花雅之争中的唐英

Tang Ying in the Controversy of the Hua and Ya

康乾时期,传奇创作走向衰微。这一时期的昆曲史主要是这种昆曲独霸天下的局面被打破的历史。它受到来自两方面的威胁:自身体制上暴露出来的弊端和新兴地方戏曲的勃起。但是重大的变革要迟至乾隆中后期才出现,这就是花雅之争的蓬勃展开。有识见的剧作家向往突破规范——形式上的惯例和内容上的陈陈相因。唐英就是其中一位最有代表性的剧作家。他在题材内容、结构体制、语言风格和舞台表现手段等方面都进行了大刀阔斧的改革,开了乾隆时期昆曲艺术改革风气之先。唐英的改革表面上是“崇雅抑花”,其内容实质却是革新的,它表现为俗雅两种审美趣味冲突中俗文化所占的上风。由于剧作家的时代、阶级、个人局限,这次改革只是小范围的、作家个人的一次尝试,对于挽回昆曲的衰落命运于事无补。但是,开启了近世昆曲改革的先声。因此,笔者认为唐英在戏曲史、文学史上应占有一席之地。

During the reigns of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong, the writing of Chuanqi declined . In kunqu's history the situation dominated by kunqu was broken in this period. Kunqu was threatened in two sides: the disadvantage that exposed in its own system and the appearance of the new Local Drama. Great innovation appeared till mid-late period of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, which led to the controversy of the Hua and Ya. Some dramatists of insight longed for breaking the rules-the convention of the form and cobwebs of the content. Tang Ying is one of the representatives. He profoundly reformed both in the content and topic, the constitutional system, language style and representation of stage as a pioneer to the art of kunqu during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. It seems that Tang Ying's innovation upheld the Ya and restrained the Hua, and in fact the substance was reformation. It showed that the popular culture got the upperhand in the conflict between the high-brow and low-brow. Because of the limitation of the dramatist's time and class, the innovation was confined to a small range and was an attempt by the dramatist himself, thus was of no help to save the declining destiny of kunqu. However, Tang Ying's innovation was the prelude to kunqu in his time. The author insists that Tang Ying get an important position in the history of drama and literature.