Although their Mongol overlords (beginning with the founding of the Yuan dynasty by Kublai Khan in 1280) tyrannized the Chinese in nearly every area of life, the arts enjoyed a new-found freedom. On the one hand oppressed, on the other released from the straight-jacket of Confucianism, the Chinese made the most of recent developments in poetry and drama. Yuan plays were a tonic, an amazing spectacle--colorful outbursts of singing, dancing, music, acting and mime. They poured new life into old stories--oppressors were ridiculed, servants became masters, scenes changed, day followed night in the twinkling of an eye--and audiences flocked to enjoy what must have been complete entertainment.

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