The sun., 1916-11-26

TIN view OF the great interest
aroused by the performance OF
THE Yellow Jacket" at the Cort
Theatre the following account Of the
Chinese theatre by Lionel Giles OF the
British Museum is timely:
II seems probable hat the drama In
Ichina. like that OF Greece, had It's ORR
3gn In the sacrincial ceremonies OF re-
llgln. We know that in the time Of
Iconfucius. 800 b. c.. 1t was customary
Ifor sol mn dances TO be performed In
THE ancestral temples. at which
Itsathercd wanas. battle axes and other
Iobjects were brandished in unison by
the daucers. We also hear Of panto-
Iuimic displays and representations Of
Iancient historical vents divided into
. number Of cenes Certain cere-
|noniss for the expulsion OF evil SPIRITS.
In which q house to house visitation
WAS made by villagers dressed In fam
Itastic rarb. may also have some cornec.
ton with the beginnings Of dramatic
.art. Others are inclined to derive the
drama from the puppet shows which
from time immemorial have been a
feature OF the life Of the people. and
they point to the fact that In many
parts Of China a theatrical PERFORM
arce Is still preceded by a display Of
marionettes. However that may be, II
is certs n that for the immense period
OF 200 years after the time of Confu-
Icius no grea, development Of the drama
can have taken place. II indeed II can
be said to have existed at all. No rec
ord o. anything In the nature OF a mod
sfn stage play can be traced until the
reign of the Emperor Ming Hu1ng Of
the Tang dynasty. In the first half OF
the e!ehth century A. ID. Being excep-
t!onally fond of o and dance. this
Emperor Is said 10 have founded O sort
Iof academy. Known as the "Pear Tree
Garden" whore a company of 500 per-
sons was personally trained by him for
the production C.. what. for want of q
better anne may be described as
operas Music u have constituted
the basis of these performances. but It
seems that the slender thread Of .
story was also introduced between the
choral songs ard to this day actors n
China are often called apprentices Oh
the Pear Tree Garden"
During another iorg interval OF 500
years there Is no evidence that the
~atrica's srread further than the i'm
per.'l court or became part of the rec
ogn'zed amusements of the people. II
was not until the close Of the Sung
dynasty in the middle OF the thir-
zenith century. that the dramatic In
sdrcts ~ the Chinese were really
awakened The impulse eeems to have
come fr m without. for II Is precisely
IN tho period when the all conquerlny
Moneo's wcra engaged In adding the
Celestial em0iro TO their vast domains
that Chimes dramatic literature be-
gins TIL" earliest stage play that has
come dDwa to US, THE Story of the
Western Pavilion" Is also one of the
most exquisite from a literary point OF
view though more lyrical In character
and less vigorous in action than many
mat were to follow.
A marvellous creative period now set
H. almost comparable in fertility OF
genius to our own E~lizabethan era,
The names are recorded of no fewer
Than 564 plays and OF eighty-five play
wr'ghts who lived under this dynasty,
and a collection OF the hundred best
pieces has been preserved to form the
Classical repertory. so to speak, OF the
Chlnese theatre. or these one OF the
mos famous Is entitled The Orphan
OF the House OF Chao." n thrilling
drama based on historical fact, In
II HHNFh nRttglt,r nnl .r1fy ora mat nv
hdclity and ~self-sacrilce: with Poetic
Justice In the end. When the Mongo
line was replaced by the native CHI
nsse dynasty known as the Ming. the
great outburst of dramatic activity
had already begun to wane, and tn
succeeding period war comparativel!
poor in works Of outstan ding hterar,
merit. A brilliant exception Is "Th'