with Wang Jide. He was born in an official family. Under the influence of his family environment, he had a strong interest in opera. He was once a teacher of Shen Jing and had a close relationship with Wang Jide in the past. He learned from each other and improved his quyi. My grandmother sun likes to collect books and has many ancient and modern operas. His father, Lu Yunchang, was good at drama novels and had contacts with dramatist Tang Xianzu. Influenced by his family, he was fond of music when he was young. His novels xiuta unofficial history and Xianqing biezhuan were published in Wanli. And long for all life, ancient words. At the age of 20, Xu had a play on. The legend was beautiful at the beginning, and the style changed after Shen Jing was a teacher. The words and sentences of the palace tune were flat and tonal, and the law-abiding was very strict.

There are many works, of which Qupin is the most famous. From the end of Yuan Dynasty to that time, there were 120 legendary Sanqu writers and 230 kinds of works. Among them, 192 kinds were recorded for the first time, preserving a lot of opera materials of Ming Dynasty, and 8 kinds of zaju. Today, Qidong Jue Dao is preserved, signed by Zhu Chi Ju Shi. Lu Tiancheng emphasizes "the truth of the matter" in the creation of legends, but "the intention is false, and it doesn't have to be consistent with the facts". The plot of the characters allows artistic fiction, but it should be reasonable. At the same time, the author also gives some pertinent opinions on the nature of opera creation and the issue of being a good actor, which can be used for reference. The Ming Dynasty edition of Qupin has been lost, and the Qianlong Yang Zhihong's is a rare one. In 1990, Zhonghua Book Company published Qupin proofreading and annotation, which is the most complete.

Character contribution

Lu Tiancheng is not only a playwright and opera theorist, but also collects, revises and publishes a large number of opera works. It's the tradition of sun and Lu to like collecting books. The sun family has 300 kinds of Jin and Yuan zaju, and Lu Tiancheng's grandmother has also stored a large number of scripts. Lu Tiancheng "wanted to build a library" very early on. He "started from the creation of the predecessors, and then collected the rotten old and excellent ones. He learned to search and store them together to make a grand view of the river and the sea". Therefore, "every time he entered the market and saw a new legend, he would take it with him.

A large number of books provided a solid foundation for LV Tiancheng to write Qupin. There are also many plays in the sun family's collection. The fourth volume of qulv contains 300 kinds of drama works. LV Tiancheng has revised 28 kinds of drama works, including Jing Chai Ji, Bai Yue Ji, Sha Gou Ji, Huan Sha Ji, huanhun Ji, Yixia Ji and so on. Lu Tiancheng also printed many works of Shen Jing, which are recorded in volume 4 of qulv: "Ci Yin '. It can be seen that Lu Tian has done a lot of practical work in the collation, preservation and dissemination of opera works, which is of great benefit to the accumulation and inheritance of opera literature.

Drama creation

Lu Tiancheng's opera creation can be divided into two periods. In the early stage, he wrote a legend, which was beautiful at the beginning, but he was the most obedient to CI Yin and changed his way. He was a little bit fluid and easy to follow, but he was cautious about the palace tune, words and sentences, and even tones. At the beginning of his creation, Lu Tiancheng paid attention to CI collection. Later, he realized the importance of temperament, and turned to stick to it and pursue the plain style. Shen Jing contributed to this change, but also had the influence of his family. His great grandfather, great uncle and great uncle were all proficient in temperament. "It originated from Ci and qu. Because he works in the field of words and obeys the rhythm, his works, especially his later works, are highly praised for their "strict rhythm and excellent talent". Lu Tiancheng shows the difference between Yuan Dynasty drama and Ming and Qing Dynasty legend from three aspects: the difference of opera music, the length of external system and the complexity of internal structure.

Main works

Lu Tiancheng has a high literary and artistic talent. Wang Jide mentioned in his qulv that he "also works in ancient Chinese poetry", but his main achievement lies in opera. He is a prolific dramatist in the late Ming Dynasty, and it is difficult to determine the number of his works. It is known that he has written ten kinds of Legends of yanjiege, including goddess, jinheji, Jiezhu, Shenjing, Sanxing, Shuangge, sixiangji, siyuanji, eryinji and Shenjian. There are also Shuangqi, Lidan, Lanqiao, suiqin and Yufu mentioned in previous operas, and there are five kinds of zaju There are eight kinds of books, including "the scholar sent his concubine", "Shengshan meeting", "Madame Da", "children's debt", "playing customs", "entangled night account", "marriage account" and "Qi Dong Jue Dao" written by the signature "Zhu Chi Ju Shi". All the above legendary operas and Zaju are lost except Qidong Jue Dao, Shengming Zaju by Shen Tai. Taking Mencius as the main source of material, Qidong Jue Dao describes that Shun's father, Gu, hid in the palace after killing, and Gao Tao hunted him. Although Shun asked Gao Tao to enforce the law impartially, he changed his clothes, fled to the seaside behind his father's back, and expressed his willingness to die at the seaside and no longer be emperor. Later, under the persuasion of his stepmother, the filial Shun returned and continued to be the monarch.

This story is full of banter and ridicule to the ancient sages, such as Yao's understanding of Shun, who imprisoned him. As Yu Yu said, "if you don't be emperor, I dare not kill anyone." as Shang Jun said, "I rely on my father all my life.". By making fun of the ancient sages and sages, the author expresses his thoughts on social problems, and shows the active and keen thinking of the people in the late Ming Dynasty, as well as their reflection and challenge on tradition. Lu Tiancheng also revised 28 kinds of Southern operas and legends, including jingchai, Baiyue, Shagou, Huansha, huanhun and Yixia. He specializes in commenting on the legendary Sanqu from the end of the Yuan Dynasty to that time, which is called "the double wall of discussing Qu" together with Wang Jide's qulv. He is also fond of writing beautiful feelings and blasphemous words. The novels of xiuta unofficial history and Xianqing biezhuan were all written by him when he was young. They were popular in Wanli.

The value of Qupin

Lu Tiancheng's Qupin is a famous work of Quxue, which is also known as the theoretical work of opera in Ming Dynasty together with Wang Jide's Qulu;. The first draft of Qupin was completed in 1602, the thirtieth year of Wanli. It was revised twice in 1602. Wanli engraving, the driest of all, has been lost, and the handed down manuscripts are often mixed with Gao Yi's new biography and Wu Mingshi's general catalogue of ancient legends. When Liu Shiheng reprinted it, Qu pin was separated from the latter two books. The value of Qupin is shown in the following four aspects: first, it preserves rich and precious historical materials of opera. In style, this work imitates Zhong Rong's "Shi pin", Yu Jianwu's "Shu pin" and Xie He's "Hua pin", which is divided into two volumes: the first volume comments on the authors of Nanxi and legends from the end of Yuan Dynasty to Wanli, and the second volume focuses on the Legends he thinks are "in the style". All the writers and works before Jiajing are classified into four categories: Shen, Miao, Neng and Ju, while the authors and works from Longqing to Wanli are classified into nine categories: Shangshang, Shangzhong and Xiaxia. There are 95 opera writers, 25 Sanqu writers and 212 kinds of opera works. In the part of writers, the surname of Liju is first recorded, followed by the comments on the four or six parallel prose. Only 20 kinds of works can be found in Yongle Dadian, nanci xulu and other predecessors' works, and the rest 192 kinds are the first to see. They include all the important works of Ming Dynasty before the author, and point out the plot in brief words. Therefore, Qupin provides valuable clues for later generations to explore the writer's history, creative intention, and the content, style, advantages and disadvantages of the lost legend.

Second, in terms of the standard of music appreciation, Lu Tiancheng inherited the views of his grandparents, that is, "the first thing is to do well, the second is to close the eyes well, the third is to move out well, the fourth is to follow the GongDiao and consonant rhythm, the fifth is to make people easy to understand, the sixth is to choose words, the seventh is to be good at perfunctory, that is, to do well in the light places, to do well in the leisure places, the eighth is to distribute the roles evenly, the ninth is to get rid of the set, and the tenth is to combine The world's conditions and customs are very good. " At the same time, I also put forward some more specific opinions. First of all, in the content of narration, although LV Tiancheng, like Shen Jing, advocated "awakening the world" and "being vulgar", he did not appreciate pedantic preaching. He criticizes Qiu Jun's Wulun Quanji as "slightly rotten", and Shen Ling's Longquan Ji as "the tone of a Taoist" and only lists as "concrete". Secondly, in terms of artistic treatment, LV Tiancheng attaches great importance to the unity of the characters' thoughts and feelings and the living environment displayed in the program, believing that this is an important key to achieve successful aesthetic effect and to infect and educate the audience. In terms of structural arrangement, LV Tiancheng advocated compactness and opposed procrastination. It's a good way to avoid "unimportant" characters and plots.

Third, we should try not to bring any family opinions to the writers and works with different creative ideas and styles. Based on the principles of literary criticism, we should make a fair evaluation. Most of the dramatists and theorists of Wujiang school are strict with Tang Xianzu's dramas. Although LV Tiancheng came out of Shen Jing's family, he can objectively point out their respective strengths and weaknesses. He thinks that Shen Jing's contribution lies in "understanding the temperament well", and that Tang Xianzu's ability lies in using his talent to fully express his temperament and "being beautiful" "If you can keep the rules of CI Yin and use the talent of Qingyuan Taoist, it's not a combination of beauty and beauty!" he said This opinion was immediately accepted by the dramatists of the same time and later generations.

Fourthly, Qupin has made some comments on the controversial theories of "dangxing" and "natural quality"