TERMBASES
Zaju, a unique dramatic genre of the Yuan Dynasty, grew
out of the northern zaju of the
earlier Song Dynasty. Originally drawing on popular local performing styles of
the north, it later absorbed zhugongdiao,
a kind of song-speech drama with mixed modes of musical tunes, as well as
scores / scripts performed in brothels by courtesans of the Jin Dynasty.
Well-known playwrights like Guan Hanqing in the early Yuan period refined and
formalized these various styles into this unique dramatic genre. Zaju is made up of four acts, each with
sets of songs starting from the same gongdiao note, and sung by the principal female or male performers. The gongdiao note changes with each act. The
plots are complete and well-constructed, while the lively and interesting
characters rely on a rich repertoire of dramatic gestures and expressions.
Dadu, capital of the Yuan Dynasty, was a prosperous center of economic activity
where scholars and performers mingled well, which encouraged the rapid growth
of the zaju genre. However, the style
declined together with the Yuan Dynasty and by the following Ming Dynasty, it
had been replaced by other operatic and performing genres.