Nanxi (literally, "southern theater") was the earliest form of xiqu (literally, "theater of song"), the indigenous or traditional Chinese theater. This form first originated on the southeast coast of China around the third decade of the twelfth century; later, it was circulated primarily in south and east China. During the course of its spread, nanxi gradually lost the attributes of folk theater, and eventually evolved into chuanqi (literally, "transmission of the marvelous") before the middle of the sixteenth century.;By the early thirteenth century at the latest, nanxi had already synthesized stories with song and dance in performances that were conventionalized, and therefore possessed the generic characteristics of xiqu. As the direct forerunner of chuanqi, nanxi had a crucial impact on chuanqi, through which it further influenced other later xiqu forms. However, because of various historical reasons, nanxi was disdained for a long time and was not written about in any formal records. Moreover, most nanxi play scripts were lost through the centuries; others were altered arbitrarily by literati during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). These revised or rewritten play scripts deviated from the original editions and were mistakenly regarded as chuanqi texts for a long time. After the middle of the sixteenth century and before the twentieth century, few were aware that there had been a xiqu form called nanxi.;Nanxi was rediscovered in this century. Since 1920, a number of original nanxi scripts have been discovered both in China and elsewhere. As an independent discipline, the study of nanxi began in the 1930's. Due to their diligent effort, Chinese scholars have made great achievements in textual and literary studies concerning nanxi.;This dissertation is the first comprehensive English-language study concerning nanxi, and the first study of nanxi in any language from the perspective of total theatrical performance. This dissertation also analyzes a number of controversial issues in previous studies regarding nanxi. The sources for this dissertation principally comprise historical data found in literati's writings from the thirteenth through the seventeenth centuries and information from the original nanxi play scripts. At relevant points, statistical figures are employed as well.
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