Appreciation of a Fine Work | Tang Xianzu: His Lyrics Transcend Life and Death, and His Heart Holds the Mountains and Rivers Within

“Love arises without knowing whence; once kindled, it burns deep and unyielding. The living may die, and the dead may live…” This legendary tale, transcending life and death, was conjured by Tang Xianzu through his pen and ink, and has long since earned him renown both at home and abroad. He passed away in the same year as Shakespeare and is revered as the “Sage of Chinese Opera.” Yet beyond his identity as a dramatist, Tang Xianzu traversed the vicissitudes of human experience, saw through the complexities of the world, and stood as a steadfast Confucian scholar who refused to bend, as well as a poet whose heart brimmed with compassion. In truth, his aspirations were never confined to the narrow confines of the stage.



 

/ Original Text 1 /

At the age of thirteen, he already supervised the public examinations and was appointed a student of the county. At every exam, he invariably outshone his peers.

/ Translation /

(He) took the examination convened by the Inspector-General, He Tang, at the age of thirteen and was appointed as a county student. In every test, he invariably ranked first among his peers.

Since the founding of the Ming dynasty, official education was given particularly high priority. The History of the Ming records: “There was no place where schools were not established, nor any person who was not subject to instruction. Such was the prosperity of the Ming era—unparalleled since the Tang and Song dynasties.” Nevertheless, in the early years of the Ming, no dedicated institutions or officials existed to oversee such a vast number of schools. In the first year of the Zhengtong reign of Emperor Yingzong (1436), the court formally appointed an official responsible for supervising schools, later renamed the “Supervisor of Schools.” In each province, a “Supervisor of Learning” was established, also known as the “Learning Supervisor” or “School‑Supervising Official,” commonly abbreviated as “Xuedao,” whose sole duty was to administer local education. Typically, the School‑Supervising Officials conducted two examinations per year among students at the prefectural, circuit, and county levels. As detailed in the “Section on Electoral Systems, Volume One” of the History of the Ming, the specific procedures were as follows: first, annual examinations were held, with students graded into six categories according to their performance; those ranked in the top two tiers received rewards or were eliminated. Second, specialized examinations were administered to students who had achieved first or second rank in the annual assessments; only those attaining first or second place were eligible to take the provincial civil service examinations.

At the age of thirteen, Tang Xianzu took part in the “Supervisory Examination for Scholars,” a test administered by He Tang, who at the time served as the Inspector of Education in Jiangxi. He excelled in this examination and won He Tang’s favor. Thereafter, in every subsequent contest, Tang Xianzu consistently secured first place, attesting to the solid foundation of his classical learning and practical scholarship. Under the influence of the Confucian classics, he regarded the welfare of the realm as his personal responsibility, while his literary talent was already beginning to shine, awaiting only the right opportunity to fully demonstrate his abilities.

In the imperial examination of the Dingchou year, Lord Jiangling bribed his personal confidant with the promise of the highest rank, yet the latter declined to comply.

/ Translation /

(Mr. ) In the year Dingchou, when he took the metropolitan examination, Zhang Juzheng dispatched his own loyalists to entice him with the preferential treatment accorded to the top three candidates; however, the gentleman refused.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial examination system was highly stratified and featured numerous categories, often further divided into ranks. The formal examinations were typically conducted in three stages: the provincial exam (xiangshi), the metropolitan exam (huishi), and the palace exam (dianshi). Only those who successfully passed the xiangshi and became juren were eligible to proceed to the huishi, held once every three years. During the huishi, candidates gathered in the capital, assembling in one place—hence the name “huishi.” Because the exam was administered in spring and overseen by the Ministry of Rites, it was also known as the “Spring Examination” or the “Rites Examination.” In the Ming dynasty, the huishi consisted of three rounds: the first tested candidates’ understanding of classical texts; the second assessed their ability to compose official documents; and the third evaluated their judgment—specifically, their capacity to assess current affairs and analyze historical issues. Those who passed the huishi were called gongshi, with the top scorer receiving the title “huayuan.”

In the Dingchou year (1577), Tang Xianzu took the metropolitan examination for the third time. Before the exam, Zhang Juzheng, seeking to have his own son pass as a jinshi, recruited Tang Xianzu, Shen Maoxue, and other highly esteemed candidates into his circle, ostensibly to keep matters under wraps. He even promised that this session of the metropolitan examination would yield the top rank, thereby signaling his special regard for Tang Xianzu and others. Shen Maoxue readily accepted, but Tang Xianzu flatly declined. As a result, Zhang Juzheng’s second son, Zhang Sxiu, and Shen Maoxue were both listed among the successful candidates—“gongshi”—thus earning the right to take the palace examination—while Tang Xianzu failed to make the cut. In the Gengchen year (1580), Zhang Juzheng extended another olive branch, yet Tang Xianzu once again refused to curry favor, and was once more unsuccessful. In the Guiwei year (1583), at the age of thirty-three, Tang Xianzu returned to the capital; this time he passed the metropolitan examination with flying colors and, in the palace examination, secured the 211th place in the third class, receiving the title of “tong jinshi chushen.” By then, Zhang Juzheng had already died six months earlier.

The imperial examination that Tang Xianzu had to confront involved not only the customary trappings of ink, paper, and scholarly pursuits, but also the lure of fame and fortune wielded by the chief minister himself. Had he chosen in his youth to bow and submit, he might have entered officialdom sooner; yet he would inevitably have faced the fate of “when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.” Fortunately, Tang Xianzu steadfastly remained true to his own convictions, and the words he penned were thus imbued with the strength of character—upright, unyielding, and shining brightly.

He was subsequently appointed as a doctoral scholar and transferred to the Southern Censorate. Though the department was largely idle, he nonetheless performed his duties with utmost diligence and prudence. Believing that the two imperial administrations were advancing private interests and stifling the voices of those who dared to speak out, he submitted a memorial protesting this practice and was consequently demoted to the post of county magistrate in Xuwén, in Guangdong.

/ Translation / Soon after, by virtue of his doctoral degree, he was transferred to the post of Lang in the Southern Censorate. Though there was little work to be done in that office, the gentleman, ever diligent in his duties, believed that the two governments, by promoting those who were privately close to them, had blocked the channels for candid remonstrance. Accordingly, he submitted a memorial on this matter and was demoted to the position of Magistrate of Xuwén.

Tang Xianzu’s Endeavor to “Establish Words”

In the early years of the Hongwu reign, the six ministries—Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Public Works—were established, initially reporting to the Central Secretariat. After the Central Secretariat was abolished, these six ministries became directly accountable to the emperor, their powers and status greatly enhanced, thus becoming the highest level of central administrative bodies answerable solely to the sovereign. Following his successful jinshi examination, Tang Xianzu likewise declined to align himself with the ruling faction led by Shen Shixing and Zhang Siwei; instead, he accepted an appointment as a doctoral official at the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing, later transferred to the position of chief clerk in the Imperial Household Department there. Subsequently, at the seventh rank, he was promoted to the post of Director of Ceremonial Affairs in the Ministry of Rites, holding the sixth‑rank position of principal officer—precisely what is referred to in the text as the “Southern Ceremonial Official.” The Ceremonial Department, subordinate to the Ministry of Rites, was responsible for matters of ritual sacrifice, medicine, funerary rites, and the issuance of certificates for monks and Daoists. Its head was typically a scholar well-versed in Confucian classics, though in practice it functioned as a sinecure concerned chiefly with ceremonial affairs. While serving in this capacity, Tang Xianzu did not withdraw from public life or pursue a leisurely existence; rather, he remained deeply engaged with the world and attentive to contemporary events.

After Zhang Juzheng’s death, Shen Shixing succeeded him as Grand Secretary. Eager to make his mark, he reversed the high‑pressure policies of Zhang’s era, opening up channels for free expression and encouraging all to speak their minds. Yet this very move boomeranged on him: as a protégé personally nurtured by Zhang Juzheng, Shen Shixing gradually found himself the target of widespread criticism. Consequently, he began to clamp down on open discourse and suppress the censors, turning what had once been an effort to foster freedom of speech into a farcical spectacle. Tang Xianzu, deeply dissatisfied with this turn of events, submitted a memorial titled “On the Grand Secretaries and Censors,” sharply denouncing the arrogance of powerful officials and the ills afflicting state affairs—only to be demoted as a result. Though lowly placed and of little influence, Tang Xianzu dared to do what most would not, earning a reputation for outspoken integrity that resonated throughout the land. It is precisely for this enduring act of “speaking truth” that historians included a biography of Tang Xianzu in the History of the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, he turned his spare talents into legendary plays; works such as “The Purple Flute” and “Reviving the Dead” truly surpass those of the Yuan masters.

/ Translation /

Having offended the Wanli Emperor through a memorial, Tang Xianzu thereafter endured a turbulent official career. Despite his remarkable administrative achievements and having weathered countless trials, he gradually abandoned any ambition for advancement and devoted himself instead to the creation of drama and poetry, pouring the landscapes of his heart into ink and brush. “Zixiao,” or “The Record of the Purple Flute,” was Tang Xianzu’s first play and laid the groundwork for his celebrated masterpiece, “The Story of the Jade Hairpin.” “Huanhun,” formally titled “The Peony Pavilion: A Tale of Resurrection,” is commonly abbreviated as “The Peony Pavilion,” “The Record of Resurrection,” or “A Dream of Resurrection,” among other names; it was published in the forty-fifth year of the Wanli reign (1617). It is from this work that such famous lines as “Love knows not whence it springs, yet once kindled, it burns deep” and “The living may die, and the dead may live” originate. Together, “The Peony Pavilion,” “The Story of the Jade Hairpin,” “The Record of Handan,” and “The Record of Nanke” are known as the “Four Dreams of Linchuan,” serving as a testament to Tang Xianzu’s literary accomplishments.

This article is excerpted from “Seven-Color Chinese Language: New High School Chinese Studies.”