Sixty Songs and the Mentality of Ming Dynasty Scholars

Works of the Xiqu opera is usually the reflection of reality. Sixty Songs is one of the classical collections of Ming Dynasty legends which contains the masterpieces of almost all the important writers of Ming Dynasty legends. The author of Sixty Songs shows through the characters and plots the mentality of Ming Dynasty Scholars, i.e. pursue wealth and status to verify himself, stress personal requirement of emotion to enjoy life, retire to the nature and convert to Buddhism to be his true self, etc. In a word, the mentality of Ming Dynasty scholars shows their characteristics of emphasizing sensual enjoyment and ignoring spiritual pursuit, which is somewhat different from scholars' ideal personality in the traditional sense, but is more of truth. This is the result of Ming Dynasty scholars following their own inner requirements, and also the wise and inevitable choice for them to have a place in the fierce reality.