세시 명절을 통해 본 중국희곡－잡지 『立言畫刊』속 應節戲 자료를 중심으로－

Abstract

Seasonal holidays have held a very important position in the Chinese public’s life. They provide great opportunities to performing arts, which need audience, because of various gatherings during holiday seasons. For the reason just mentioned, plays also play an important role in Chinese seasonal customs with seasonal plays known as ‘Jie Xi’ having been performed from the formative stage of Chinese plays. Peking Opera, which is a typical traditional play in China, has also been steadily performed every season. A prosperity of theater in the late Qing dynasty brought intense competition among professional theater companies. ‘Ying Jie Xi,’ a branch of Peking Opera, was a result of the prosperity in theater and has been performed every holiday season by large-scale private theater companies. This paper is based on 33 articles of ‘Ying Jie Xi’ from Li Yan Hua Kan, a drama journal which was published in Beijing during the Anti-Japanese War. Analysis of the articles found that ‘Ying Jie Xi’ has been performed during seven special holidays - New Year’s Day, Dano, Offering Guandi, Qixi Festival, Hungry Ghost Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Kitchen God Day - among the general public. It also revealed difference in performing environments of the general public and the Qing court. ‘Yue Ling Cheng Ying Xi,’ which is ‘Jie Xi’ of the Qing court, was performed during nearly twenty holidays. This study also shows that several plays of the Qing court’s ‘Jie Xi’ influenced plays of the public such as ‘Ying Jie Xi.’ ‘Ying Jie Xi’ is related with seasons, so that its performances were repeated every year. The mood of ‘Ying Jie Xi’ is very festive, representing the atmosphere of holiday seasons. Typical characters of ‘Ying Jie Xi’ employ splendid attractions and various kinds of equipment. Such characters led the performing environment of Chinese plays into the era of modern theatre and increased the commercial value of ‘Ying Jie Xi’ as well.