Birth of Asian Drama “All the world is a stage,

And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts. . .”

—William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Presented by Yi Liu, Wenjia Liu

Asian drama, dramatic works produced in the East. 

The three major Asian dramas—Sanskrit, Chinese,  Japanese

Sanskrit is the oldest.

Sanskrit Drama •  Sanskrit drama is part of Sanskrit literatur

e, the  classical literature of India. •  Language: they were written mainly in

Sanskrit, but also combine with Prakrit or different forms of vernacular languages.

•  The longest continuous performing tradition of any drama texts in the world: nearly 1200 years

(early centuries B.C. to about A.D. 1100)

•  Beginnings: probably derives from hymns, dance and religious ceremonial.

The playwrights and their works

•  Bhasa (c.3d cent. A.D.):   the earliest known Sanskrit playwright The Vision of Vasavadatta. •  Kalidasa (c. the late 4th to mid 5th cent

A.D.) the most celebrated poet in the

history of India Shakuntala (also The Recognition of

Shakuntala) •  The poet-king Sudraka, Harsha  and

Bhavabhuti. (c.

8th cent. A.D.)

Typical features

•  Religious and supernatural elements; also firmly grounded

 in the real world •  The blending of prose and verse •  The alternation of languages (Sanskrit and

Prakrit) •  No theaters: the plays were performed in the

concert rooms of palaces (rather small) •  The play almost always opens with a prayer and

is followed by a dialogue between the stage manager and

one of the actors, referring to the author and the play.

The themes of the drama

•   Love and heroism are the two most common sources of 

emotion in the plays •  The supernatural elements:

some plays are almost totally concerned with the supernatural

 (Kalidasa's Vikramorvasi)  •  Political and historical

topics (Kalidasa's Malavikagnimitra).  •  Ordinary people (The poet-king Sudraka’s

Mrcchakatika) •  The happy endings: complete absence of tragedy;

death never occurs on the stage ( the religious influence).

Shakuntala शकu$तला

(The Recognition of Shakuntala) by Kalidasa

Of all Sanskrit dramas it is Kalidasa’s Shakuntala that is best known outside India. A Shakuntala manuscript was found in a monastery in coastal China, indicating close cultural ties between China and India. It is even possible that the Sanskrit dramas influenced the development of Chinese theatre during the times when the contacts were most active.

Shakuntala was probably the first Asian drama translated into Western languages. It is also one of the very first Sanskrit works ever translated into English. Shakuntala is probably the most frequently performed Asian play in the West.

（沙恭达罗,迦梨陀娑）

Shakuntala (The Recognition of Shakuntala)

Shakuntala tells about the love of King Dusyanta and a beautiful girl, Shakuntala, who is the foster daughter of a forest hermit (and, in fact, of semi-divine origin). They meet, make love, and engage in a secret marriage. As a token of his love, the king gives Shakuntala a ring. However, owing to a magic trick, the king forgets Shakuntala, and she is taken to the heavens, where she gives birth to the king’s son. Only when the king sees the ring he has given to the girl does he again remember their love. While visiting the heavens, the king meets Shakuntala and their son and they are finally reunited.

Video: http://www.xip.fi/atd/india/sanskrit-

dramas.html

Early chinese drama

Animal movements sing and dance

The development of Chinese drama

• Early times Dance and sing • Nan drama in Song and Yuan dynasty • Yuan drama—the first golden era •  In Ming and Qing drama—another

prosperous time

Song dynasty Za ju : drama, music and dance Nan xi: early southern opera

Background of Nan xi

The Earlist existing complete script of Nan xi

• Top graduate Zhang xie •  male lead:

sheng •  female lead:

dan •  clown

character: chou • 

 Yüan dynasty (1260–1328)-golden age of drama

classical drama time

1,Background 2, Yuan dramatists were “The Four Yuan-Period Masters” 3,classical dramas

Development background • Mongal rule the

country • Abolish the

examination • Scholars social

statue became low

• To avoid penalty and express their unsatisfication

“The Four Yuan-Period Masters”

Guan Hanqing (Kuan Han-ch’ing)-- “Father of Chinese Dramatic Literature”  Dou E yuan (Tou Eh yüan), The Injustice Experienced by Dou E or Snow in Midsummer.

The injustice of DO E

r

•  Dou e was accused of killing her step-father in law. But the officials took the real killers’s money and sentenced Dou e to death.

•  Before the head penalty, she predicts three events will happen because of her innocence

•  The three events really did happen after Dou E's death.

There will be heavy snowfall in the sixth in the midst of summer and the thick snow will cover her dead body. Chuzhou will experience a drought for three years. The three events really did happen after Dou E's death.

Bai pu •   Bai Pu (1226–1306) was a son of an

impoverished civil servant family. His best-known play is Wutong yu (Wu-t’ung yü) or Rain on the Pawlonia Tree. It tells the tragic story of the love of the Tang emperor Ming Huang and his concubine Yang Guifei amid the political intrigues and power play while the Tang dynasty was nearing its end.

 Zheng Guangzu (1280–1330)

an early Taoist-inspired ghost opera is Qiannü lihun (Ch’ian-nü li-hun) or Ciannun sielu irtoaa ruumiista (synopsis)

Ma Zhiyuan •   Ma Zhiyuan is famous for his Taoist

themes, but his well-known play Hangong qiu (Han-kung ch’iu)or Autumn in Han Palace, is based on an ancient, tragic love story with patriotic overtones (synopsis). It has been one of the most beloved Yuan dramas.

The story of the west wings • Writer: wang shi

fu • China’s most

popular love comedy

Ming Dynasty(1368-1644)

During the Ming dynasty the Yuan zaju lost its popularity to the southern forms of operas. The quick and feverish music of the north gave a way to the soft southern melodies. Many regional opera forms evolved. Then, as well as now, the regional styles differed mainly in the dialects in which they are sung, and in their melodies. Otherwise they, more or less, share the same kind of basic aesthetics.

Kun qu and different riginal operas

Japanese Drama

 The No drama was developed in the 14th cent., bringing together elements from the earlier

sarugaku [monkey music猿乐] and  dengaku [rustic music⽥田乐].  

Its invention is attributed to  Kanami

Kiyotsugu (1333-84), while his son Zeami Motokiyo

  (1363–1443) brought the No to its peak of refinement.

No (or Noh) drama 能

Typical features of No

•  No plays are very short, virtually plotless, and tragic in mood. •  Performances of  No plays are highly stylized, and they move  at an extremely slow pace, often stretching a text of two or

three hundred lines into an hour-long stage play.  •  Such performances integrate singing, speech, instrumental music (three drums and a flute), dancing, and mime into a  unity in which no single element dominates.  •  Wooden masks are used by the principal character, women  characters, and old people. •  All the actors traditionally are male. 

•  The playscenter around a single character called the shite. Of secondary 

importance is the waki, who is often a priest and who serves as a foil to the

shite. Both the shite and the waki have one or two attendants. •  There is also a chorus whose sole function is to sing. Frequently 

the chorus sings the lines appropriate for the shite, while he dances or mimes the action. 

•  The usual form of the play is to present two manifestations of the shite.

 In the first part the shite presents a false or disguised appearance.  In the 

second part he presents his true or spiritual self. •   The No stage is a plain platform about 20 ft (6 m) square with

a walkway   leading from the back of the stage to the greenroom.  •  The musicians are placed at the back of

the stage, and the chorus is on   the right. •   The positions of all characters are very precisely set, as is the

stylized movement on stage. 

Video and pictures: http://www.xip.fi/atd/japan/noh-crystallised-

aesthetics.html

 The Kyogen 狂⾔言

•  Developing about the same time as the No was a type of 

short farce known as the Kyogen. The Kyogen are placed 

between No plays as comic relief.  •  They do not use music, take about 20 min to perf

orm, and are broad in their humor.

The Ningyo-shibai [marionettes] 牵线⽊木偶

 and the Kabuki 歌舞伎 •  In the 16th and 17th cent. two forms of drama developed in 

Japan that have since surpassed the aristocratic and difficult

 No drama inpopularity; they are the Ningyo-shibai [marionettes]

 and the Kabuki.  •  Both the Ningyo-shibai and the Kabuki show 

similarities to the 

No in their integration of movement, music, and language. Also, like the No, the Kabuki uses only male  actors, even for 

female roles.  •  However, both the Ningyo-

shibai and Kabuki place greater emphasis on excitement and conflict in the plot.

The Development of Kabuki •  The Kabuki uses more characters than the No, features much st

age  action as opposed to the stately slow movement of the 

No, and avoids the use of recondite symbolism and allusion that frequently make the No

  a puzzle.  •  The most popular play in the Kabuki repertoire is a revenge

play entitled   The Treasury of  Loyal Retainers.  •  One interesting facet of Kabuki: The Kabuki stage is marked by a walkway (hanamici花道), which extends 

from the stage into the audience and to the back of the auditorium. 

•  The Kabuki, both in classical and modernized form, continues to be 

popular in Japan while the No is restricted to a few theatrical groups

  and is often obscure even to Japanese.

References

•  http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Asian+drama

•  http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Sanskrit+literature

•  http://www.xip.fi/atd/india/sanskrit-dramas.html

Thank you