Abstract
Xu Fen is a well-known contemporary xiqu playwright and a recipient of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Lifetime Achievement Award. Her significance in current scholarship has not been fully recognized. When her dramatic writing is examined within the historical process of xiqu modernization, it becomes clear that, with a strong modern spirit and a distinct modern consciousness, she has adapted traditional xiqu repertoires as well as Chinese and foreign literary classics, created a series of vivid xiqu figures embodying modern values, and innovated the textual forms and stage styles of modern xiqu. As a result, her work can be regarded as a contemporary model for xiqu modernization. Xu Fen's writing represents the contemporary development of the “Tian Han paradigm” of xiqu modernization. The existence of a large number of outstanding xiqu works represented by Xu Fen's plays, and of a large number of distinguished dramatists represented by Xu Fen herself, provides compelling evidence that “modern xiqu” is a valid artistic form with enduring stage vitality.
Keywords
xiqu modernization, Xu Fen, modern spirit, modern consciousness, the Tian Han paradigm
First Page
35
Last Page
42
Recommended Citation
Li, Wei. 2026. "A Contemporary Model for the Modernization of Xiqu: On Xu Fen's Dramatic Writing." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 46, (1): pp.35-42. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol46/iss1/4
