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association with Liang Chenyu
- In Liang Chenyu
  When his great actor friend Wei Liangfu developed a new, subtler, and quieter style of dramatic singing, he asked Liang to create a showcase for his new style. Liang complied by writing the Huanshaji (“Washing the Silken Gauze”), a kunqu drama that initiated the type of theatre that was to…
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In Chinese literature: Vernacular literature
…his friend the great actor Wei Liangfu. The Kun school, initiating a style of soft singing and subtle music, was to dominate the theatre to the end of the 18th century.
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In Chinese performing arts: The Ming period
…the mid-16th century, a musician, Wei Liangfu, of Suzhou, devoted 10 years to creating a new style of music called kunqu, based on southern folk and popular melodies. At first it was used in short plays. Liang Chenyu, poet of the 16th century, adapted it to full-length opera in time,…
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kunqu
- In kunqu
  …mid-1500s, the musician and actor Wei Liangfu developed a musical form that combined kunshan qiang with other regional styles. The dramatist Liang Chenyu of Kunshan soon adapted it to a full-length opera, Huanshaji (“Washing the Silken Gauze”), a chuanqi (“marvel tale”). It gained wide popularity, and the new dramatic style…
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