The heritage of kunqu: Preserving music and theater traditions in China

Abstract

Kunqu (pronounced kwun-chü) is a form of Chinese musical theater. The first syllable of the name is derived from the name of its birthplace Kunshan, a small city in the Lower Yangzi region, situated between Shanghai and Suzhou. The second syllable, "qu," denotes either aria lyrics, a vocal style, an aria repertory, or a type of musical theater, depending on contexts. As musical theater, kunqu rose to a dominant position on the national stage around the mid-sixteenth century when the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) was at the height of its glory. The Ming had remarkable achievements in culture and the arts, and Ming skills in printing and the manufacture of porcelain and silk reached high technical achievements. Flourishing commerce in the Ming period created a new level of prosperity and supported a sophisticated urban life in which kunqu formed an important component. The Ming were succeeded by the Manchu, who subsequently established the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). The Manchu realized that in order to rule China as a minority, they must uphold China's traditional beliefs, cultural values and social structure, and thus kunqu, as an important cultural component, managed to survive the Manchu rule well into the nineteenth century. By the middle part of that century, however, rapid social changes and widespread rebellions severely challenged the Manchu rule and destroyed kunqu's patronage bases in the Lower Yangzi region, and kunqu suffered a steep decline. Around the same period, a new popular musical theater evolved in the northern capital Beijing and gradually eclipsed kunqu's national dominance because it was patronized first by the common people and later by the Qing court. This new theater is known as Jingju in China, or as Peking Opera in the West. In spite of various challenges, nevertheless, kunqu has never become totally extinct. Particularly in its old patronage base in the Lower Yangzi region around Kunshan, Suzhou, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, it continues to be practiced and enjoyed today, albeit in much reduced circumstances compared to its heyday (Fig. 2.1). Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the government has assumed the role of patron and teacher of the arts, kunqu included. The government-sponsored kunqu training institutes for actors and performing troupes until the eve of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when the radical elements in Chinese politics, led by Mao Zedong (1893-1976) and his wife Jiang Qing (1914-1991) - who advocated continuous revolution and class struggle - decreed the closing of all Party and educational institutions and censored all traditional theaters, literature, and the arts because they were regarded as feudal and poisonous. After the Cultural Revolution, a new leadership reestablished all institutions that were closed, revived traditional arts, and adopted some measures of economic reform that encouraged investments from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the West. This open-door policy allowed some elements of Western popular culture to slip into China. The younger generation who grew up after the Cultural Revolution found Western popular culture irresistible, and kunqu, together with other traditional theaters, was ignored by the young audience. In 1999, China, represented by its Ministry of Culture, was among the first group of nations to submit a proposal to UNESCO to designate kunqu, China's most enduring living musical and dramatic heritage, as a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity." In its proposal, the Chinese Ministry of Culture guaranteed that the heritage would be protected and perpetuated. Based on international experts' judgment, UNESCO proclaimed kunqu in 2001 as such a heritage. In its proposal to UNESCO, the Chinese Ministry of Culture emphasized the preservation of the oral performance heritage of kunqu on stage. Similarly, in many Chinese or Western writings on kunqu, the development of kunqu as theater was emphasized. In this chapter, I wish to present a more complete picture of the totality of the kunqu heritage, particularly the role it played in the lives of Chinese cultural elites and their contributions to the scholarship of kunqu during the Ming and Qing periods. I will also point out the ramifications of the UNESCO award in kunqu based on my fieldwork in several cities in China (Suzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing) since the UNESCO award. © 2009 Springer Science Business Media, LLC.