The Formation of Kunqu

Kunqu grew from the Kunshan vocal style and Wei Liangfu's polished shuimo style into a mature opera in the mid-to-late Ming.

Related

KunquShengqiang (Vocal Tradition)QupaiDizi

Time and place

Kunshan, near Suzhou in Jiangsu, in the late Yuan and early Ming. The Kunshan style was one of the four great southern opera styles, beside Haiyan, Yuyao and Yiyang. In the mid-sixteenth century Wei Liangfu and others reshaped its singing around Taicang and Suzhou, and Kunqu took form.

What happened

Wei absorbed northern and southern styles and polished the singing into a slow, fine manner called shuimo diao, with clear words, pure melody and strict metre. Liang Chenyu's Huanshaji used the new style in a full chuanqi play, moving Kunqu from chamber singing to the stage. After the Wanli reign it reached Beijing and won court and literati favour; in the Qing it was classed as ya bu.

Musical features

Kunqu is a qupai form, building scenes from southern and northern suites, with several qupai in one act. The dizi leads, ban-yan controls time, and one ban three yan, one ban one yan and zengban are common. Singing follows the words, distinguishing initial, final and tail sounds, with ornaments such as huoqiang, souqiang and dieqiang.

What to listen for

Begin with Suzhou Gusu Fengguang, a shidiao suite rather than a Kunqu aria, but one that shares the Wu dialect and the idea of linking qupai. Then hear Wuxi Jing and Jiangsu Moli Hua for Jiangnan phrase shapes and ornament. Actual Kunqu arias require a Mudan Ting recording; the library tracks here are folk songs.

Common misunderstandings

A common mistake is to credit Wei Liangfu alone with inventing Kunqu, or to equate Kunqu with Kunju. Kunqu was a long collective reform, with Wei as its key reformer; it also includes chamber singing and amateur clubs, while Kunju is only its staged form.

Sources

• 《中国音乐词典》编辑部编，中国音乐词典（人民音乐出版社）— 条目与年代核对，未引用
• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., entry "China" — framework and dates checked, not quoted

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.