Abstract:

Both You Tong and Li Yu, who kept close contact with each other, played important roles in the drama field of the Qing Dynasty. They claimed themselves to be'guests with the same tune, ' but then most men of letters had different comments on their dramas. This not only resulted from certain differences between You's plays and Li's and those critics' special interests, but mostly from the aesthetic idea of 'appreciating the elegant while depreciating the popular' under the Qing Dynasty. Such a debate over high and popular dramas had its own distinct implications. It was a product under the background of the Qing Dynasty's high-pressure political culture, and also an inevitable result of the literati-oriented process of the Ming-Qing drama, which later produced a great influence upon the development of the Qing drama.

Key words: You Tong, Li Yu, drama, appreciation of the elegant and depreciation of the popular