Abstract As a significant event in the opera history in the Qing Dynasty, the ″Huabu-Yabu Competition ″, literally competition between the vulgar school and the elegant school, has been studied by the academic circles with the focus mainly laid on the historical records in Yanlan Xiaopu, Yangzhou Huafang Lu, Xiaohan Xinyong and other books published at the end of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, while the fierce competition between the Bangzi Xi and the Kun Tune in the early Qing Dynasty has not been included, which, to some extent, obscures the historical facts of competitions between the two operas during the prometaphase of the Qing Dynasty. In fact, this competition is not only the core and major content of the ″Huabu-Yabu Competition″, but it also initiates the competitions between Kun Tune and other ″vulgar″ operas during the middle period of the Qing Dynasty. The rise of Bangzi Xi in Shaanxi, Shanxi and other regions in the early Qing Dynasty is the result of the combination of multiple factors of time, society and regional culture. In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, the Yiyang Tune challenged the dominant position of Kun Qu opera, bringing about an opportunity for the rise of Bangzi Xi in the early Qing Dynasty, while in the northwest region of Qin and Jin, the unbroken and prosperous folk drama environment of the Northern Song tradition was the regional ecological environment for the rise of Bangzi Xi in the early Qing Dynasty. The inclusiveness and innovation of Bangzi Xi and its artistic characteristics of vulgar wit and humour and of the neutralization of vulgarity and elegance, is also an important reason for its ability to quickly meet the aesthetic needs of all kinds of people. In addition, the Shanxi and Shaanxi business groups and guilds distributed throughout the country play important roles in and work as a medium for the spread of Bangzi Xi. From the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Bangzi Xi, which includes the Western Qin tune, the Qin tune and the blowing tune, was transmitted eastwards and became an important tune in Beijing, Yangzhou, Suzhou and other central cities. In the process of dissemination, Bangzi Xi either switched to the local language, or derived new tunes, forming the three-major-drama system of Bangzi tune, Blowing tune and Xipi-Erhuang tune, which completely subverted the dominant patterns of Kunqu Opera and Yiyang Qiang and, laid a stable opera map for more than two hundred years to come. Bangzi Xis transmission across the nation led to a transformation of the grassroot, of the literati and even of the aesthetic tastes of the court aristocracy, forming a new trend of ″getting tired of Kunqu opera, being fond of Bangzi Xi″. With this trend, more literati and officialdom paid attention to Bangzi Xi, who not only began to approach it, introducing it to guild hall performance, but also adapted Bangzi Qiang into Kunqu scripts. They even directly composed Bangzi Xi works and thus greatly enhanced its artistic level and social status. The appearance of Banqiang Ti opera represented by Bangzi Xi is the grand music system transformation in the history of Chinese opera, which ended the situation that Qupai Liantao system of Song Yuan played a predominant role nationwide. The upsurge of Bangzi Xi during the early and mid Qing Dynasty is also a contest between folk opera and elite opera for cultural dominance, which finally resulted in the rotation of the northern and the southern operas. In summary, the systematic investigation of the rise of Bangzi Xi in the prometaphase of the Qing Dynasty and of its form of transmission helps re-examine the connotation of ″Huabu-Yabu Competition″ and enriches our understanding of the historical transformation in the theatrical circles of the Qing Dynasty.
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