Kunqu

Kunqu was once the popular entertainment of the Scholar-Official class, second only to the Imperial Family in social standing through cultural, social, political prestige and privilege which was granted to them through success at the Confucian Examinations. The Scholar-Officials distinguished themselves through their aesthetic taste and cultural consumption of poetry, calligraphy and painting.

The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) saw many of the Scholar-Officials removed from government by the Mongol rulers. This lead to an increase and maturity of classical literature scripts as the Scholar-Officials developed their artistic interests.

Although the Scholar-Officials returned to government in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), internal struggles with the rising power and influence of eunuch politicians lead to many retreating from the political stage to further their cultural pursuits. The most wealthy would often own a private Kunqu troupe who would perform for them in their water gardens, usually on a stage over water, which created a superior acoustic effect.

The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) saw the rise in popularity of diverse regional operas and the Scholar-Official's determination to maintain Kunqu as their preferred classical performance. Following a series of humiliating defeats, through Western invasions towards the latter end of the Dynasty, accusations were made that Confucian Doctrine and traditional cultural forms had been responsible for holding back Chinese development. The Confucian Examinations were formerly abolished in 1905, ending centuries of Scholar-Official influence and causing the immediate decline in popularity of their preferred traditional opera form - Kunqu. With the removal of the Confucian Examinations and the virtual extinction of the scholarly class Kunqu almost disappeared.

However, over the last thirty years a new middle class has developed in China, founded upon large numbers of maturing university students who have been seeking a cultural identity in the modern Chinese society. Kunqu has once again become popular and is again flourishing - as the idealistic scholarly entertainment.