Cultural Development during the Han Dynasty & Early Chinese Drama

A talk given by Yao Xiao'ou, a professor of the Institute of Literature, Communication University of China about the development of early Chinese drama in the Han Dynasty.

Thursday, May 08, 2008
1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
10383 Bunche Hall
UCLA

With regard to the development of early Chinese drama, little attention has so far been paid to the Han period or earlier, as scholars generally consider this era to be at best the embryonic stage of Chinese drama. My research shows that this is far from the case. The main points of my talk include the following. First, as argued by Yang Gongji in as early as the 1940s, there is documentary evidence for well-developed forms of drama scripts during the Han period. Second, archaeological finds also show that Han dramatic forms exhibit features surprisingly similar to what we see in later historical times. Some of these archaeological finds have been publicized, while others are just now being examined (including findings by the presenter). Taken together, both historical documents and material evidence make a compelling case that cultural developments as represented by drama and other performing arts during the Han period greatly exceeded the levels that scholars are generally willing to recognize.

*Note: The talk will be given in Chinese

Yao Xiao'ou is professor in the Institute of Literature, Communication University of China. Among his publications (in Chinese) are "Advertising in the Shanghai Daily and the Early Shanghai School of Peking Opera," Modern Communications (no. 1, 2004)