The Aesthetics of Chinese Classical Theatre

THE AESTHETICS OF CHINESE CLASSICAL THEATRE － A PERFORMER’S VIEW Yuen Ha TANG A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University. March, 2016 © Copyright by Yuen Ha TANG 2016 All Rights Reserved This thesis is based entirely upon my own research. Yuen Ha TANG ACKNOWLEDGMENT I owe a debt of gratitude to my supervisor Professor John Minford, for having encouraged me to undertake this study in the first place and for guiding my studies over several years. He gave me generously of his time and knowledge. Since I first became their student in Shanghai in the 1980s, my teachers Yu Zhenfei and Zhang Meijuan (and others) inspired me with their passionate love for the theatre and their unceasing quest for artistic refinement. I am deeply grateful to them all for having passed on to me their rich store of artistry and wisdom. My parents, my sister and her family, have supported me warmly over the years. My mother initiated me in the love of the theatre, and my father urged me to pursue my dream and showed me the power of perseverance. My thanks also go to Geng Tianyuan, fellow artist over many years. His inspired guidance as a director has taught me a great deal. Zhang Peicai and Sun Youhao, outstanding musicians, offered their help in producing the video materials of percussive music. Qi Guhua, my teacher of calligraphy, enlightened me on this perennial and fascinating art. The Hong Kong Arts Development Council has subsidized my company, Jingkun Theatre, since 1998. My assistant Lily Lau has provided much valuable help and my numerous friends and students have given me their constant loyalty and enthusiasm. I am grateful to the ANU China Institute for underwriting two visits by the Jingkun Theatre to the Canberra campus, in 2007 and 2009. ABSTRACT In my thesis, I discuss the fundamental aesthetic philosophy underlying the traditions of Chinese Classical Theatre. I use the term “Chinese Classical Theatre” when referring particularly to Kunqu and Jingju (Peking Opera), since these two particular genres and their artistic values most clearly represent the characteristics of Chinese Traditional Theatre or Xiqu as a classical dramatic system. The term “Chinese Traditional Theatre” or Xiqu is used in a wider and more generic sense, to include all the many varieties of traditional and regional theatre. In the first chapter, I look at the broad historical development of Xiqu, from its original sources to its supreme expression – Kunqu and Jingju. In the second, the focus is on the essence of Taoism, which is the starting point of Chinese traditional aesthetics. Taoism and Buddhism have given Chinese artists total freedom from all limitations; and have inspired them to seek a truth beyond appearance. The third chapter concentrates on Confucianism, its contribution to ancient art education, and its influence on Xiqu stylization, in particular the art of different role-types and the function of percussive music. The fundamental concept of general education and the method of Xiqu training will be explored in the fourth chapter. I examine the Keban 科班－ the old system according to which Xiqu actors were trained; and use video materials to illustrate the modern Chinese institutions for training in the Classical Theatre. In the fifth and last chapter, through the analysis of two less than successful examples, I explore, at a deeper level, the core of Chinese traditional aesthetics and how that core can be lost or preserved in the process of reform. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION (with Appendix) 1 CHAPTER I : A Brief Historical Survey of Xiqu 12 CHAPTER II : The Tao of Chinese Aesthetics 66 CHAPTER III : Confucianism and Stylization 84 CHAPTER IV : Traditional Education and Training for 133 the Classical Theatre CHAPTER V : Xiqu “Reform”, and Further Exploration of 168 Chinese Traditional Aesthetics CONCLUSION 213 BIBLIOGRAPHY 221 LISTING OF VIDEO MATERIALS 231 The Aesthetics of Chinese Classical Theatre － a performer’s view Introduction When I was a child in Hong Kong, my family lived in the vicinity of an amusement park, in which all popular entertainments gathered together and each one had its own venue for performance. Jingju (Peking Opera), for example, was held daily in one of the theatres. My mother, a great Jingju lover, took me there frequently. 1 As a young member of the audience, I enjoyed the atmosphere all around me. People were happy, and, especially, they were relaxed. Whenever there was a Mainland Jingju troupe visiting Hong Kong in a more formal theatre, which was quite rare at that time, my mother would never miss a single night. I thus had the chance to see some really amazing performances. Although I was not particularly attracted to the singing at such a young age, I remember that I was totally captivated by the beauty of the body movements, the breath-taking fighting scenes, and the overall energy of the performers on the stage. I can still vividly recall the moment when one of the greatest Painted Face actors of our time, Qiu Shengrong 裘盛戎, made his entrance on stage, to the accompaniment of some vigorous and thrilling percussive music….I was then 6 years old.2 From then on, I knew that it was only by watching an actor’s “first entrance on stage” 出場, that one could almost immediately tell how good he was. My intimacy with Jingju was also due to the fact that from the time I was about two years old, my mother had a teacher (who was also a qinshi 琴師 – player of two-stringed fiddle jinghu 京胡) who came almost every day to our home to teach her singing. This exposure gave me a familiarity with the art without my even being aware of it. My mother used to complain that her voice was not powerful enough, and I childishly told her that I could perhaps help her out by adding mine on top. At the time I had absolutely no idea what these arias were all about, but I nevertheless could sing along with her without making 1 My mother, Alvina Tsen Te-mei 岑德美 (1918-2001), was the youngest daughter of Cen Chunxuan 岑春煊, the Governor of the Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces in the Qing dynasty, and one of the favourite officials of the Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧. She was the first female graduate of St. John’s University in Shanghai, graduating in 1938. Later on she went to America and obtained her MA degree in history at the University of California, Berkeley. Because of her family background and her overseas life experience, my mother had a very fine taste in both Chinese and Western arts. In this regard, both my elder sister (who is a ballet teacher) and I were deeply influenced by her. 2 Qiu Shengrong (1915-1971) was the iconic figure of the Jingju Painted Face role. He was thin and small, but the impact he created and his energy made him look grand and big on stage. I write more about him (with visual materials) in chapter III. 1 any mistakes. Later on my mother sent me to receive basic training from various Jingju artists. This was from the first through to the fourth year of my primary school education. When I became a teenager, I started to learn Jingju singing with my mother’s teacher, seriously and properly. During my childhood, my favorite “game” was to create stories in my mind and be utterly moved by them myself. When I acted out some part of what was in my imagination, I would either wear my mother’s morning gown (so that I could have two long sleeves), and do my hair up in the style of an ancient lady with all the beautiful flowers and accessories, which my mother bought for me; or I would use her long scarf as a cape, jumping from the sofa to the arm-chair, and up onto the coffee-table… (I found a “route” whereby I could move around the living room without laying a foot once on the floor); or I would lie on the narrow surface above the stove-heater in our living room, imagining that I was the heroine of some martial arts novel, passing a night out in the wilds…. Apart from the theatre, I was particularly drawn to calligraphy. I was so fascinated by Chinese characters that I would create some words of my own and ask the adults whether these words actually existed. Before I even started going to school, all the walls of our apartment were covered with my scribbles and inventions. And every day I managed to find a “new” space on the wall to continue my “work”. The whole thing ended when my mother finally decided to renovate our home, using some roughly textured wallpaper (on which I simply could not write). From childhood to adolescence, I was extremely athletic and had the character of a boy (I once swam across Hong Kong harbour at the age of thirteen, and I was the captain of the basketball team in my secondary school). The only time I would “slow down” was in the practice of calligraphy and painting, where I discovered an indescribable serenity and peace. When I graduated from secondary school I was a bit confused, and not sure what direction to take in life. It was completely out of the question for me to become a Jingju actress (there was no Jingju company in Hong Kong at that time, and the Mainland was still in the throes of the Cultural Revolution). So in the end in the mid-70s, I went to study piano performance in the Geneva Conservatory of Music.

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