戲曲之題材本事，因劇種之異同及其時代之背景而有別。戲曲劇種若以藝術為基準分野，則有小戲、大戲、偶戲三大類。小戲歷朝歷代多隨生隨滅，只有北宋溫州「鶻伶聲嗽」發展為宋元南曲戲文，金末院本發展為北曲雜劇。戲文與雜劇即所謂「大戲」，其間又有因交化，而以雜劇為母體蛻變為明清南雜劇者，亦有以戲文為母體蛻變為明清傳奇者。以上戲文、雜劇、南雜劇、傳奇，其唱詞皆為詞曲系，音樂皆為曲牌體，是為詞曲系曲牌體之戲曲；但清康熙乾隆崛起之地方戲曲，捨此不由，其唱詞另為七言十言之詩讚系，音樂但講腔調與板眼，是為詩讚系板腔體之戲曲，從而形成為亂彈、皮黃與京劇。而此時之各地方土腔戲曲，亦並存於諸鄉土，蔚為壯觀，小戲、大戲雜然並存。可見戲曲小戲多取材自日常生活，鄉土氣息濃厚的平居瑣事；而大戲則因為可以運用曲折的故事反映政治、社會、家庭、人際的百態，自然會錯綜複雜。然而如就宏觀論之，實有伏滌修所舉之歷史素材劇、政治公案劇、宗教神魔劇、取材文人作品的改創劇、同題材劇作的翻新改創劇等六大類型，以及筆者所補充的家庭倫理劇、夫妻悲歡離合劇、男女愛情婚姻劇，以及少數的時事劇等四類型，總共十大類型。但因為大戲又有劇種之別各擅時代風騷，與時代之政治社會特殊背景而形成各自之風尚與特色。因之若就此觀點而論，則元代雜劇之公案劇、文士之發跡變泰劇、士人妓女之風情戀愛劇和度脫劇最能反映時代之現實。其次，南宋南曲戲文，由於當時士人躋身科舉，贅婿豪門容易，於拋棄糟糠之妻的婚變戲特多；而明清之傳奇、雜劇，由於禁令森嚴，淪為教化的工具，文人至多也只能用來抒懷寫抱；又由於崑山水磨調興起，音樂影響劇情，導致十部傳奇九相思，多半為夫妻戀人的悲歡離合。降及有清之亂彈皮黃，由於梆子腔傳統之聲情高亢，於是征戰戲與袍帶戲出類拔萃。

The subject matter and story of the traditional Chinese drama are different due to the differences of drama categories and background of their times. The traditional Chinese drama can be divided into three categories including xiaoxi, daxi and puppet show in terms of their art form and content. While there were various kinds of xiaoxi flourishing and declining since the Han Dynasty, only the “hulinshengshou” from the Wenzhou area developed into the Southern drama of Xiwen in Song and Yuan Dynasties, and the Yuanben drama of the late Jin turned into the Northern drama of zaju. The xiwen and zaju belong to the so-called daxi, which includes the Ming-Qing southern zaju drama transformed from the northern zaju and the Ming-Qing chuanqi drama turned from the xiwen. The lyrics of the above-mentioned xiwen, zaju, southern zaju, chuanqi dramas belong to the ci-qu system and their music is qupai (qu tunes) style. Hence, these dramas are categorized as ci-qu system and qupai style. On the other hand, the lyrics of the regional drama rising in the Kangxi and Qianlong periods of the Qing take the seven character-ten character poem of the shizan system which emphasizes tune, tone and beats of music. These regional dramas are thus categorized as the banqiang system and develop into luantan, pihuang and Peking Opera. At a time when the various regional dramas coexisted and flourished in the countryside, xiaoxi and daxi drama mixed and coexisted together. It is obvious that the subject matter of the xiaoxi are drawn from daily life, and the daxi is more complicate and rich due to its use of the twists and turns of the story to reflect the complexity of the political, social and interpersonal conditions. However, from the macroscopic perspective, in addition to the six major types suggested by Fu Dixiu such as the historical drama, the political courtroom drama, the religious god and spirit drama, the adapted drama from the literati works, and the rewritten drama on the same subject matter, I supplement four more types including the family ethical drama, the husband and wife series drama , the romantic drama, and some dramas on current political affairs, making a total of ten major types. While the daxi has different dramatic sub-genres which form their own style and characteristics due to the influence of special political and social background of different times, among the dramas of the Yuan Dynasty, the courtroom drama, the literati’s successful story drama, the literati and courtesans’ love drama and the religious enlightenment drama could mostly reflect the reality. Secondly, because the literati could easily pass the imperial exam and marry the wealthy family, there are many plays specifically dealing with the story of discarding the first wife in the southern qu xiwen of the Southern Song drama. The Ming-Qing chuanqi and zaju drama, due to the strict official ban, become a tool of education which the literati at most can simply use to convey their frustrated and resentful feelings. Moreover, after the rise of Shuimo tune from Kunshan, music affects the plot which inspires more romantic plays mainly dealing with the lovers of joys, sorrows, departing and reunion. As for the case of the luantan and pihuang drama of the Qing, due to the high pitched voice of the singing tune of the traditional Bangzi opera, there naturally appear and flourish the outstanding drama of campaign plays and gowns plays.

戲曲題材;大戲;小戲;傳奇;雜劇;戲文

subject matter of xiqu; xiaoxi; daxi; chuanqi; zaju; xiwen