y, distinction, beauty, &c., or
as others derived from the names of colours, birds, beasts, precious
metals, elements, constellations, &c., or alluding to favourite legends
or anecdotes. These features constitute the literary element _par
excellence_ of Chinese dramatic composition. At the same time, though it
is impossible for the untrained reader to be alive to the charms of so
unfamiliar a phraseology, it may be questioned whether even in its
diction the Chinese drama can claim to be regarded as really poetic. It
may abound in poetic _ornament_; it is not, like the Indian, bathed in
poetry.

Merits of the Chinese drama.

On the other hand, the merits of this dramatic literature are by no
means restricted to ingenuity of construction and variety of
character--merits, in themselves important, which no candid criticism
will deny to it. Its master-piece is not only truly pathetic in the
conception and the main situations of its action, but includes scenes of
singular grace and delicacy of treatment--such as that where the
remarried husband of the deserted heroine in vain essays in the presence
of his second wife to sing to his new lute, now that he has cast aside
the old.[49] In the last act of a tragedy appealing at once to
patriotism and to pity, there is true imaginative power in the picture
of the emperor, when aware of the departure, but not of the death, of
his beloved, sitting in solitude broken only by the ominous shriek of
the wild-fowl.[50] Nor is the Chinese drama devoid of humour. The lively
abigail who has to persuade her mistress into confessing herself in love
by arguing (almost like Beatrice) that "humanity bids us love men";[51]
the corrupt judge (a common type in the Chinese plays) who falls on his
knees before the prosecuting parties to a suit as before "the father and
mother who give him sustenance,"[52] may serve as examples; and in
_Pi-Pa-Ki_ there is a scene of admirable burlesque on the still more
characteristic theme of the humours of a competitive examination.[53] If
such illustrations could not easily be multiplied, they are at least
worth citing in order to deprecate a perfunctory criticism on the
qualities of a dramatic literature as to which our materials for
judgment are still scanty.

Scenery and costume.

Actors.

While in the north of China houses are temporarily set apart for
dramatic performances, in the south these are usually confined to
theatres erected in the stree