衰而不绝 弦歌不辍——清末民初苏州昆曲演出论略

Sustained Performance in a Waning Period:A Brief Discussion on the Kunqu Opera Performance in Suzhou During the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China

清末民初,苏州昆曲的演出活动不复往日繁盛,整体呈现出衰落的趋势。观众喜新厌旧,昆不及乱,昆曲演出受人追捧的日子一去不复返。苏州昆班不仅数量减少,而且戏班停歇、散班的情况非常普遍,民间戏班的发展难以为继,演出时断时续。受战火影响,仅存的昆班迁往上海发展,但因观众审美倾向的变化,在上海演出的苏州昆班不敌京、徽。不过,由于苏州是昆曲的大本营,昆曲力量根深蒂固,硕果仅存的昆曲艺人坚持城内城外演出,并采用文班与武班合演方式吸引观众。同时,昆曲堂名、文人曲社的持续活动保留了昆曲余韵,苏浙沪的著名曲家的鼎力支持为清末民初时期的苏州留下了最后的昆曲之声,使苏州剧坛始终保有昆曲的一席之地,为昆曲的复兴保留了重生的种子。

During the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,the performance of Kunqu Opera in Suzhou lost its previous popularity and took on downward trend on the whole.The audiences’interest shifted to the new performing arts,and the Kunqu Opera performance was no longer preferred.The number of Kunqu troupes decreased,and lots of troupes suspended business and even disbanded.The ordinary troupes struggled on the verge of survival,and could only perform irregularly.Influenced by the war,the remaining Kunqu troupes moved to Shanghai for development,but as the audiences’aesthetic taste changed,the Kunqu troupes from Suzhou were unable to rival against the Peking and Anhui opera troupes.However,Suzhou was the base of Kunqu Opera,which has a deep root in the city,and the remaining Kunqu artists persisted in performing inside and outside the city,and attracted audience by combining both Kungfu and non-Kungfu programs.Meanwhile,the brand-name organizations and literate societies of Kunqu Opera continued their activities,and retained the lingering charm of the opera,and in Jiangsu,Zhejiang and Shanghai,the renowned opera artists’full support for the Kunqu cause preserved for Suzhou the last notes of Kunqu Opera during the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.The operatic arena in Suzhou retained a constant place for Kunqu Opera,which preserved the seeds for Kunqu Opera to revive.