CHINESE DRAMA Like the Indian drama, the Chinese arose from the union of the arts of dance and song. To the ballets and pantomimes out of which it slowly developed, and which have continued to flourish by the side of its more advanced forms, the Chinese ascribe a primitive antiquity of origin ; many of them originally had a sym bolical reference to such subjects as the harvest, and war and peace. A very ancient pantomime is said to have symbolized the conquest of China by Wu-Wang.
There are traditions which carry back the characters of the Chinese drama to the 18th century before the Christian era. Others declare the emperor Wan-Te (fl. about A.D. 58o) to have invented the drama; but this honour is more usually given to the emperor Yuen-Tsung (A.D. 72o).
The second period is that of the Sung dynasty, from 96o to I I 19. The plays of this period are called Hi-Khio, and presented a principal personage who sings.
The justly famous Pi-Pa-Ki (The Story of the Lute) was com posed towards the close of the 24th century by Kao-Tong-Kia, and reproduced in 1404, under the Ming dynasty, with the altera tions of Mao-Tseu, a commentator of learning and taste. Pi Pa-Ki, as a domestic drama of sentiment, possesses very high merit, and is regarded as the masterpiece of the Chinese theatre. The fourth period, under the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), de veloped little that was new.
Free in its choice of themes, the Chinese drama is likewise remarkably unrestricted in its range of characters. Chinese society, it is well known, is not based, like Indian, upon the principle of caste ; rank in China is determined by office, and this again depends on the results of examination. The Tchoang-Yuen, or senior class man on the list of licentiates, is the flower of Chinese society, and the hero of many a drama. But of mere class the Chinese drama is no respecter, painting with noteworthy freedom the virtues and the vices of nearly every phase of society.
The conduct of the plays exhibits much ingenuity, and an aver sion from restrictions of time and place. The plays are divided into acts and scenes—the former being usually four in number, at times with an induction or narrative prologue spoken by some of the characters (Sie-Tsen). Favourite plays were, however, allowed to extend to great length; the Pi-Pa-Ki is divided into 24 sections, and in another recension apparently comprised 42.
One peculiarity of the Chinese drama remains to be noticed. The chief character of a play represents the author as well as the personage ; he or she is hero or heroine and chorus in one. He or she sings the poetical passages, or those containing maxims of wisdom and morality. If this personage dies in the course of the play, another sings in his place. In these lyrical or didactic pas sages are to be sought those flowers of diction which, as Julien has shown, consist partly in the use of a metaphorical phraseology of infinite nicety in its variations. These features constitute the literary element par excellence of Chinese dramatic composition. A careful study of the Chinese drama will show that it possesses merits of constructional ingenuity and variety of character well presenting pathos, grace and delicacy of treatment, humour and burlesque. Scenic decorations of any importance were always out of question in the Chinese theatre. The costumes, on the other hand, are magnificent ; they are traditionally those worn before the 17th century, in accordance with the historical colouring of most of the plays. The actor's profession was not a respectable one in China, but under the Republic conditions are changing rapidly.