Nanxi ( 南戲 ) or xiwen ( 戲文 ) was an early form of Chinese opera , developed from ancient traditions of mime , singing, and dancing during the Song dynasty in the 12th century. The name means literally "southern drama", and the form originated in the area around Wenzhou in southeastern China. Nanxi is an abbreviation of nanqu xiwen (南曲戲文, "Southern music theatre text") or nan xiwen .
16-1296: Nanxi or Nan-hsi may refer to: Nanxi (theatre) (南戲), an early form of Chinese opera Places [ edit ] Nanxi District, Yibin (南溪区), a district of Yibin, Sichuan, China Nanxi Subdistrict , in Nanxi District, Yibin Nanxi Township (南溪乡), a township in Taihe County, Jiangxi, China Towns in China [ edit ] Nanxi, Anhui (南溪), in Jinzhai County, Anhui Nanxi, Chongqing (南溪), in Yunyang County, Chongqing Nanxi, Guangdong (南溪), in Puning, Guangdong Nanxi, Henan (南席), in Changge, Henan Nanxi, Yunnan (南溪), in Hekou Yao Autonomous County, Yunnan Rivers of China [ edit ] Nanxi River (Yunnan) (南溪河), tributary of
32-601: A known author is Tale of the Pipa by Gao Ming . The play tells the story of an abandoned wife who set off on a 12-year journey to find her husband, surviving by playing the pipa . The play became a model for Ming dynasty drama as it was the favorite opera of the first Ming emperor . Other notable Nanxi plays following the Tale of the Pipa include The Thorn Hairpin ( 荊釵記 ), The White Rabbit ( 白兔記 ), The Moon Pavilion ( 拜月亭 ), and Killing Dog ( 殺狗記 ). Some of
48-465: A variety of characters in the same play. The role types of later forms of Chinese opera were more strictly defined, but can be seen to have their roots in nanxi . Nanxi was considered a low art form and thus ignored in contemporary historiography, and it was almost forgotten by scholars after the mid-16th century. Of the large numbers of nanxi originally written, only 283 titles and 20 play texts survive. Complete scripts of three works were found in
64-478: Is a dignified older role, usually distinguished by a long, thin, three-part beard. These characters have a gentle and cultivated disposition and typically wear long robes with water sleeves , high-soled boots, and fabric headdresses. A subcategory is wulaosheng ( Chinese : 武老生 ; pinyin : wǔlǎoshēng ; lit. 'martial laosheng'), older generals who have combat skills. They wear armor and helmets instead of robes and fabric hats. Guan Yu ,
80-547: Is a martial character for roles involving combat. They are highly trained in acrobatics, and have a natural voice when singing. In Peking opera, wusheng is further divided into two subcategories based on the character's costume: In Yue opera , sheng roles have been mainly portrayed by actresses. Actresses playing men ( sheng ) is also common in some southern genres like Teochew opera and Taiwanese opera . It also appears in Ping opera . In Peking opera, Meng Xiaodong
96-480: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Nanxi (theatre) Nanxi started as combinations of Song plays and local folk songs and ballads , using colloquial language with many scenes. Due to its coarse language, rough prosody, and unsophisticated literary style, Nanxi was considered a low art form during the Song and Yuan dynasties. However, its status
112-481: The laosheng (older gentlemen) and xiaosheng (younger gentlemen), with another important subtype being the wusheng (martial men). Peking opera troupes will always have a laosheng actor. A xiaosheng actor may be added to play roles fitting to his age. In addition to these main sheng , the troupe will also have a secondary laosheng . The laosheng ( Chinese : 老生 ; pinyin : lǎoshēng ; lit. 'old sheng')
128-432: The wuxiaosheng ( Chinese : 武小生 ; pinyin : wǔxiǎoshēng ; lit. 'martial xiaosheng'). The wuxiaosheng roles possess martial skills and are frequently young generals. Often, their filigree helmets are appended with two long pheasant feathers known as lingzi ( Chinese : 翎子 ). The wusheng ( Chinese : 武生 ; pinyin : wǔshēng ; lit. 'martial sheng')
144-510: The 1920s, the earliest of which is a work from the Southern Song, The No. 1 Scholar Zhang Xie ( 張協狀元 ). The story tells of Zhang Xie, who on the way to the capital to take the imperial examination, is robbed and injured by bandits. He is nursed back to health by a local maiden, whom he marries. She then pays for him to continue to the capital to take the examination, in which he wins first place. However, when his wife tries to meet him in
160-683: The Chinese god of sworn brotherhood, loyalty and righteousness, and Zhao Kuangyin , the first Song dynasty emperor, are the only two characters in the subcategory known as hongsheng ( simplified Chinese : 红生 ; traditional Chinese : 紅生 ; pinyin : hóngshēng ), a red-faced older male. Young, beardless male characters are known as xiaosheng ( Chinese : 小生 ; pinyin : xiǎoshēng ; lit. 'young sheng'). They wear paler makeup than laosheng characters to show their youth. Xiaosheng characters are often involved with beautiful young women by virtue of
176-660: The Red River in Yunnan Nanxi River (Zhejiang) (楠溪江), major tributary of the Ou River in Zhejiang See also [ edit ] Nansi District, Tainan ( 楠西區 ), sometimes spelled Nanxi, a district of Tainan, Taiwan Nan Qi (artist) (南溪) (born 1960), also known as Nan Xi, Chinese artist Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
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#1732775660958192-525: The capital, he rejects her for her lowly origins, and later tries to kill her and she is gravely injured falling off a cliff. She is saved by the Prime Minister who happens to pass by, and adopts her as his daughter. Later Zhang asks the Prime Minister to marry his daughter, and on the wedding night, finds that she is the wife he tried to kill. Most Nanxi works from before the end of Yuan dynasty were produced by anonymous authors. The first work with
208-462: The handsome and young image they project. Depending on the character's rank in society, the costume of the xiaosheng may be either elaborate or simple. In Peking opera, these characters sing in a high, shrill voice with occasional breaks to represent the voice changing period of adolescence. The subcategories of xiaosheng are the wenxiaosheng ( Chinese : 文小生 ; pinyin : wénxiǎoshēng ; lit. 'civil xiaosheng') and
224-549: The missing plays such as Liu Wenlong and the Water Chestnut Mirror have been preserved in other languages. Sheng role The sheng is a role type in Chinese opera for dignified and respectable male characters such as Confucian scholars, nobles, or heads of households. They may be portrayed by either male actors or actresses. The sheng has numerous subtypes. The two major subdivisions are
240-402: The title Nanxi . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nanxi&oldid=927394343 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing Chinese-language text Short description
256-984: Was elevated with Tale of the Pipa written by Gao Ming , a play of better literary quality and more complex structure. It was highly regarded by the Ming Hongwu Emperor . By the middle of the Ming dynasty, Nanxi had developed into a more complex dramatic form known as chuanqi , of which is kunqu is a branch. In Nanxi opera, as with western operetta , spoken passages alternated with verses ( qu 曲) set to popular music. Professional companies of actors performed nanxi in theatres that could hold thousands of spectators. Nanxi had seven role types, many of which were seen in later Chinese opera forms. Sheng were heroic male characters and dan heroines. The other role types Mo ( 末 ), jing , chou , wai ( 外 ), and hou (后, also called tie 貼) were less defined roles, and actors in these role types portrayed
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