The Construction of the Modern Chinese Concept of (“drama”)
Keyword(s):
Roughly equivalent to the English worddrama, the modern Chinese termxijuis of relatively recent provenance. This chapter traces the etymology of this modern usage of the termxiju, looking in particular at the introduction of Western concepts of drama and performance conventions into China during the early modern period. It looks at the relationship between the modern concept ofxijuand a set of earlier Chinese terms that were used to refer to performance works, and concludes that the Sinification of the Western concept ofdramawas a very complicated process that involved the introduction of Western knowledge, the reconstruction of aesthetic categories, theater reform, the development of new theater, and the critique of old-style theater.