THE CHINESE DRAMA.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 36, 5 September 1891, Page 339

THE CHINESE DRAMA.

we are to *’ e ** eve Chinese traditions the drama Ml 4? China originated eons and eons ago, long bey fore the creation of the world, according to ac--11 oO cepted Biblical teaching. There is scarcely an v art or profession that the Chinese do not claim was in a flourishing and advanced stage thou- . sands of years before the birth of Christ. Printing, according to them, was in its perfection ages before Guttenberg, Faust and Caxton introduced it to the Western World. The knowledge of .Esculapius was rudimentary compared to the attainments of their physicians and men of medicine. But to be accurate the drama in China was probably instituted by Heun Tsung, who was the Emperor of the Celestial Kingdom about the year 720 A.D. Some give the honour to Wan Te, who reigned about 580 A.D., but the first-named date is the more conservative and generally accepted. Of course representations on the stage were known many years ere this. Gorgeous ballets and fantastic pantomimes amused theatre-goers for a number of years before the production of any legitimate drama was attempted. In fact, the first drama was a sort of mixture of pantomime and ballet, and was an attempt to portray before the footlights of those days, the conquest of China by Won Wang. It was a play in which the actors spoke all their parts and was piobably as rude a production as can well be imagined. Later, it became the fashion for the petformers to sing or chant in a falsetto voice many of their lines, particularly the finer passages and poetical phrases. This style has obtained to the present day. Another curious point about the Chinese stage is that the law of the land does not permit women to act. In the seaport towns, however, such as Hongkong, and in the Chinese theatres of Singapore, etc., females have found their way before the footlights. In the Flowery Kingdom the actor’s is not an honourable profession, albeit a profitable ene. The reason for this is that actors are usually purchased, from their parents when mere infants and instructed in the mysteries of the calling. Consequently they occupy almost the same position as slaves. After passing through the vestibule of a Chinese theatre and entering the auditorium where the play is proceeding, one comes in view of a crowd of Mongolians, most of whom stand up, although there are plenty ot seats. There is no distinction of location and the coolie may occupy a better place than the merchant at the same price, providing he arrives early enough. ‘ First come, first served,’ is emphatically the rule. Hats are never removed by their weaiers and smoking is indulged in until the place is filled with the odorous fog of a thousand bad cigars. Up near the ceiling on either side of the stage, are boxes for the accommodation of women, who are not permitted to occupy seats with the men. The play— usually some historical drama —has probably commenced some time befoie you enter. Nearly every Chinese play is founded on the quarrels of kings or the disputes of petty dignitaries. They aie in the main historical. Consequently there is very little of the comedy element in them, and the passions of love and hate have only a very slight hold on the Chinese author’s attention. If the pieces are not historical, ten to one they are based on some religious theme. The words of the actors, whether chanted or spoken, are accompanied by the incessant din of the orchestra, which is located on the back part of the stage. The most prominent instruments are the cymbals. They are huge concerns and look like the great lids of a brass wash-boiler. The man who plays them puts his whole soul into the effort, and the amount of noise he can make is something to be wondered at with fear and trembling. The man with the fiddle is an untiring artist, who manages to make his instrument, which resembles a collar-box on the end of a cane, emit the most piercing, shrieking, squeaking sounds. Another man plays a squatty-looking banjo with a short neck, and a fourth alternately beats a wooden block and a very shrill drum with a pair of enlarged chopsticks. Music? Well it is no doubt music to the Mongolian ear, and possibly Wagner might have appreciated it. The audience receive the efforts of the actors with faces that quickly show the signs of their owner’s approval or disgust, but there is no hand clapping or other audible applause, and a funny sally is received with a grin or two, with perhaps a grunt now and again. But the Chinese are keen critics and a poor actor is soon retired. The costumes are magnificent. They ate of the richest brocades, silks and satins, embroidered heavily with gold and silver lace. When a celebrated play like that of the ‘ Six Kings ’ is put on, the display is dazzling. Realism has made but scant progress in the Thespian circles of the Chinese. If a man is supposed to mount a horse on the stage he simply throws one leg into the air as though over a horse’s back and walks off. There is no drop curtain, and a man who dies or is killed on the stage is very apt to get up and walk off the next moment in plain view of the audience.

As a rule, contracts are made for a year, and half of the money must be paid in advance. Besides his salary, every actor is furnished with a room in the theatre building, his washing is done for him, and three times a day cooked rice is sent to him. Anything extra that he orders is prepared at his own expense and placed on a plate that bears his name. Every night after 12 o’clock he must have a supper, and he bears in this a strong resemblance to white players. A Chinese actor never attends a rehearsal on the stage. He is taught the conventional way to play his part and knows exactly what he has to do when before the audience if he is a good actor. This precludes the possibility of new business, and ‘ gags ’ are a monstrosity unknown to Chinese theatres.