Playwrights and literary games in seventeenth-century China : plays by Tang Xianzu, Mei Dingzuo, Wu Bing, Li Yu, and Kong Shangren

__Playwrights and Literary Games in Seventeenth-Century China: Plays by Tang Xianzu, Mei Dingzuo, Wu Bing, Li Yu, and Kong Shangren__ is a full-length study of __chuanqi__ (romance) drama, a sophisticated form with substantial literary and meta-theatrical value that reigned in Chinese theater from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries and nourished later theatrical traditions including __jingju__ (Beijing Opera). Highly educated dramatists used __chuanqi__ to present in artistic form personal, social, and political concerns of their time. There were six outstanding examples of these trends, considered masterpieces in their time and ever since. This study presents them in their social and cultural context during the long seventeenth century (1580–1700), the period of great experimentation and political transition. The romantic spirit and independent thinking of the late Ming elite stimulated the efflorescence of the __chuanqi__, and that legacy was inherited and investigated during the second half of the seventeenth-century in early Qing. Jing Shen examinees the texts to demonstrate that the playwrights appropriate, convert, or misinterpret other genres or literary works of enduring influence into their plays to convey subtle and subversive expressions in the fine margins between tradition and innovation, history and theatrical re-presentation. By exploring the components of romance in texts from late Ming to early Qing, Shen reveals creative readings of earlier themes, stories, plays and the changing idea of romanticism for __chuanqi__ drama. This study also shows the engagement of literati playwrights in closed literary circles in which __chuanqi__ plays became a tool by which literati playwrights negotiated their agency and social stature. The five playwrights whose works are analyzed in this book had different experiences pursuing government service as scholar-officials; some failed to achieve high office. But their common concerns and self-conscious literary choices reveal important in Contents Acknowledgments Prologue 生•.你對他講,不做全本,只演零山.開酋•一劇,要做"王十朋祭江".做 完之後,枵拿戲單來點. (外傳介)(末取戯單下) 旦:為甚麼點這-•山? 生:不為別樣,單耍試你令堂的心.你當初為做 >,方才投水.如 今原把,厭梨阆m落太其. 合班十H,補完傳奇.以張三為無雙,作余滿意觀,愧米能以千金報 之 The Concept of Qi - •涉仙人荒誕之事,便無好境趣. 蛍工畓鬼魅易,若詞家反雛之.蓋如元曲所稱為“神頭鬼臉”者.易涉 于俚. 此必腐儒作此以佞求仙奔. Notes >•(西厢記),S/隱议(雙珠記),牡丹亭),ffo叹/|•力•(紅梨記), THE APPROPRIATION AND CONVERSION OF CHUANQI FICTION IN MING PLAYS 妍之舉人多先藉當1U:顯人,以姓名達之主司,然後以所業投獻,逾數bJ 又投,諧之“溫卷,”如幽怪錄,傳奇等,皆是也,蓋此等文備眾傲,可以 兄史才,詩筆,議論,至進士則多以詩為贄. 妍人受陳隋風流,君游幸,率以才情tl勝....令也生今之世,滔蕩 零落,尚不能得一中縣而治,彼誠遇有情之天下也.47 Notes Huo Xiaoyu zhuan in Zichaiji Tang Xianzu Officialdom vs. Pedigree 年光去,辜负了如花似玉妻,唢一線功名成其的?2U Reconstructing the Idea of Romance: Hairpin Reconstructing the Idea of Romance: The Identity of the Heroine Reconstructing the Idea of Romance: Knight-Errant Conclusion Notes Liushi zhuan in Yuheji Mei Dingzuo The Portrayal of a Romantic Hero The Reinscription of the Heroine’s Identity The Jade Box Ambivalence toward an Official Career The Reinscription of the Gallant Man Conclusion Notes TEXTUAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF (GENDERED) SUBJECTIVITIES A Confucian View of Selfhood in Late Ming Notes The Poetic Constructions of (Gendered) Identities in Lii mudan Wu Bing The Biographical Criticisms of Lii mudan An Inter textual Reference to Mudari ting The Constructive Capacity of Poetic Language Contestation of Gender Roles in LU mudatt Conclusion Notes An Ironic Perspective on Love Poeticized in Fengzheng wu Love Evoked by Poetry Reading and Writing Lust Veiled by Poetic Words The Paradox ofTextuality A Parody of Xixiang ji Feminized Men A Note from the Playwright Notes Notes Bimuyu The Moral Role of Theater 邇來節義頗荒唐, 盡把宣淫罪戯場. 尽生足讀咨人,要去溫習詩蛊,好阔上迎.這學戯的亊,不是我做的! 我初來之意,只說做大淨的,不足扮關雲長,就足扮楚簕王,雖涂幾锒 臉,做到慷慨激烈之處,還不失英雄本色.誰想十本戯里面,止有-•兩 本做君子,其余都做小人,一亳髋面也沒有,豈足人做的亊? 把個須伯男子,扮做巾帼婦人,崁+失丫丈夫之骼? 把個青年後生,扮做n須老子,豈不銷/英銳之氣? 那戯文里面的小生,不足w人成亊,就足助人成名他ci立nr, 也不像我做的. The Imagery of Bimuyu Planning a Suicide 心痛苦,難分訴.丈夫,一從往帝都,終朝望你諧夫婦.誰想今朝,拆散中 途.我母親信讒言,將奴誤.娘阿,你一心贪戀,贪戀他豪富,把禮義綱常 此劇不同他劇.生為情種,旦作貞妻,代我衆梨園生色.46 Staging the Suicide 投江): ^ 遭折挫,受禁持,♦山人+淚_!無山洗恨,無山速恥,事到臨危, 拚死在黄泉作怨鬼.55 傷風化,亂網常,赀親逼嫁富家郎.若把身名辱污广不如命喪 長江!S8 把義夫節婦,奇跡昭穴.戯文當做真怙演.投江委實把軀捐.迟本 < >,後來更傳62 The Epilogue of the Suicide 當曰藍袍掛體,只_片刻舒Ml.如今才演終身戯,開場便足榮知1P Rewriting the Scene “Offering a Sacrifice to the River’’ Conclusion Notes 222. Taohua shan Political-Philosophical Context Ritual versus Theater 昨在太平園中,看•本新出傳奇,名為 < >,就足明朝末年南 京近亊.借離合之愦,寫興亡之感,貧亊實人,有憑有據.老夫不但耳閩. 皆曾眼見.更可喜把老夫袞態,也拉上了排場,做了 •個副末脚色:惹 的俺哭一吼笑一回,怒一回,罵•回.那滿座宵客.怎曉得我老夫就足 戯中之人M8 A Rehearsal of Mudan ting (旦上)夢丨y丨鶯囀,亂煞年光遍.人立小庭深院.(貼上)注盡沉煙,拋殘 繍線,恁今#關情似去年 香夢回,才褪紅駑被.重點檀唇腌脂腻,匆匆挽個拋家髻.迫存愁怎替, 那新詞且記, Ruan Dacheng’s Ritual Frustration and Theatrical Activities Li Xiangjun^ Experience of Mudan ting: The Imagery of Peach Blossoms 為甚M,玉真重溯武陵源?也則為水點花飛在眼前.足天公花 錢,則咱人心上有題紅怨.咳,辜负丫存三二月天卜 The Connection between Mudan ting and Yanzijian Contextualizing Mingfeng ji 趙文華陪著嚴嵩,抹粉臉席前趨奉;醜腔惡態,演出真鸣域.俺做個女 禰衡,撾漁陽,聲聲罵;看他惮不愤, Conclusion Notes Conclusion Notes Appendix: Plot Summaries Notes Bibliography Cai,Yi (蔡毅)• Z//)• Z/咖I,议 A/•而xmc— fcexMt’ 6叫(浙江師大學報)(社會科學版)5 (l998): 88- 91. Lu,Eting (陸要庭)./CM"y« y祕/m 5//如()(S劇演出史稿).Taibei: Guojia chuban- Wang,Yongjian (下•永健)• 兄仙之“ y« M/,yj Q/叹 f/mim中• yd,y,M (潑顯供與明 (論 < > 的創作歴程及其思想意蕴).Af/叹Qnj? — Zhao, ShanJU^ (趙山林).“Pan ZWheng ping^huan”(潘之f金評傳卢如 劇藝術)4 (1996): 87-93. Zheng,Zhiliang (鄭志良)• “Pan Zhiheng yu qujia de jiaoyou kao”(潘之tS 與曲 家的交游考).(古籍研究)2 (2000): 53-57/ "Considering the importance of chuanqi drama in Ming and Qing China and the recent revival of interest in the genre, this book is extremely welcome. Jing Shen has focused on some of the most knotty problems in chuanqi drama: the games that literati played in their production and consumption. After contextualizing the genre and its producers and consumers, she presents detailed and concrete analyses of examples from some of the most influential playwrights of the 1600s, a crucial century in the development of the genre and of Chinese history (it saw the traumatic fall of the native Ming dynasty to the invading Manchus). Since Professor Shen pays careful attention to the relationships between developments in this dramatic genre and the societal and historical changes of the times, her book will be of great interest not only to those interested in Chinese theater or world theater in general, but also to those interested in this crucial century in Chinese history." David Rolston, University of Michigan "Adaptations of earlier writings, the representations of identities (whether of characters or the playwrights' own), the newly developed self-reflexivity in drama, and meta-theatrical statements in various forms are all important concerns that Jing Shen weaves through her masterful readings of plays by five major dramatists of China's crucial seventeenth century--when traditional culture underwent the shattering trauma of subjugation by non-Chinese armies from the north. Throughout she demonstrates her deep knowledge of China's literary tradition by revealing the complex intertextual relations of each play. Professor Shen's richly detailed study firmly places these dramatic masterpieces in their historical, cultural, and even personal contexts to provide a vision of late imperial Chinese theater significantly more nuanccd than that achieved by any previous study in any Western language." Robert E. Ilegel, Washington University, St. Louis "The late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were a time when stage-struck literary men from the top echelon of Chinese society turned their hands to playwriting, and the publishing boom of the period ensured that handsomely printed editions of their plays with illustrations and commentary were available to an avid reading public. These plays, which combine the finest poetic song lyrics with sophisticated badinage and bawdy jokes, were also serious vehicles for reflections on politics, history, and, of course, the theater itself. Jing Shen's new book provides an informative and lively introduction to the sociocultural world that these literati playwrights inhabited and re-created in their marvelous works. All in all, this is a major addition to the growing critical literature on the history and theory of premodern Chinese theater in its cultural context." Judith T. Zeitlin, University of Chicago Playwrights and Literary Games in Seventeenth-Century China is a full length study of chuanqi (romance) drama, a sophisticated form with substantial literary and meta theatrical value that reigned supreme in Chinese theater from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries and nourished later rheatrical traditions, including jingjn (the Beijing Opera). Jing Shen examines the texts to demonstrate that chuanqi playwrights appropriate, convert, or misinterpret other genres or literary works of enduring influence in their plays to convey subtle and subversive expressions in the fine margins between tradition and innovation, history and theatrical representation. By exploring the components of romance in texts from the late Ming to the early Qing dynasties, Shen reveals creative readings of earlier themes, stories, plays, and the changing idea of romanticism for chuanqi drama. --Book Jacket Playwrights and their circles History and criticism of traditional Chinese theater Huo Xiaoyu zhuan in Zichai ji Liushi zhuan in Yuhe ji The poetic constructions of (gendered) identities in Lü mudan An ironic perspective on love poeticized in Fengzheng wu Bimuyu Taohua shan.