The Chinese is a poetical nation. In the history, the Chinese poets had produced numerous splendid poems, ranging from long narrative poems to short five syllables regulated poems. Then the times had so changed that poems alone could not give vent to all their sentiments. Then, pure poems transited to “poetic dramas”: --“In the accompaniment of musical instruments, poems say, songs voice and dances express one’s mentality.” Poetry evolved to a stage art.
Looking back over the past, the scholars and poets came to be aware that old age could not be compensated by glory in and after life; They had to find relief in the realm of drama, enjoying acting on the stage.
Chinese dramas, Greek tragedies and comedies, and Indian Sanskrit plays were the three most ancient forms of dramas in the world. The Chinese dramas germinated from the primeval songs and dance and the later sacrificial rites. Many folk recreational activities were also related to the Chinese dramas and operas. One might say, the folk are bred the Chinese dramas.
The Qin-Han Dynasties witnessed the prevalence of the “hundred plays”, which referred generally to all the
ancient recreational performances , including acrobatics , magic , martial arts , wrestling , spitting fire , folk song and dance , miscellaneous plays , etc ., Among these were the wrestling plays .The wrestling plays were derived from the wrestling contests . “Hunter Huang on the East Sea” was an outstanding wrestling play. The plot of it was as follows: Hunter Huang wrestled with a tiger till he failed to exercise his magic power and was eaten by the tiger. It was performed according to a given plot and therefore it was an early form of drama. It had an important significance in the history of Chinese drama. After the Southern-Northern Dynasties the “hundred plays” were known as “odd plays”, among the “odd plays” were the small-scale song and dance performances, such as “A Big Face”, also named “King Lanling”, “Treading Lady”, and “Ratter”.
These influenced substantially the development of dramas in that they combined singing and dancing, dialogues and soliloquies, and that they used props (masks and facial makeups). In the Tang Dynasty, beside the song and dance performances, there was also the “staff officer dramas”, which was developed on the basis of clownish performances and derived its name from the main role of it, who was a staff officer that committed an offence. Starting from the “staff officer drama”, the actors in the Chinese dramas had different role types. After going through a long and slow development, the Chinese drama evolved gradually into a higher form, the Southern Drama, in the Song Dynasty, represented by “Number One Scholar in Imperial Examination, Zhan Xie”. Since then, the Chinese drama had thrived through the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, emitting a lasting artistic charm and becoming a “national amusement”. As commented by an American missionary, “Drama to the Chinese is as sports to the English and bull fights to the Spaniards”. The Chinese audiences found satisfaction and delight in dramas. Drama was an indispensable part of their life. “Disciples in the pear Garden”, originally a palatial title, was used to designate the actors of drama.
