Reform Spirit and Regional Theaters

Abstract

The rise of local theaters during the latter half of the 19th century was due to a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic causes. The decline of Kunqu opera as a performing art tailored to the taste of the gentry society, artistic innovations in regional theaters – particularly that of Jingju opera – as well as a more commercialized economy all contributed to this development. Moreover, reformist impulses among many literati-playwrights at the turn of the 20th century provided momentum, leading to the formation of the reform movement in Chinese theater (xiqu). Although influence from Japan and the West played an important part in the process, Yu Zhi (1809–1874) can be regarded as a “forerunner,” who promoted regional theaters as a tool for social reform. Through an examination of him and his “benevolent plays” in the Shuji tang jinyue collection, this study sheds light on his effort to reform society through xiqu, as well as possible connections with the later xiqu reform movement.