Gyoryouho

...The works based on the simple lives of the people and the lively spirit rooted in the feelings of the common people, as seen in Yuan Zaju, were lost, and instead, the stories of famous historical figures were used to depict the happy and sorrowful separation and reunion of an ideal pair of "talented and beautiful people," and the expression leaned exclusively to elegance, deepening the tendency to pursue the beauty of words. At the beginning of the Jiajing period (1522-66), when the "Kunqu" in the Kunshan region of Suzhou was greatly improved by Wei Liangfu, its soft and elegant melody was very much in keeping with the tastes of the literati, and it became popular, surpassing the traditional Haiyanqu, Yiyangqu, and Yuyaoqu, and it became a decisive trend with Liang Chenyu's "Ensemble Records," which was created using this. The most prominent writer of the following Wanli period (1573-1619) was Tang Xianzu, whose masterpiece, "The Return of the Dead," is considered the greatest work of Southern opera, and with its elegant and graceful prose and skillful structure, it depicts the culmination of a sweet and lovely drama full of twists and turns about talented and beautiful people.

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Wei Ryosuke" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…元雑劇にみられたような，素朴な民衆生活に取材した作品や，庶民感情に根ざすはつらつとした精神は失われ，かわって歴史上の著名な人物故事を扱って，理想的な一対の〈才子佳人〉の悲歓離合･再会団円のさまを描こうとし，表現はもっぱら典雅に傾いて，詞藻の美を追求する傾向を深めてゆく。　嘉靖年間(1522‐66)の初め，蘇州崑山地方の〈崑腔(崑曲)〉が魏良輔によって大改良されるや，その清柔優美なメロディは文人の好尚にすこぶるかない，従来の海塩腔，弋陽（よくよう）腔，余姚（よよう）腔等をおさえてはやり出し，これを用いて作られた梁辰魚の《浣紗記》により，決定的な流行をみるようになった。続く万暦年間(1573‐1619)にもっとも傑出した作家が湯顕祖で，彼の代表作《還魂記》は南戯の最高傑作とされ，典雅艶麗な文辞と巧みな構成とを得て，曲折波瀾にとんだ甘美な才子佳人劇の一極致を描いた。…

※「魏良輔」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報