In the second year of Wanli (1574), he was a scholar, and once served as the director of the Ministry of War, and the official seal inspection department, such as Yuan Wailang. In the fourteenth year of Wanli, I requested to set up a storage order, moved to the left to the pedestrian department of the official department, and sent it back to Li. In the sixteenth year of Wanli, he returned to the DPRK and was promoted to Guanglu Temple. The following year, he served as the examiner of Shuntian Township Examination. He resigned and returned to his hometown because of an attack on fraud in the examination hall. Because Shen Z was an official in the official department and Guanglu Temple, people called him "Shen Official Department" and "Shen Guanglu". After living at home for 3 years, he devoted himself to the study of lyrics and music, textual research on melody, and explored and discussed the study of melody with famous composers Wang Jide, Lv Tiancheng and Gu Dadian at that time, and made some achievements in the study of melody. Influence
Shen Z was the leader of Wujiang School, and he had a great influence in the opera circle at that time. In view of the phenomena such as showing off learning, using allusions and being unfamiliar with metrical patterns in legendary creation, Shen Z put forward the ideas of "conforming to the law and conforming to the tune" and "being out of the way", and compiled the score of thirteen tunes in Nanjiugong as a norm. Wu Jiang Opera Troupe headed by Shen Z and Linchuan Opera Troupe Tang Xianzu, who advocated talent and intelligence, once had a difficult debate on various issues of opera creation for some time.
based on Jiang Xiao's Nanjiugong Qupu and Shisandiaopu, Nanjiugong Qupu (hereinafter referred to as Nanqupu) is a collection of traditional tunes of Nanqu, with detailed format and rhythm. There are many other works by Shen Z, such as On Six Ci Poems, When Singing Songs, and Zheng Wu Bian, which are no longer in existence today. The legendary "Bo Xiao Ji" is accompanied by the famous essay "Erlang Shen", which briefly explains the importance of "conforming to the law and keeping the tune" and "the poet should act and the singer should keep the tune" in popular language. According to Wang Jide's Qulv, Shen Z even advocated "observing the Xielv without working". Shen Z's theory of temperament is of positive significance for correcting the shortcomings of being out of tune and off stage in legendary creation, thus having a considerable impact. However, Shen Z's theory of temperament is inevitably too trivial, and it is easy to bind the author's talent.
Shen z's idea of "being unsociable and being true to nature" is helpful to correct the trend of being beautiful and decadent. However, his understanding of "true colors" is limited to "Mo Le's household words", which is one-sided; He admired the "current nature" of Yuan drama language, but he only stayed on pondering a few words, which was rather superficial. Legends
There are 17 kinds of legends written by Shen Z, which are collectively called "Legends of Yutang", and there are 7 existing ones: The Story of Red Pin, The Story of Pisces, The Story of Taofu, A Kind of Love (that is, The Story of Falling Hairpin), The Story of Burying Sword, The Story of chivalry and The Story of Bo Xiao.
The Story of Hong Hong is Shen Z's first novel, in which scholars Zheng Delin and Cui Xizhou met with salt merchant's daughters Wei Chuyun and Zeng Liyu because they were berthing at the Dongting Lake, and presented each other with red Hong, red silk and red notes. After many twists and turns, they became husband and wife. The content is not out of the old-fashioned talent and beauty, and the artistic technique is also related to the disease of coincidence. This play has two characteristics: strictly observing the rules and carving words and sentences. The former is the embodiment of Shen Z's idea of "conforming to the law and conforming to the cavity", while the latter is not in line with Shen Z's later idea of the true nature of language, so Shen Z is not satisfied with it. At that time, people had different opinions on The Story of Hong Peng. Wang Jide attached great importance to its strict observance of melody, saying, "Ci is legendary, and it should be called' red' as the first word." However, Xu Fu-zuo thought that "he was always detained by the law, so he was no longer smooth". Poems and four or six sentences are easy to use in the play, and the names of medicines, songs, five elements, five colors, eight tones and eight songs are used to dazzle people's eyes and ears. It shows that Shen Z's early creation was once influenced by the beautiful atmosphere.
From A Tale of Pisces and A Kind of Love, we can see the change of Shen Z's language style from parallel beauty to natural color. "Water Margin" drama "Chivalrous Xia Ji" is a masterpiece of Shen Z after changing the style of Qing Li. It was written from Wu Song's farewell to Chai Jin, and the story content includes killing tigers, killing sisters-in-law, cross slope, happy forest, Feiyunpu, Yuanyang Building and casting Liangshan Mountain, until Wu Song and Song Jiang were equally embraced. The basic plot is consistent with the story of Wu Song in the novel Water Margin. The fourth play "Eliminating the Fierce" to the eighteenth play "Snow Hate" describes Wu Song from killing tigers to killing Ximen Qing, which is a wonderful part of the whole play. The author sympathizes with Wu Song's repeated victimization and cornering, praises his revenge for his brother, and tries to portray the face of Wu Song in this respect. In the play, Shen Z emphasizes that the purpose of the gathering is "loyalty and justice" and waiting for "peace". It is proposed that subjects should abide by the creed of "loyalty and filial piety" and "faithfulness and faithfulness", while owners should be able to "never abandon people". This is the reflection of Shen Z's ideal of "peaceful politics" in the play, and it is also the main theme of The Heroes.
Shen Z's works have a lot of propaganda on feudal ethics and morality, and there are also many fatalistic thoughts. Burying the Sword is based on Niu Su's Biography of Wu Baoan in the Tang Dynasty, and it describes the close friendship between scholar Guo Feiqing and Wu Yonggu's friends, with the purpose of promoting the feudal ethics principle of "reaching the Tao □ ethics, always being new in the end". The story of Hong Mi, The Story of Tao Fu, A Kind of Love and The Story of Pisces are all permeated with the fatalistic thought of life and death, and marriage is predestined.
Bo Xiao Ji is special in system. It consists of ten stories, each with a discount of 3% to 4%. Although the author draws materials from the perspective of "ridiculous and strange", there are some short plays that reflect certain social reality, such as "Sleeping in the Sun with Zuo County", which satirizes the fatuity of officials who are sleepy all day long, and "It's hard to recover from illness" which exposes the hypocrisy of Buddhism.
On the whole, Shen Z's achievements in Qu Xue are better than his creative achievements, and there is a gap between his theory of Qu Xue and his creative practice. At the beginning, Ling□ criticized his work, "Being careful about the law and being short on talent, but also knowing that it is not appropriate to use practical expressions. He wants to be the master of the family, but he can't, but he can't ..." ("Tan Qu Zaza"), which is inherently harsh, but it is to the point.
Shen z, the "leader of the Qutan" in Ming dynasty
Today, anyone who knows a little about the history of literature knows the name of Tang Xianzu. However, in the drama circle in the middle of Ming Dynasty, Tang Xianzu's name may not have another name-Shen Z is loud. Shen Z's name can be seen everywhere in the extant works of traditional Chinese opera after the middle of Ming Dynasty, and his works are praised. His theoretical opinions are often quoted. Some praise his legendary "the contribution of rejuvenating the country is indispensable" in Ming Dynasty, while others call him "the leader of the opera circle". He and his works are always arranged on the right side of Tang Xianzu. All this shows that he had a great influence at that time.
from a young scholar to an abandoned official
In the thirty-second year of Jiajing (1553), Shen Z was born in Wujiang County, not far from Suzhou City. Wujiang county is also called Songling town, which is close to the beautiful Taihu Lake. The canal flows outside the city, and the rivers cross and cross, showing the beautiful scenery of the water town everywhere. Shen Kan, the father of Shen Z, has been pedaling in the examination hall for many years, but he has no chance of fame. His son is naturally his hope. Perhaps just to give him a chance, Shen Z was very motivated to study. At the age of 21, he took the Yingtian Township Examination and won the 17th place in the examination. At the age of 22, he took part in the examination, ranked third, and took the second place in the court examination, and successfully became a juvenile Jinshi.
Shen Z worked in the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Ritual and the Ministry of Official Affairs successively, and his official position was also promoted from the principal to Yuan Wailang. However, at the age of 34, his official career suffered a setback: Emperor Wanli loved Zheng Guifei, delayed the establishment of the Crown Prince and did not give the title to Wang Gongfei, who gave birth to the prince. Some courtiers were afraid that the emperor would do something against the etiquette. Have remonstrated, demanding the title of Prince Wang Gongfei, Shen Z also gave the emperor a sparse, thus angered the emperor, was demoted to the second level, and was ordered to leave the capital and go back to his hometown for business.
in 1582, in the tenth year of Wanli in Ming dynasty, Shen z was transferred to the seal inspection department of the official department as a foreign minister. Shen Z has been a scholar since mid-1574 and has been an official in Beijing for 8 years. He has gone through several departments and held several positions.
after he was a scholar, he first worked as a trainee in the Ministry of War. Soon after, he was officially appointed as the head of the staff department. The Ministry of Military Affairs is mainly in charge of military and political affairs, maps, expeditions, town defense and other affairs, and it is necessary to have a good understanding of the military situation in all parts of the country. Although Shen Z was successful as a teenager, he did not show his arrogance, but worked very diligently for the Ming Dynasty. In order to get familiar with the affairs as soon as possible, Shen Z transcribed the names of some important frontier fortresses and guarding generals one by one and put them in the jacket pocket for future reference and memory. Sometimes, when a subordinate is looking through the information to find the resume of a general officer, when he is very busy, he goes forward, asks his name, thinks a little, and then blurts it out. Its familiarity has amazed subordinates.
due to his hard work, at the age of 27 in 1579, he was transferred to the etiquette department of the Ministry of Rites and promoted to Yuanwailang. As the busiest department in the Ritual Department, the Ritual Department is responsible for issuing ceremonial ceremonies, distinguishing clan seals, and fixing crown clothes, and its affairs are very complicated. Instead of slacking off, Shen Z is hands-on. He even does small things such as collating and recording the files of Zongfan, and never rashly lets ordinary people handle them. Once, an elderly petty official tried to pick up a document and proofread it. As a result, he caught his tongue and backed out.
in 1581, 29-year-old Shen z was transferred to the official department and served as a foreign minister of Ji Xun. In the second year, he was transferred to the examination department of the official department as a foreign minister. No matter which department he goes to, he is loyal to his duties as always. Mr. Yuan Wailang of the Seal Inspection Department is an official position in charge of examining officials. Always pay attention to the visit and find recommended talents everywhere.
during Shen z's tenure, an important event happened in the imperial court. Emperor Wanli's empress did not have a prince, while Wang Gongfei gave birth to Zhu Changluo in the 1th year of Wanli, and Zheng Guifei gave birth to Zhu Changxun in the 14th year of Wanli. However, the emperor doted on Zheng Guifei, and delayed the establishment of the Crown Prince, nor did he give birth to the title of Wang Gongfei, the eldest prince. Some courtiers, headed by Shen Shixing, the assistant minister, were afraid that the emperor would do something against the etiquette, so they remonstrated in succession, demanding that Zhu Changluo be made prince and Wang Gongfei be named imperial concubine.
Shen Z, as an official of the imperial court, was thinking about the future of the country and didn't stay out of it. In February 1586, he also gave the emperor a favor, agreeing with Shen Shixing's request. He called on the emperor to "set a big book and make a detailed ceremony to consolidate the country's pulse" and "ask Wang Gongfei to be named". Therefore, he angered the emperor, was punished by three levels of demotion, and was reduced from Yuan Wailang to pedestrian secretary Zheng, and sent him back to Wujiang, his hometown, which actually kicked him out of the capital with dignity. This is Shen Z's first setback in his official career.
fortunately, this setback didn't last long. A year later, Emperor Wanli read Shen Z as a loyal minister, and he was re-employed, and was appointed as the examiner after having obtained the provincial examination in Shuntian, who was the official in charge of invigilation. In August of the following year, he was promoted to Zhengqing of Guanglu Temple, which was in charge of offering sacrifices, feasting and dining at the court, repairing reserves and respecting his position as a cashier. Not only a doctor in Chaolie, but also a close minister of the emperor.
At this time, Shen Zan, Shen Z's eldest brother, was a scholar in high school this year and was the director of Jiangxi Department of Nanjing Criminal Department. My younger brother, Shen can, was admitted to Zhejiang Wu Jieyuan and was appointed as the general manager of the Chinese army under the Taitou camp.
The three rising stars of Shen Shi aristocratic family "Z", "Jun" and "Ladies" shine brilliantly and complement each other, and their father's wish has come true.
From being idle in the wind and cloud to being addicted to opera
After experiencing all kinds of risks in his official career, Shen Z has become indifferent to politics. After returning to his hometown, he decided to be idle in the wind and cloud, and he wrote the word "Shui Diao Ge Tou Jing Wu": "When will everything be enough, the sun and the moon will start from the west. In the infinite universe, people are like grains of rice in a warehouse. One ge and one Qiu are old, and one bowl and one bottle are all day long, which is the old family style. More with a glass of wine, I dream of the Great Huai Palace. ..... "He's going to be a man of freedom and seclusion.
living in the countryside, he became interested in the opera activities in his hometown. Suzhou is known as the hometown of song and dance, so is Wujiang County. There are many opera performances here, including family performances and folk performances. The former is like Gu Dadian, "the family has a Qing business", "or making new sounds and being orchestral" (Pan Changzhang's Songling Literature, Volume 9); There are more folk performances, either commercial performances by professional class clubs, or drama activities during festivals and festivals. Suzhou is even more popular in performing operas every day and singing every night. Under the artistic influence of this "hometown of singing and dancing", Shen Z embarked on the road of opera creation and research.
at first, Shen z only engaged in opera activities with Gu Dadian, who owns music. The latter is also a retired official. Both of them are in the same situation. They "sang in harmony with each other, and the people in the city admired their romantic life, and the prostitutes built more voices from the second public" (ibid.). Li Hong said in the preface to Shen Z's "The Thirteen Tunes of South Jiugong": Shen Z "Although he doesn't eat wine, he has always been a companion of Levin, going in and out of wine clubs, and smelling good things, and everyone belongs to harmony." Not only that, but he also made his debut. According to his student and friend Lu Tiancheng, in Qupin, he said: "He has a wonderful understanding of the melody, and his brother and sister make their debut every * * *; Elegant words, when recruiting monks and prostitutes to drink "; Wang Jide, his friend, said in Qulv that he "had a penchant for words all his life, talked about the melody, analyzed it, and kept silent all day". From these records, we can see Shen Z's fascination with traditional Chinese opera. It can be seen that it is no accident that Shen Z has made great achievements in opera creation and research.
In the study of the history of classical literature and traditional Chinese opera in the past 4 years, the dispute between Tang and Shen has been a hot topic. Indeed, Tang Xianzu and Shen Z have obvious differences in artistic views, but how do we evaluate their respective artistic views? I'm afraid we should also put them in a specific historical environment for dialectical analysis. From the perspective of the function of literature to society, Tang Xianzu put forward the distinction between "emotion" and "reason" and the proposition that "emotion will prevail", while Shen Z devoted himself to the discussion of the internal laws of traditional Chinese opera art. In fact, the emphasis of their creation is really different. Tang Xianzu not only created operas, but also wrote poems and poems, and wrote many letters to discuss society, life and thoughts with friends. What Shen Z has achieved is mainly opera. In terms of drama alone, Shen Z is far ahead of Tang Xianzu in number. He has created 16 kinds of legends belonging to Yutang, which is the largest number of writers in the Ming Dynasty. He has compiled a number of works, such as Nanjiugong Thirteen Tunes Music Score, Zunzhi Zhengwu Compilation, Singing Songs as Knowing, On Six Ci Poems, Nanci Rhyme Selection, Beici Rhyme Selection and so on. To put it simply, Shen Z's contribution to the art of traditional Chinese opera lies in vigorously advocating "the song on the field" and practicing it with his own creation.
In the early Yuan Dynasty, a large number of playwrights lived in the market, and they were familiar with the stage rules of traditional Chinese opera performances in Washe Goulan. Therefore, the zaju they created was not only literary, but also in line with the stage rules, and it was a "song on the field". However, in the early Ming Dynasty, intellectuals were able to obtain high-ranking officials and rich salaries through the imperial examination system, and the number of opera writers dropped sharply. Some bureaucratic literati who got their hands on opera were far away from the practice of the opera stage, and their works became "desk works". Their words were elegant and elegant, lacking drama, and it was difficult to perform on the stage. Under this specific historical condition, Shen Z took the lead in advocating "the song on the field", and he carefully studied and put forward the theory that is conducive to the traditional Chinese opera to get out of the "desk" performance.
Shen z's drama theory includes two aspects: the theory of meter and the theory of true colors. In fact, these two aspects are closely related and inseparable. First of all, the metrical theory starts with the internal law of traditional Chinese opera art, which requires that traditional Chinese opera can be performed in various fields. China's traditional operas have their own unique laws, and the writing of songs is one of its important laws. Traditional Chinese opera is different from western opera. The latter is that drama writers create lyrics and musicians compose music, while traditional Chinese opera has no musicians to compose music.