Different from the traditional Confucian scholar's "solemnity", Guan Hanqing is a charming, "no three no four" "book club talent" with rich experience. He worked as a doctor and served as a doctor of the Jin dynasty. Gold was destroyed by Yuan, and Yuan designated "Han people" as the third class; Besides, the literati in the Yuan Dynasty were in a low position, and most of them could not realize their ambitions politically, so they had to enter the lower-level organizations of literati and artists such as the street book club to write scripts or scripts to show their talents. Guan Hanqing, who has no chance or intention of official career, is the most famous talent in the Yujing Book Club. Guan Hanqing is knowledgeable, witty, good at singing and dancing, and fluent in music. He was a screenwriter, an actor and a troupe leader in Yuanqu. At that time, the identities of prostitutes and actresses often overlapped, so Guan Hanqing, who wandered around the rivers and lakes, still got along well with prostitutes, and Zhu Lianxiu, an actress who was closely related to him, was not a good woman. It seems that he is proud of his status as a "husband leader" and a "prodigal son". He once called himself a "copper pea", which is a ridiculous name for old clients. However, he is "Guan Hanqing is like a copper pea that can't be steamed, cooked, beaten, fried and smashed". There is helplessness, unyielding heart, and romantic self-appreciation, which also shows his humorous talent.
Many of Guan Hanqing's plays are comedies. For example, Wangjiang Pavilion, which has been handed down to this day, is a comedy that satirizes Yang Yanzi, a lecherous and greedy man. Even in his tragic masterpiece "Dou E Yuan" created in his later years, there are often gags and satires.
The Injustice of Dou E is Guan Hanqing's masterpiece, which tells about the grievances of a woman named Dou E. Dou E's father, a poor scholar Dou Tianzhang, entrusted his daughter to Cai Popo, a usurer, before going to Beijing to take the exam. Dou E actually paid off debts and became the daughter-in-law of Cai Popo. After her husband died, she lived with her mother-in-law. Cai Popo, a usurer, was almost killed when she was chasing debts, but fortunately she was saved by Zhang Lver and his son. Unexpectedly, when the father and son heard that Cai's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were widows, two widowers, one old and one young, took it upon themselves to match their mother-in-law:
(Zhang Lveryun) Dad, did you hear what he said? He had a daughter-in-law in his family, and he had to thank me for saving his life. If you don't want this woman, I want her, so how convenient it is. You tell him. (Bo Laoyun) That mother-in-law, you have no husband and I have no family. Would you like to be a wife with me? (Bo Er Cloud) What are you talking about? When I get home, I'll prepare more money to thank you. (Zhang Lveryun) Don't you dare to cheat me with money on purpose. Dr. Selu's rope is still there. I'll still strangle you.
This is an absurd and unreasonable request, but Zhang Donkey speaks eloquently. The author writes simply and naturally, and Zhang Donkey's rogue face has jumped to the page. Cai's mother-in-law was forced to agree, and Dou E resolutely refused. Zhang Donkey tried to kill Dou E with medicine, but his father ate by mistake and died of poisoning. Zhang Lver bribed corrupt officials, and Dou E was beheaded on the charge of killing her father-in-law with medicine. Guan Hanqing's satire on corrupt officials is also penetrating. He arranged for this person to kneel down to the complainant on the stage, because he thought that "but it was my parents who complained" and he could ask the plaintiff and the defendant for bribes to collect money.
However, Dou E Yuan is still a tragedy full of sadness. Dou E, who was wronged, made three vows to vindicate himself when he was executed: First, "I don't want half a star of blood spilled in the world of mortals, but I only practice hanging in the eight-foot flag", vowing that my blood would never flow into the ground, but all of it would be splashed with high-hanging white flags; Second, in the summer of execution, it rained "three feet of snow" to cover her body; The third is the local "three years of drought". Dou E's oath was indignant and sad, and all of it was fulfilled three years later, and her grievances were finally cleared up.
Doue Yuan is a tragedy, Wangjiang Pavilion is a comedy, and Single Knife Club is a historical drama. Dou E Yuan and Wang Jiang Ting reveal the characteristics of Guan Hanqing's writing about women and her psychology, while Single Knife Meeting shows that Guan Hanqing is also "good at writing about landslides with great momentum". "Single Knife Club" is a story about Guan Yu, a hero in the Three Kingdoms. He crossed the river alone and went to the enemy camp for dinner, and returned safely with martial arts and wit. Guan Yu's aria when he crossed the river is very famous:
The great river east went to the waves for thousands of times, leading these dozens of people to drive this boat for a leaf. It's no worse than the nine dragons and dragons, but it's the den of thousands of tigers and wolves. Don't be a gentleman. I think this single knife will be like a village club.
Guan Yu knows that he is going to the "Tiger and Wolf Cave", but he only regards this trip as a contest during daily festivals, which shows his heroic bearing. However, in the face of the surging river, I think of the battle for more than 2 years, the death of powerful opponents and my allies, and I have a strong historical feeling:
(Cloud) What a beautiful river view. (Singing) [Listening to the horse] Where is the young Zhou Lang? I don't think it's gone. Poor Huang Gai turned to hurt, breaking Cao's embarrassment for a while. The river of the soldiers is still hot, which makes me feel miserable. (Cloud) This is not a river either. (Singing) Twenty years of endless heroic blood!
Zhou Lang and Huang Gai mentioned in this lyric were great names of the State of Wu in the Three Kingdoms period. Twenty years ago, Guan Yu's Shu joined forces with the State of Wu and defeated the soldiers of Wei under the command of Cao Cao in the Battle of Red Cliffs. Twenty years later, Zhou Yu and Huang Gai are no longer alive, and wars have been going on for twenty years, and the blood of heroes is "inexhaustible".
As a result of creating a tragedy with the color of "accusation" like Dou E Yuan, people often pay attention to Guan Hanqing's power of "criticizing reality", but ignore the characteristics of his drama. In fact, humorous teasing is the basic spirit of China's plays. China's plays began with the performances of excellent people, who mainly used verbal allegories to make people laugh and dance. Before Yuan Zaju, Tang Shenjun's plays and Song Zaju were all good at teasing and funny. Guan Hanqing developed this characteristic, and he combined Zhuang with harmony. This is similar to Shakespeare (1564-1616), who came out 35 years later than him. Laughing, cursing and gagging can be seen everywhere in their plays, and the tragic scenes that are earth-moving and solemn are also perfectly constructed. This is about the * * * characteristics of the genius who lives in this kind of "theater". They have a clear and thorough sense of existence, and at the same time they can transcend the joys and sorrows of the moment, get involved in it, and get out of it. As far as their fundamental contribution to Chinese drama is concerned, they also have similarities. The system of Zaju in Yuan Dynasty is very strict. Generally, it takes "one wedge and four folds" as a drama. Wedges are mostly used to lead out the plot at the beginning of the drama. "Folds" are divided according to the number of sets of "official tunes" in China's drama music, which is simply the number of times of the drama. The system of Yuan Zaju was initiated by Guan Hanqing. As for Shakespeare's contribution, which initiated a new era of western literature and art, we won't go into details.