Abstract: During the Seventeen Years (1949 - 1966), three intensive discussions on traditional Chinese theatre's reflection of modern life emerged in correspondence to the three pinnacles of modern xiqu creation and performance. Appearing in 1958 and 1960, the first two were derived from the forum of "xiqu reflecting modern life" and the Ministry of Culture's festival of modern xiqu respectively, while the third one took place in 1964, when cities like Beijing and Shanghai held symposiums and the press started columns in cooperation with the nationwide modern xiqu movement. The achievement of these three discussions constituted a comprehensive supplement to and improvement of the theoretical system of xiqu creation after the Qing dynasty. Among the various topics in the dimensions of text and stage, subjects such as "the core elements of modern xiqu's script" and "to inherit and transform traditional conventions of xiqu in the service of reflecting modern life" received considerable attention. These three discussions, on the practical level, provided theoretical guidance for modern xiqu creation; on the level of history of ideas, they served as an arena where the artistic principle and historical materialism of xiqu further came to light by means of debate. In this process, concepts of xiqu, as both theoretical foundation and aesthetic criterion, exerted an invisible influence and were in turn reexamined and recognized among the Chinese intelligentsia.

Key words: the Seventeen Years, xiqu reflecting modern life, convention, new tunes, historical materialism of xiqu