The Music Teacher: The Professionalization of Singing and the Development of Erotic Vocal Style During Late Ming China

Abstract

I focus on the professional singing teacher as a new social identity during the late Ming, particularly their social transformation from anonymous grifters to meaningful names in the elite singing culture of kunqu. A close, intertextual reading of different versions of Wei Liangfu’s (fl. 16th century) singing thesis, Nanci yinzheng—combined with historical, fictional, dramatic, and poetic accounts of musical performance given by professional singing masters and their courtesan students—reveals how the professionalization of teaching music resulted in the low rate of musical literacy among commoner-singers and the renowned erotic vocal style of the late Ming. In this process, moral critique, sensual pleasure, and technical criticism were more closely intertwined than has been generally believed. 摘要: 本文關注晚明曲師如何從無名小輩升級為崑曲演唱之精英文化中的關鍵人物。通過《南詞引正》版本比勘，分析有關曲師和妓女演唱的文獻，本文闡述晚明音樂職業化的後果：普通人視唱的低水平和演唱的色情風格——一個道德批判、感官享受和細節批評同時並存的歌唱文化。

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