The topic of investigation is to determine whether the modernizations of Chinese operas justifiably portrayed China. The investigation will focus on Chinese operas from 1949-1976 and the government’s involvement during the Culture Revolution. Mao’s motivations to reform China are considered within this investigation and the relation between are explored.
The two main sources selected for evaluation, Chinese Perspectives in Rhetoric and Communication by D. Ray Heisey and Red Azalea written by Anchee Min, will be evaluated for their origins, purposes, limitations, and values.
Traditional Chinese operas played a significant role in the lives of the Chinese. Operas were inspiring, entertaining, and very popular for people of all ages and all levels of society (Turzuolo).
During the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong used culture as a powerful weapon for maintaining political power and for transforming society. All art forms in China were tightly controlled and manipulated to reform Chinese culture. “True reform could only come with the creation of Chinese operas about non-traditional, preferably contemporary topics” because if operas could be transformed, then China’s literature and art would follow (Clark 15).
Since 1949, operas became state properties of the Communist government for propaganda purposes. Plays were to be examined and approved before they were allowed to be performed for the audience in the “New China”, which was China after 1949. New policies put all theatrical activities under the direct control of the government. Traditional Chinese culture was abolished and uprooted (Clark 11).
The only ballet or opera shown in China were Yang Ban Xi or “The Eight model Plays.” Five of which replaced the traditional Beij...
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...ao Statues. Web. 02 Feb. 2011. .
Terzuolo, Chiara Park. "Opera and Politics: In China the Twain Shall Meet." Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs 9.1 (2009): 34-45. 13 Mar. 2009. Web. 02 Feb. 2011. .
King, Richard, Ralph C. Croizier, Scott Watson, and Sheng Tian Zheng. Art in Turmoil: the Chinese Cultural Revolution, 1966-76. Vancouver: UBC, 2010. Web. 03 Feb. 2011. .
Clark, Paul. "The Chinese Cultural Revolution: a history." Google Books. Web. 03 Feb. 2011. .
Heisey, D. Ray. "Chinese Perspectives in Rhetoric and Communication." Google Books. Web. 03 Feb. 2011. .
Jonathan Spence tells his readers of how Mao Zedong was a remarkable man to say the very least. He grew up a poor farm boy from a small rural town in Shaoshan, China. Mao was originally fated to be a farmer just as his father was. It was by chance that his young wife passed away and he was permitted to continue his education which he valued so greatly. Mao matured in a China that was undergoing a threat from foreign businesses and an unruly class of young people who wanted modernization. Throughout his school years and beyond Mao watched as the nation he lived in continued to change with the immense number of youth who began to westernize. Yet in classes he learned classical Chinese literature, poems, and history. Mao also attained a thorough knowledge of the modern and Western world. This great struggle between modern and classical Chinese is what can be attributed to most of the unrest in China during this time period. His education, determination and infectious personalit...
The story “The Execution of Mayor Yin” takes a perilous look at the dark side of the events that happened during the Cultural Revolution. Chairman Mao’s Red Guards were tasked with a cultural cleansing that left many people more confused at the roles they played in society than it reinforced the social class structure. The story tells of a young member of the Red Guard and the personal conflict he suffered during the cleansing of Hsingan, which lay to rest his uncle and possibly even a good friend. The torment the people suffered and the personal struggle Hsaio Wu battled with coincide strongly with the age old question, “Are humans inherently evil?”
Smarr, Janet. “Emperor Wu”. Making of the Modern World 12. Ledden Auditorium, La Jolla, CA. 17 Feb. 2012. Lecture.
This analysis draws focus on the differences between Hua’s novel and Zhang’s film by juxtaposing two key themes and dual-symbolism that had changed from one format to another. The paper is broken up into two parts and begins with an introduction and analysis of Yu Hua’s novel and Zhang’s film. Finally, the second part analyzes the film and novel’s representations of two themes and symbolism that tie in with the GPCR. This paper posits that while Zhang’s film does contain many adjustments based on its adaptation, those changes were not simply a means by which he would meet the status quo, rather they were a means by which the film could become more realistic and exploits the true nature of the GPCR.
There is no better way to learn about China's communist revolution than to live it through the eyes of an innocent child whose experiences were based on the author's first-hand experience. Readers learn how every aspect of an individual's life was changed, mostly for the worst during this time. You will also learn why and how Chairman Mao launched the revolution initially, to maintain the communist system he worked hard to create in the 1950's. As the story of Ling unfolded, I realized how it boiled down to people's struggle for existence and survival during Mao's reign, and how lucky we are to have freedom and justice in the United States; values no one should ever take for
It can also be argued that the political activities of Chairman Mao’s Communist China were more of a continuation of traditional Imperial China, based heavily in Confucian values, than a new type of Marxist-Leninist China, based on the Soviet Union as an archetype. While it is unquestionable that a Marxist-Leninist political structure was present in China during this time, Confucian values remained to be reinforced through rituals and were a fundamental part of the Chinese Communist ...
Chinese Opera is one of the “three oldest dramatic art forms in the world” , along with “Greece tragic-comedy and Indian Sanskrit” (China). From Chinese Opera comes many forms of opera, over 300 types , but the most well known is the Peking Opera (China). The Peking Opera is known by many names, like “Eastern Opera” (history), and “jingqiang” (Xu), but the most common name in the Western world is the “Beijing Opera” (Wertz).
Gittings, John. The Changing Face of China: From Mao to market. Oxford University Press, 2005.
Mao’s Cultural Revolution was an attempt to create a new culture for China. Through education reforms and readjustments, Mao hoped to create a new generation of Chinese people - a generation of mindless Communists. By eliminating intellectuals via the Down to the Countryside movement, Mao hoped to eliminate elements of traditional Chinese culture and create a new form Chinese culture. He knew that dumbing down the masses would give him more power so his regime would be more stable. This dramatic reform affected youth especially as they were targeted by Mao’s propaganda and influence. Drawing from his experiences as an Educated Youth who was sent down to the countryside Down to the Countryside movement, Ah Cheng wrote The King of Children to show the effects of the Cultural Revolution on education, and how they affected the meaning people found in education. In The King of Children, it is shown that the Cultural Revolution destroyed the traditional incentives for pursuing an education, and instead people found moral and ethical meaning in pursuing an education.
DiMaggio, P. (1992). Cultural Boundaries and Structural Change: The Extension of the High Culture Model to Theater, Opera and the Dance, 1900-1940. Chicago. University of Chicago Press.
and Culture of China-US Relations.." CHINA US Focus Urbanization Chinas New Driving Force Comments. N.p., 30 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. .
He Lian Bo Bo Da Wang (Mei Yi), Yi Jiu Yi Yi, Ge Ming Yu Su Ming (Hong Kong, Hong Kong Open Page Publishing Co, Ltd., pp.1-35, 138-157. Hsueh, Chun- tu, The Chinese Revolution of 1911: New Perspectives (Hong Kong: Joint _____Publishing Co., 1986), pp.1-15, 119-131, 139-171. Lin Jiayou, Xin Hai Ge, Ming Yu, Zhong Hua Min, Zu De Jue Xing (Guangzhou, Guangdong _____Ren Min Chu Ban She, 2011), pp.
The History of Chinese Music The history and development of Chinese music through different time periods from when it began.
The origin of Chinese music can be track back to 7,000 to 8,000 years ago due to the discover of remains of instrument .In Xia Dynasty, in 2,000 B.C. , Chinese music began to be visible in recorded history. Back then, only the royal families and dignitary officials enjoyed music and the music was used for performing rituals since Chinese music was part of the Confucian tradition. In Confucianism, music is one of the six art(六藝), which includes calligraphy, etiquette , riding , archery, mathematics and music. During the Tang Dynasty(618-907), dancing and singing became the mainstream, which made music not a privilege to rich people anymore, it spread from the royal court to the common people. Also, with the influence from foreign religions such as Buddhism and Islam, their music were also absorbed into Chinese music. In Song Dynasty(960-1279), the original opera such as Zaju and Nanxi was formed and performed in tearooms, theaters, and showplaces. Chinese opera had been developed rapidly and diversely during Ming (1368-1644 ) and Qing Dynasties ( 1644-1911). The Chinese opera became very wide spread, different regions have developed their own opera style.
Peking Opera is over 200 years old (Wertz).It started in approximately “1790, when four opera troupes from the province of Anhui came to Beijing to perform on the occasion of the 80th birthday of the emperor, Qianlong” (HISTORY, Xu). It was originally performed in “open air, teahouses or temple courtyards” (Wertz). Peking Opera is a blend of “singing, reading, acting, fighting, and dancing” (ebeijing).”Today as in the past century, performers are first trained in acrobatics, followed by singing and acting” (Wertz).