The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

Wang Shifu was a famous playwright in the Yuan Dynasty, and was as famous as Guan Hanqing, the leader of the Four Great Yuan Operaists.

His works fully inherited the exquisite language art of Tang poetry and Song lyrics, and absorbed the lively oral language of the Yuan Dynasty folk.

He created the Yuan opera, which is full of literary talent and has become an outstanding representative in the history of opera.

There are not many plays by Wang Shifu that have survived to this day, the most famous of which is "The West Chamber".

The story of "Romance of the West Chamber" may not be well-known, but it is well-known to everyone.

Whether it is comic strips, drama or film and television.

A love drama that pleases all ages and has remained popular for thousands of years.

The status of "Romance of the West Chamber" in the history of Chinese literature is very high, and Wang Shifu is famous both at home and abroad because of this play.

"Wang Shifu, courtesy name Ziwen, given name Dexin, and nickname Huayang."

"Wang Shifu was born around 1260 AD in Dadu during the Yuan Dynasty."

"Born in Quyang County, Baoding City, Hebei Province, a family of scholars and officials."

"Wang Shifu was extremely intelligent since childhood and loved reading and writing."

"Under the influence of his family, he developed a strong interest in literature since he was a child."

"He entered the local private school and county school successively, and studied under some well-known Confucian scholars and scholars."

"Study the classics, history, and miscellaneous works diligently and learn diligently, and your knowledge will advance by leaps and bounds."

"As he grew older, Wang Shifu became more and more fond of reading, and his literary talent gradually emerged."

"He wrote beautiful and moving articles, his poems and songs were outstanding, and he was also proficient in music."

"Wang Shifu passed the imperial examination at the age of sixteen and entered the official career."

"Although he was a minor county official at the beginning, Wang Shifu worked diligently, loved the people, encouraged agricultural production, and established education, which earned him a good reputation."

“Later, I held several positions and accumulated rich work experience.”

"Wang Shifu was diligent and conscientious. With his talent and diligence, he was appreciated and trusted by his superiors and was promoted to the position of Supervisory Censor of Shaanxi Province."

"He often went to entertainment venues where dramas, songs and dances were performed. He was a scholar who was not bound by feudal etiquette and had close contacts with entertainers."

"When Wang Shifu was the Censor-in-Chief of the Shaanxi Provincial Government, he was upright and outspoken, which resulted in the hatred of the powerful officials in the court."

"He felt that his ideals could not be realized, so he resigned from office and retired at the age of forty."

Guan Hanqing: Wang Shifu can be regarded as a playwright of the same name as me.

Not many of Wang Shifu's plays have been passed down, but his artistic achievements are very high. His representative work, "The West Chamber", is enough to establish Wang Shifu's position in drama.

As a contemporary playwright, he had a high opinion of Wang Shifu.

First of all, Wang Shifu was a successful playwright. Secondly, Wang Shifu was a fighter against feudal ethics. At the same time, Wang Shifu was a man of great passion and emotion.

Wang Shifu is a successful playwright, and I think no one would disagree with this assessment.

There are thirteen plays handed down by Wang Shifu, all of which can be regarded as masterpieces.

In particular, "Romance of the West Chamber" is widely sung, which shows its strong vitality.

Furthermore, Wang Shifu was a fighter against feudal ethics. From Wang Shifu's works, we can see young men and women's pursuit of true love and their resistance and criticism of the feudal ethics that imprisoned people.

In Wang Shifu's "The West Chamber", the sincere love of young people is enthusiastically praised, and the image of Hongniang who opposes feudal ethics is praised. It can be said to be a peerless work against feudal ethics.

At the same time, Wang Shifu was a very passionate person, and someone who pursued happiness in life.

Wang Shifu started out as a county official and was gradually promoted to the position of Censor of the Shaanxi Provincial Administration, a very rare official position.

The reason why Wang Shifu was able to hold such an official position was that he had his own strengths and was definitely not an incompetent person.

But later he retired because he did not want to be involved in the corruption, which was enough to show Wang Shifu's passionate and emotional character.

"In confusion and disappointment, Wang Shifu ventured to Yuan Dadu."

"I plunged into Guan Hanqing's Wangjing Book Club and discussed the creation of zaju with some literati at that time."

"He went in and out of singing and dancing stages, and mingled in brothels and brothels."

"Understand the life of the lower classes and immerse yourself in the creation of Yuan Dynasty drama."

"Wang Shifu's endless enjoyment of this made his parents and son helpless."

"His son Wang Ji was also a high-ranking official in the court, serving as the left chancellor of the Secretariat and the vice chancellor of the Secretariat, holding a prominent position."

"The son was very dissatisfied with his father for abandoning his official post and hanging out in brothels, but he could do nothing about it."

"During this period, Wang Shifu created many zaju plays whose names can be verified."

"The Story of Lü Mengzheng's Broken Kiln in the Snow and Wind," "The Lotus Pavilion with Silk and Bamboo by Wang Caiyun," and "Su Xiaoqing's Tea Boat on a Moonlit Night."

"As he grew older, Wang Shifu returned to Zhongshan Prefecture and began writing The Romance of the Western Chamber."

"When Wang Shifu returned to his hometown, he was already a renowned writer, but he did not become complacent. Instead, he worked harder to create and study."

"He studied various literary and historical materials diligently to expand his knowledge and insights."

"In 1237, The Romance of the Western Chamber was finally completed and became an instant success in the zaju world."

"Wang Shifu was always keen on literary creation in his later years. He died of illness due to overwork in 1336 AD at the age of 77."

"Wang Shifu achieved great success in literature, and was particularly good at various literary styles, including poetry, lyrics, songs, and classical Chinese novels."

Luo Guanzhong: The Romance of the West Chamber is of a very high artistic standard, so it is inevitable that Wang Shifu will go down in history because of it.

Wang Shifu was a playwright of the Yuan Dynasty. He was as famous as Guan Hanqing, the leader of the Four Great Yuan Operaists. It is no exaggeration to call him a literary giant of his generation.

There are not many records about Wang Shifu in history, but we can see his thoughts from his works.

Wang Shifu's most famous play is "The West Chamber", a zaju with a very high artistic standard in terms of language, thought, plot and other aspects.

In "The West Chamber", Wang Shifu successfully portrayed the character of the scholar Zhang Junrui. Some people say that Zhang is actually a portrayal of Wang Shifu, which makes sense.

Zhang Sheng and Wang Shifu were both from a literary family. Zhang Sheng appeared as a weak scholar in "The West Chamber".

Rather than a powerful military general, this is related to Wang Shifu's identity.

Wang Shifu was also a literati, and his identity made him more adept at writing.

In fact, looking at the writing process of many writers, most of their works are integrated with their own thoughts and even their likes and dislikes.

Therefore, the characters created by the writer will more or less have the shadow of the writer himself, so it can be said that Zhang Sheng has the shadow of Wang Shifu.

Judging from the personal experiences of Wang Shifu and Zhang Sheng, Wang Shifu once started as a county magistrate and worked his way up to the Censor of the Shaanxi Provincial Administration.

Such a senior official resigned and went home because of a disagreement with an official at the time, which shows that he was not very enthusiastic about his official career.

Compared with his own personal emotions, Wang Shifu would rather respect his own feelings, which is consistent with Zhang Sheng's thoughts.

In "The West Chamber", Zhang Sheng is also a young man who does not have much enthusiasm for a career in officialdom.

Zhang Sheng met Cui Yingying on his way to Beijing for an imperial examination, and stayed with her. This shows that his enthusiasm for his official career was far inferior to his own feelings.

It can be seen that Wang Shifu and Zhang Sheng have a close relationship. Zhang Sheng has the shadow of Wang Shifu, and Wang Shifu also has the qualities of Zhang Sheng.

"Only 13 of Wang Shifu's zaju works are still extant, including Romance of the West Chamber, The Broken Kiln, Lichun Garden, Tea Boat, and Hibiscus Pavilion."

"Each of these has high literary and dramatic value."

"The Broken Kiln Story" tells the story of a scholar named Lu Mengzheng, who was born into a family of officials, but his family was poor because his father was an honest official."

"After my parents died, I had no choice but to live in a dilapidated kiln."

"At that time, Prime Minister Liu Mao had a daughter named Liu Yue'e, who was very pretty."

"The prime minister wanted to find a suitable husband for his daughter, so he went to the Cailou to recruit a son-in-law."

"The daughter threw the ball and chose Lu Mengzheng, but the father despised Lu Mengzheng because he was poor."

"So he told his daughter not to marry Lü Mengzheng, but his daughter refused and was willing to suffer with Lü Mengzheng."

"Liu Mao had no choice but to agree."

"In order to encourage Lü Mengzheng to work harder, he expelled Lü Mengzheng and his wife from the prime minister's residence and made them live in a broken kiln."

"Lü Mengzheng and his wife suffered from hunger, cold and humiliation in a broken kiln. Later, encouraged by his wife, Lü Mengzheng went to Beijing to take the imperial examination." "Wang Shifu won the first place in the imperial examination and returned home in glory. The couple reunited and the father-in-law and son-in-law reconciled."

"Among the zaju written by Wang Shifu, the most famous one is the Romance of the Western Chamber, which consists of five volumes and twenty-one acts."

"The Romance of the Western Chamber is not only Wang Shifu's representative work, but also one of the best works of Yuan Dynasty zaju."

Wu Cheng'en: The love story in "The West Chamber" was constantly enriched and modified during the process of its circulation.

On the surface, "The West Chamber" is just a simple love story between Yingying and Zhang Sheng.

In fact, their love story has been revised three times over several generations, with fundamental changes from theme to character.

The story of Cui Yingying and Zhang Sheng described in "The West Chamber" was first seen in the Tang Dynasty legend "The Story of Yingying" by Yuan Zhen.

The biography describes Yingying very affectionately, but she is weak in character and submits to her fate.

In contrast, Zhang Sheng is also a fickle and unfaithful man.

In the end, the work ends with Yingying being abandoned for unknown reasons.

Yuan Zhen's "The Story of Yingying" was constantly enriched and modified during the process of its circulation.

In the Jin Dynasty, "Dong Xixiang" was created, and the author was Dong Jieyuan.

"Dong Xixiang" not only expanded the 3,000-word "Yingying Story" into a rap literary work of more than 50,000 words, but also fundamentally changed the theme of the original work.

In "Dong Xixiang", Zhang Sheng is a young man with feelings and righteousness, and Yingying also dares to disobey her mother's orders.

They no longer succumbed to fate, but fought for love to the end until they finally got married.

In "Dong Xixiang", the anti-ethical ideology is clear and the plot is tortuous.

But the only flaw in "Dong Xixiang" is that the characters are not complete enough, the plot develops slowly and is not focused.

"The West Chamber" by Wang Shifu of the Yuan Dynasty was a re-creation based on "Dong Xixiang".

Wang Shifu's "Romance of the West Chamber" deleted and modified some unreasonable plots in "Dong Xixiang" and plugged the loopholes in it.

It has also been creatively processed and improved in terms of plot, structure, character image, language, etc.

This makes the plot of "Romance of the West Chamber" more focused and the character development more reasonable, thus greatly highlighting the anti-moral theme in the work.

"The West Chamber" tells the story of love between men and women by Yuan Zhen in the Tang Dynasty and marriage freedom by Wang Shifu in the Yuan Dynasty.

Both the characters and the subject matter have been elevated.

The characters in "The West Chamber" are all unique, vivid and lifelike.

Each of the characters in the play, Cui Yingying, Hongniang, and Zhang Sheng, has his or her own unique and distinct personality.

Especially the heroine Cui Yingying, the delicate portrayal of her inner conflicts profoundly reveals the fierce conflict between young people and ethics in the feudal era.

The image of Cui Yingying became the earliest typical anti-ethical aristocratic girl in classical drama.

As a supporting role, the matchmaker is an even more dazzling figure.

In many occasions, the maid Hongniang is more attractive than Miss Cui Yingying.

The character of Hongniang embodies the virtues and wisdom of people of humble status.

For hundreds of years, the symbol of matchmaker in people's minds is an enthusiastic person who is willing to help others achieve their goals.

"The Romance of the West Chamber" mainly tells the story of the scholar Zhang Junrui who passed through Hezhong Prefecture on his way to Beijing for an imperial examination. He met Cui Yingying, the daughter of the former prime minister, at Puji Temple and they fell in love at first sight."

"Zhang Junrui lives in the west wing of the temple, separated from Yingying by a wall."

"They wrote poems to each other and had feelings for each other, but they could not meet."

"Later, the rebel general Sun Feihu surrounded the Puji Temple and wanted to take Yingying as his wife."

"Zhang Junrui stepped forward and wrote a letter to his friend, White Horse General Du Que."

"Du Que led his troops to rescue the Cui family."

"Afterwards, Cui's mother regretted the engagement and ordered Zhang Junrui and Yingying to treat each other as brother and sister."

"Yingying's maid Hongniang came to their aid and taught Zhang Junrui to play the qin through the wall, which moved Yingying, and she also delivered love poems to them."

"After Cui's mother found out, she tortured the maid Hongniang."

"Hongniang argued her case and accused Cui's mother of being at fault."

"Mother Cui had no choice but to allow the two to get married."

"But Zhang Junrui was asked to take the exam immediately. They said goodbye at the long pavilion, and they were reluctant to leave."

"After Zhang Junrui passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar, he returned to Hezhong and finally found a happy marriage."

"The play has a dramatic plot, sharp conflicts, distinct characters, and a high level of artistic achievement. Its beautiful language has touched thousands of readers."

"Wang Shifu also wrote many Sanqu, but not many of them have been handed down."

"Because he often lingered in brothels and theaters, his works were very close to the lives of the citizens and, to some extent, reflected the voices of the grassroots people."

"Wang Shifu was born into a family of officials. He was talented and had made great achievements as an official."

"But he didn't like being an official. He loved writing plays and songs, and became a great playwright."

Cao Xueqin: The love story in "The West Chamber" is very consistent with Chinese traditional culture, and the talented man and the beautiful woman finally get married.

After her father died, Cui Yingying, the daughter of the prime minister, and her mother carried the coffin back to her hometown. Due to blocked roads, they temporarily stayed in the Puji Temple in Hezhong Prefecture.

Miss Yingying encountered two things, one of which made her blush and her heart beat fast when she thought about it.

That day, Yingying was strolling in the temple and happened to meet Zhang Sheng who was going to Beijing to take an imperial examination.

Although the two were not close, there was one more person in his heart from then on.

Another worry is even bigger, like a stone pressing on my heart.

The rebel leader Sun Feihu led his troops to besiege Puji Temple, intending to seize Yingying as his concubine.

Although she had the Prime Minister's wife, Cui's mother was helpless at this time.

The old lady issued an order that whoever could repel the enemy troops would be betrothed to her daughter Yingying.

Zhang Sheng, who already had feelings for Yingying, used his connections and relationships and immediately wrote a letter.

He was sent by the monk Huimin in the temple to his sworn brother, General Baima Du Que, who was asked to lift the siege.

Now that the rebel army has gone, love and dreams are about to come true.

But the prime minister's wife changed her mind and was unwilling to marry her daughter Yingying to a scholar.

The prime minister's wife used the excuse that Yingying had been betrothed to Zheng Heng, the son of Minister Xu, to break off the engagement.

When the prime minister's wife saw that the two liked each other, she made them call each other brother and sister.

Yingying naturally refused, and Zhang Sheng fell ill because of this.

Thanks to a clever maid named Hongniang, who not only loves to stand up for the weak but is also very warm-hearted.

Hongniang acted as a matchmaker between Yingying and Zhang Sheng, helping them to meet in the West Chamber secretly.

After several such exchanges, they were finally discovered by Cui's mother.

Although Hongniang was tortured, the truth was still a scandal and must not be made public.

Cui's mother had no choice but to agree to the marriage, but she was still unwilling, so she forced Zhang Sheng to go to Beijing to take the exam and refused to see her unless he was appointed.

Zhang Sheng reluctantly bid farewell to Yingying and actually passed the imperial examination and became the top scorer.

But at this time Zheng Heng intervened again and spread rumors, insisting that Zhang Sheng had become the son-in-law of the Shangshu in the capital.

When Mrs. Cui heard this, she became furious and wanted to marry Yingying to Zheng Heng.

Just when Yingying was sad and depressed, Zhang Sheng returned to the temple to find out the truth and finally he and Yingying had a happy marriage.

This love story in "The West Chamber" is very consistent with Chinese traditional culture.

The man is talented and the woman is beautiful, and after going through many hardships, they are all happy in the end. (End of this chapter)