On Wang Yuanhua's Ideas of Jingju and His Reflection on the May Fourth Movement 

Li Wei

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2021, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (2) : 26-32.

PDF(1833 KB)
Welcome to Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, May. 5, 2025
PDF(1833 KB)
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2021, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (2) : 26-32.
Issue in Focus: Studies of Peking Opera

On Wang Yuanhua's Ideas of Jingju and His Reflection on the May Fourth Movement 

  • Li Wei
Author information +
History +

Abstract

It is extremely meaningful, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of Wang Yuanhua’s birth, to restudy his ideas of jingju. Wang’s thoughts on the revival and development of jingju from the perspective of cultural heritage are highly valuable. He believes that, in terms of moral ideas, jingju is a medium and vehicle in disseminating grand traditions of Chinese culture towards smaller traditions. Meanwhile, considered as a performance system, jingju embodies the “bixing” mindset, the lyrical expression with mind-object interaction, as well as the flexible distance-immersion dynamic among performers and spectators. This results in a complete system of virtuality, conventionalization, and ideographics . He therefore maintains that the guideline of the revival and development of jingju should be innovation based on inheritance. Wang’s views on jingju, which underwent an enduring process, primarily stemmed from his reflections on the controversy of new and old theatre during the May Fourth Movement and the subsequent reforms and new practices in xiqu. Although Wang’s thoughts on jingju reform are more preliminary than active, less constructive than destructive, they indeed point a direction for further reflection. 

Key words

Wang Yuanhua / ideas of jingju / moral ideas / performance system; xiqu reform

Cite this article

Download Citations
Li Wei. On Wang Yuanhua's Ideas of Jingju and His Reflection on the May Fourth Movement [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2021, 41(2): 26-32

Funding

Major Project of National Social Sciences Fund for Art (18ZD05)
PDF(1833 KB)

527

Accesses

0

Citation

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/