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 Uhigurs, 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.

     It might be difficult to believe that such artistic development came to be in a culture dominated by such a warlike power as the Mongols.  Yet, it is because of the Mongol conquerors that the Yuan drama was given room to grow and flourish in China.

Setting the Stage
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; the Chinese imperial civil service examination system was shut down, Confucian scholar-officials fell from their high social class, and aspiring scholar-officials were left with an immovable road block in their path to personal success. With much of traditional Confucianism put down and degraded by the Mongols, intellectuals found they "could breathe fresh air" for the first time in many long years since "much of the Confucian conservatism that had stood in the way of the true creative power of the Chinese genius was being swept away." (Liu Jung-en). Without the civil service examination to prepare for or a set of standards to guide their ideas, many of these intellectuals turned then to play writing as a form of literary expression.

     While high-seated Chinese officials lost status during the Yuan, entertainers - musicians, actors,  and acrobats - did not quite feel the same status-stripping sting. Entertainers had little to lose, since they were already considered a lower class in Chinese society. However, they were a class of people that the Mongols held dear, at least in the early days of the Yuan. In Chinese Theater In The Days of Kublai Khan, J. I. Crump mentions that "for whatever the reason, the Mongols seemed to look upon entertainers as people who had some desirable function in their scheme of things." (Crump, p.22)

     Also important to note is that the Jurchen people of the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), the ruling power in Northern China prior to the Mongols, had a strong musical tradition. The Jurchens were indeed a musical people; they were well accomplished in singing and dancing. Theirs was a style of music different from that of the Han Chinese. It was a style more akin to that of Northern Chinese music; "it was vigorous, powerful, and very savage -- the songs of warriors on horseback" (Lun-chu, found in Crump, p. 25). In all likelihood, it was this Jurchen-style music, or some derivative of it (Northern Chinese music), around which the Yuan drama was organized. The Mongols, then, upon entering and taking control over China, "welcomed the dramas which were shaped by music probably already familiar to them." (Crump, found in Brandon, p.29)

The Elements of Yuan Theatre

Structure.

          Yuan plays were generally composed of four acts and a short scene called a "wedge" (hsieh tzu).  The wedge would often appear at the very beginning of a play, but a note in Six Yuan Plays mentions that it could also occur in between acts.  The wedge figuratively sets the stage for the events of the play.  It is a time when characters who are important to setting the preliminary conditions of the story make their appearances and introductions.  The introduction of Six Yuan Plays also notes that its purpose is "to steady the construction of the play as a wedge does any structure" (Liu Jung-en).

Music.

        Music was a key aspect in the Yuan drama. While it was usual that the leading player was the only one to sing throughout an entire performance, supporting characters would sometimes sing small bits to introduce themselves in the story, and a specific musical theme would be carried out through each of the 4 acts of a typical play. The instruments commonly used as accompaniment  probably included the p'i pa (a four-stringed lute-like instrument),  the san hsien (three stringed instrument), dizi (side-blown flute), pan (wooden clapper), and ku (drum). There are also instances where a ch'in (another stringed instrument) is used onstage by certain characters. Unfortunately, no musical scores from Yuan plays have survived.  However, if we consider the Jurchen and Mongol influence in the development of the Yuan drama, it can be reasoned that the music used was related to that typical of Northern China.

Costume.

         "What the Chinese stage may have lacked in scenery elaborations they made up for in exuberant garments" (Crump, p.171).  According to sources such as Yuan scripts, period images, and post-Yuan references to the Mongol theatre, the costuming used in Yuan drama was both extensive and colourful.  Chinese Theater In The Days of Kublai Khan contains a photograph of a wall painting in the Ming-ying Wang Tien (shrine in Northern China).  The wall painting itself dates back to the Yuan Dynasty and depicts an acting troupe in full costume.  Though the photograph is in black-and-white, the costumes themselves are of varying shapes and patterns, suggesting a multitude of colours.  The costumes appear mostly as elaborate robes, and perhaps dels, with a large variety of different head-coverings.  The wall painting, however, shows little in the way of make-up, aside from false beards and minor effects.  In Chinese Theater In The Days of Kublai Khan, Crump says that the elaborate make-up used in the modern Peking opera was not commonplace in the Yuan drama; such colourful and complex make-up actually became popular in the later Ming drama.

       In any case, the characters of the Yuan drama could often be identified by their costumes and make-up; theatrical dress was commonly used to indicate role and social status.  Some examples might include scholars, officials, generals, and Taoist holy men.  Chinese Theater In The Days of Kublai Khan also mentions that actors playing deities were very likely to have worn masks.  In addition, Chinese Theater cites stage directions from certain plays that call for the entrances of demons, spirits, a "Dragon king," and "Seven Star Gods."  These characters, no doubt, were dressed in elaborate costumes and added to the general spectacle of the Yuan drama.

Bibliography:

Brandon, James R. The Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge
     University Press, 1993.

Crump, J. I. Chinese Theater In The Days of Kublai Khan. Reprint: Michigan: Center for
     Chinese Studies Publications, 1990. Originally published: Tucson: University of Arizona
     Press, c1980.

Liu Jung-en (translation & introduction) Six Yuan Plays. London: Penguin Books, 1972

Schirokauer, Conrad. A Brief History of Chinese Civilization.  New York: Harcourt
     Brace & Company, 1991.