Search

This thesis explores the reciprocal relationship between Shanxi merchants’ commercial activities and the development of Shanxi regional theatre in late imperial China, with a focus on Shanxi bangzi (clapper opera). I argue that theatrical performance was not only a form of entertainment but also a means of implementing business strategies to enhance Shanxi merchants’ business performance. The underlying reason for Shanxi merchants’ theatre sponsorship was their pursuit of wealth, influence, fame and status. This is the first comprehensive interdisciplinary study on this topic that involves history, sociology, theatre performance studies and religious studies. This thesis examines four occasions on which Shanxi merchants sponsored and consumed theatrical performance in association with their commercial activities, namely, merchant guild meetings, temple fairs, socialising with the ruling class, and during household events and in their leisure time. The exploration of the four types of occasions shows Shanxi merchants’ direct involvement in theatrical performance with respect to stages, theatre troupes, spectators, repertoire, purposes for performing, and interactions between performers and spectators. The discussion also demonstrates the social and economic effects of theatrical performance. Shanxi merchants obtained both short-term and long-term economic benefits from their theatre sponsorship. The sponsorship helped them manage their merchant guilds, discipline their guild members, gain a positive image, maintain a close relationship with the ruling class and reinforce their own social status. From the perspective of the history of Chinese traditional theatre, Shanxi merchants’ sponsorship and consumption of theatrical performance stimulated the development and spread of theatre, especially Shanxi bangzi.

Guo Shixing is considered one of the most interesting playwrights in contemporary China. In his production, an important role is played by his two trilogies, the Loafers (1990s) trilogy and the Dignity (2000s) trilogy. After briefly analysing commonalities and differences between the two trilogies, this essay focuses on an analysis of the text and the mise en scène of the third play in the Dignity trilogy, Go Home. The essay will show that this play can be seen as a sort of point of arrival for Guo Shixing’s creative writing, concentrating the distinctive features that have marked his production from the beginning. In particular, the study will reflect on the close link between theatre and society, and on the function of dramaturgical writing as a mirror and at the same time a criticism of contemporary society., Kervan. International Journal of African and Asian Studies, V. 26 N. 1 (2022): Kervan 26 (2022)

Cet article étudie la réception critique en France d’une pièce chinoise du XIVe siècle, L’Orphelin des Zhao, traduite en 1731 par le jésuite Henri Joseph de Prémare et commentée par des hommes de lettres (Voltaire, Fréron) ou des savants (Abel Rémusat). Le pathétique et la violence de la fable les conduisent à s’interroger sur son efficacité en dehors de Chine et la circulation des émotions théâtrales dans d’autres pays : des affects interculturels sont-ils concevables au XVIIIe siècle ?, This essay deals with the critical reception of a 14th-century Chinese play, The Orphan of Zhao, translated in 1731 by the Jesuit Henri Joseph de Prémare and studied by writers (Voltaire, Fréron) or academics (Abel Rémusat). This violent and pathetic drama brings into question its efficiency outside China and the possibility of rousing emotions in spectators from other countries: are intercultural affects thinkable in 18th-century France?

The 18th-century novel The Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng) is one of the most important narrative masterpieces of Chinese literature. Despite the numerous studies on this work ��� that is an encyclopedic summa of an entire culture ��� the role of the theatre in the novel has not been sufficiently deepened. This paper explores how the young protagonists of Honglou meng use The Story of the Western Wing, a comedy that is still fundamental to the Chinese artistic heritage today. The two teenagers in the novel secretly admire the drama characters and their courageous way of living passions. These characters have the subversive and maieutic function of providing essential words for a dialogue that allows the adolescents to emotionally overcome the conditioning of an environment characterized by a rigid and oppressive Neo-Confucian education. Some issues about the consideration suffered by sentimental dramaturgy ��� in an imperial context where the theatre was the centre of debates on which themes and behaviours should be censored as corrupting costumes ��� emerge in the background of this analysis., Sezione di Lettere, XV (2020)

Мюзикл «Бабочки» Сань Бао — музыкально-сценическая интерпретация древней легенды о двух влюбленных героях — Ляне Шаньбо и Чжу Интай, которые превратились в бабочек, чтобы соединиться за пределами земного бытия. Этот сюжет приобрел в спектакле космологическое значение, а любовь героев представлена высшей ценностью существования. Драматургия мюзикла основана на противопоставлении двух противоположных выборов, сделанных героями: это обретение истинного (человеческого) бытия через любовь (главные герои) или сохранение нецелостного, призрачного существования (люди-бабочки). Музыка, характеризующая людей-бабочек, механистична и изобилует ударными ритмами. Музыка, характеризующая главных героев, основана на гармоническом сочетании национальных мотивов и музыкального языка европейского романтизма. Спектакль «Бабочки» отличается развитым и сложным музыкальным языком, наличием ярких мелодических тем-лейтмотивов. Основные темы мюзикла: тема бабочек, которая развивается на протяжении всего действия, три темы любви как три состояния. Мюзикл «Бабочки» — пример синтеза китайской и европейской традиций. Использование образов и отдельных элементов музыкального языка, характерных для китайской культуры, гармонично сочетается здесь с теми приемами и особенностями развития музыкального тематизма, которые сформировались в европейской оперной и симфонической традиции. Этот мюзикл — значительное явление не только для китайской, но и для мировой музыкальной культуры, The musical “Butterfles” by Sanh Bao is a new interpretation of an ancient legend about two heroes in love, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Intai, who turned into butterfles to connect beyond earthly being. This plot acquired cosmological signifiance in the play, and the heroes' love is represented by the highest value of existence. The dramaturgy of the musical is based on the opposition of two opposite choices made by the heroes: the acquisition of true (human) being through love (the main heroes) or the preservation of an incomplete, ghost existence (butterfl people). The music that characterizes butterfl people is mechanistic and rife with shock rhythms. The music characterizing the main characters is based on a harmonic combination of national motives and the musical language of European romanticism. The play “Butterfles” is distinguished by a developed and complex musical language, the presence of vivid melodic themes and keynotes. The main themes of the musical: the theme of butterfles, which develops throughout the whole action, three themes of love as three states that can be arbitrarily called: “theme of human love”, “theme of love-transformation” and “theme of love-sacrifie”. Longhua, sister Zhu Intai and Little Girl also have vivid musical characteristics. The image of the Little Girl is distinguished by national identity and is associated with the traditions of Taois. The musical consists of two acts. Each act consists of completed numbers (arias, ensembles, choral scenes), and these scenes can have either a simple couplet form or be built on the principle of continuous dramatic development. The musical “Butterfles” is an example of a synthesis of Chinese and European traditions. The use of images and individual elements of the musical language, characteristic of Chinese culture, harmoniously combines here with the techniques and features of the development of musical themes that were formed in the European opera and symphonic tradition. This musical is a signifiant phenomenon not only for Chinese, but also for world musical culture., АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ ВЫСШЕГО МУЗЫКАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ, Выпуск 1 (55) 2020

This paper studies the evermore widespread phenomenon of the adaptation of novels for the stage, focusing on prizewinning contemporary Chinese novels. The first part provides the theoretical approach that is adopted in the second part, where two cases studies are discussed, i.e the stage adaptation of the novel Song of Everlasting Sorrow by Wang Anyi and of the novel To Live by Yu Hua. Starting from the perspective of “horizontal relations” among texts (Hutcheon 2013), the analysis of the adaptation process takes its distance from the fidelity/infidelity discourse, in order to investigate the network of echoing versions (trans-media, trans-language, etc) it is able to produce. This network is much more interesting to explore than supposed vertical hierarchies. Nevertheless, not every version is a text able to live independently from its source: the analysis shows that today's phenomenon of trans-media adaptation is fostered by a cultural industry that aims at exploiting all profits from a best-selling prizewinning novel. The role played by this industry in the adaptation process needs to be fully considered., Kervan. International Journal of Afro-Asiatic Studies, Scritti e pensieri per Pinuccia Caracchi

This article traces the translation path that led to various Western theatrical rewritings of The Orphan of Zhao family (Zhaoshi gu'er 趙氏孤兒), the famous Chinese drama of the Yuan 元 dynasty (1271-1368) by playwright Ji Junxiang紀君祥. Taking into account the earliest historical Chinese sources, the article analyses the theatrical and musical re-adaptations that followed the first French translation of the drama, by the Jesuit missionary J. H. M. de Prémare (1735). In particular, the analysis focuses on the libretto L’eroe cinese (The Chinese Hero) by Pietro Metastasio (1752). Comparing and analysing the textus receptus and this Italian rewriting, we try to demonstrate how the image of China represented in this work, filtered through the translation of P. de Prémare, is only evoked as an exotic context, following the fashion of the era for the chinoiserie. Subsequently, the article offers a comparison between Cheng Ying, main character of Chinese drama, and Leango, protagonist of the melodrama by Metastasio, analysing the way in which they express their loyalty to their lord and react to the adversities of life, revealing the cultural differences of the context from which the two works derived., Kervan. International Journal of Afro-Asiatic Studies, V. 23 N. 1

The gradual decline of the Qing Dynasty led to a long period of political unrest and social turmoil. During this period traditional forms of Chinese theater were still performed throughout the huge country. However, international contacts, particularly with the West, led to new kinds of experiments and innovations. They include, not only discussion on the future concept of theater development, but also creation completely new kinds of theater forms, such as the spoken drama or huaju and the musical drama or geju. The Paper covers modernization of the Chinese theatre in 1911–1966. The focus is on political and social processes, cultural transformations which affected the development process of performing arts in China; social condition of the formation of new kinds of theatre art; features of coexistence of European traditions and Chinese culture in the development of contemporary Chinese musical and drama theatre. Стремительное падение династии Цин привело к затяжному периоду политических волнений и социальных потрясений. Традиционные формы китайского театра в этот период все еще продолжали бытовать по всей стране. Однако расширение международных контактов, особенно с Западом, дало начало новым видам экспериментов и инноваций, включающим в себя не только дискуссии по вопросам будущей концепции развития театра, но и собственно возникновение совершенно новых театральных форм, таких как разговорная драма хуацзюй и музыкальная драма гэцзюй. Статья посвящена модернизации театрального искусства Китая в 1911–1966 гг. В центре внимания автора — политико-социальные процессы и культурные преобразования, оказавшие влияние на процесс развития сценического искусства Китая, социальные условия формирования новых видов театрального искусства, а также особенности сосуществования европейских традиций и культуры Китая в развитии его современного музыкального и драматического театра.

Music in jingju, one of the most representative genres of Chinese traditional theatre, is created according to a series of orally transmitted principles. This thesis aims at deepening the understanding of one of them known as shengqiang, which accounts for the melodic material. To this goal, it proposes a novel approach based on computer aided musicology. A corpus of machine readable scores for 92 jingju arias is gathered, covering 899 melodic lines in the two main shengqiang used in jingju, named erhuang and xipi. These lines are grouped into 24 categories according to the principles of jingju music system, and comparative analysis is performed in each category, obtaining a series of melodic schemata which represent their melodic identity. Automatically extracted statistical and quantitative data support and expand the information provided with these schemata. The corpus, the developed code, and the resulting plots and data are available in a companion webpage. La música del jingju, uno de los géneros más representativos del teatro tradicional chino, es creada según una serie de principios transmitidos oralmente. El objetivo de esta tesis es avanzar en la comprensión de uno de estos principios conocido como shengqiang, que proporciona el material melódico. A tal fin, se propone un método innovador basado en musicología con apoyo computacional, que supone la creación de un corpus de 92 partituras legibles por máquina de arias de jingju, que contiene 899 líneas melódicas en los principales shengqiang de este género, erhuang y xipi. Estas líneas, agrupadas en 24 categorías según los principios del sistema musical del jingju, son analizadas comparativamente, obteniendo esquemas melódicos que representan su identidad melódica. Esta información se apoya y amplía con datos estadísticos y cuantitativos extraídos automáticamente. El corpus, el código desarrollado y las figuras y datos obtenidos son accesibles en la página web de la tesis. La música del jingju, un dels gèneres més representatius del teatre tradicional xinès, és creada segons una sèrie de principis de transmissió oral. L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és avançar en la comprensió d'un d'aquests principis conegut com a shengqiang, que hi proporciona el material melòdic. Amb aquesta finalitat, es proposa un mètode innovador basat en musicologia amb suport computacional, que suposa la creació d'un corpus de 92 partitures llegibles per màquina d'àries de jingju, que conté 899 línies melòdiques en els principals shengqiang d'aquest gènere, erhuang i xipi. Aquestes línies, agrupades en 24 categories segons els principis del sistema musical del jingju, són analitzades comparativament, obtenint-hi esquemes melòdics que representen la seva identitat melòdica. Aquesta informació es recolzada i ampliada amb dades estadístiques i quantitatives extretes automàticament. El corpus, el codi desenvolupat i les figures i dades obtingudes són accessibles a la pàgina web que acompanya la tesi.

This dissertation is about Peking Opera in Hong Kong. I (re)construct its history, from the early twentieth century to the present day, through the life stories of six individuals who are significant to the topic in various periods and respects. The theoretical base of this project derives from Igor Kopytoff’s notion of Cultural Biography and from (qualitative) Social Network Analysis. I collect my data by ethnographic methods, which include interviews, participant observation and archival research. In addition to the production of a critical history of Peking Opera in Hong Kong, this dissertation shows how various individual and institutional stakeholders envision and embody their versions of “Chinese-ness” through Peking Opera. I argue that after the 1997 handover, Peking Opera has become a space for the authorities and performers to negotiate their Chinese identities between the “local” (i.e. Hong Kong) and the “national” (i.e. The People’s Republic of China). This identity-building consequently affects their stance toward, or practice of, Peking Opera. My research also shows that some of these identity-driven practices have made a “reverse impact” on presentational conventions in the Chinese mainland.