CHINESE GHOST THEATRE

• Authors: Steiner M.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Around five millennia ago the Chinese developed spectacular rituals concerning afterlife beliefs. Funerals could always been perceived as theatre-like cultural performances. The ancestor cult is a base for Chinese morality. Theatrical performances are one of the means of ghosts worship. Until recently the performance of mourning could have been considered a social spectacle.The classical music theatre of China (xiqu) constitutes a vivid illustration of beliefs in constant commune with souls of the dead. Traditional dramatic literature provides many examples of female-ghost characters. They are usually protagonists, who put a moral thesis forward and convey the educational message of the theatre piece. Actors' make-up as well as theatre puppets have presumably funeral origins. Afterlife beliefs could be regarded as one of the sources of Chinese theatre.

Keywords

EN

CULTURAL PERFORMANCE; FUNERAL; GHOST THEATRE (CHINA); GHOSTS WORSHIP; MOURNING; RITUAL

Discipline

• ANTHROPOLOGY: ANTHROPOLOGY

• Publisher: Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN
• Journal: Kultura i Społeczeństwo
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 157-172
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Steiner M.

• M. Steiner, Uniwersytet Wroclawski, pl. Uniwerstytecki 1, 50-137 Wroclaw, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

09PLAAAA062426