| dc.description.abstract | The performance and spreading of dramas are influenced by their historical background, culture, and politics. This paper, taking Pipaji as subject, attempts to construct its cultural field of its spreading from the following aspects: the social system in Ming Dynasty and the drama criticism and publishing culture.
The social system in Ming Dynasty helped the spreading of Pipaji, which could be inferred from substantive norms and invisible influence. Filial respect for parents and loyalty to the emperor, as implied in Pipaji, coincided with the rulers’’ governance principles. Therefore, the drama was promoted by the emperor, changing it from nothing to an apotheosis for developing and spreading the traditional concepts. In Ming Dynasty the imperial examination system was prevalent in society, xiang yue worked well in social edification and female edification set appropriate background for its spreading. As the ancestor of chuanqi, it played as the bridge to help nanxi to transform to chuanqi by its language and rhythm. When the drama system was about to change, scholars and drama critics commented on this drama from its original story, rules of qu and gongdiao and its structure. In Mid-Ming Dynasty, the publishing culture was on the rise, publication of popular literature flourished, publishing strategies, spreading of dramas and tune evolution influenced each other. Diversified versions also helped the spreading of this drama.
Reviewing the spreading of Pipaji in Ming Dynasty, it can be discovered that influences of different factors varied with time going along. In early Ming Dynasty, the political force had prominent influence over it. As a result, criticism about its chiao-hua were dominant, which was also one of the ways for dramas to go from nothing to the mainstream. After Mid-Ming Dynasty, the political state and the society were steadier than before, commerce blossomed, the middle class began to rise, and the publication of popular literature prospered. In this period, it was the influence of the publishing culture that was the most significant.
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