Abstract
This paper sorts out the restorative trend in the Ming Dynasty in terms of the respect for, elaboration on and the creation of the style (zun ti, bian ti and chuang ti) and re-interprets its claims such as promoting the orthodox prosody, appreciating the original tonal quality, and emulating the Yuan-Dynasty style. The respect for the style promoted the reception of the Yuan-Dynasty style of Qu (opera) to the mainstream ideology and literary orthodoxies. The elaboration on the style focuses on establishing uniform aesthetic norms for Qu as a literary genre. The creation of a genre as the "new legend" drama corresponded with the adoption of the Northern Qu which had more strict schemes for tones and rhymes. The paper argues that the trend to restore the ancient standards in the Ming Dynasty was crucial for the canonization of the Yuan-Dynasty dramas, and it not only revealed the inherent aesthetic qualities but also laid the ways for later theoretical elaborations on Chinese dramas.
First Page
163
Last Page
170
Recommended Citation
Cheng, Yun. 2014. "The Ming-Dynasty Restorative Trend of the Study of Qu and the Canonization of the Yuan-Dynasty-Style Qu." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 34, (2): pp.163-170. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol34/iss2/18
