Abstract
Huang Xieqing was one of major dramatists in the late Qing dynasty. In his life dramatic writing played a key role， through which he demonstrated his intellectual talents as well as his conceptualization of the genre in question as an expression of pragmatic social aspirations. Thanks to his constant self-fashioning through drama and the widespread dissemination of his works， Huang established his name as a talented dramatist. However， such reputation hardly contributed to his pragmatic aspiration for social development. His works thus transformed from metaphoric manifestations of the self to critical reflections upon society， and continued as such thereafter. The identification and interpretation of social phenomena in his works were earnest expressions of a generation's concern about the country and its people， which not only showcased the Zeitgeist of the era， but also an intellectual's critique of social malpractices. Huang contrived to enable his plays to perform the multiple functions of entertainment， education， and communication. The publication and dissemination of his works at once displayed the distinctive role of late-Qing drama in the structure of social life as well as the transformations of the genre in terms of theme and content. Through their interpretation of life， society， and the epoch in which they lived， the late-Qing dramatists such as Huang not only fulfilled the functions of drama to its greatest extent， but also managed to transform and elevate the status of the genre.
Keywords
Huang Xieqing, Seven Dramas of Yiqing House, Autumn of the Jade Palace, The Crimson Gauze, late-Qing drama, functions of drama
First Page
158
Last Page
170
Recommended Citation
Ma, Limin. 2023. "The Multi-directional Functions of Late-Qing Drama： On Huang Xieqing's Dramatic Creation." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 43, (1): pp.158-170. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol43/iss1/18
