During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Frenchman Joseph Ma came to China. When he was studying and researching Chinese culture, he noticed the Yuan drama "The Orphan of Zhao", translated it into French, and then published it in Duhede's "The Complete Records of the Chinese Empire". "The Complete Records of the Chinese Empire" was the "most authoritative work" for Europe to understand China at that time, and "The Orphan of Zhao" gradually became known to the European cultural circles.
At that time, classical drama was popular in French theater circles. Most critics believe that "The Orphan of Zhao" does not conform to the rules of classical drama. Because it neither abides by the Three Unities (dramatic creation maintains consistency among time, place and plot), nor does it comply with the ancient Greek tragedy principle of not showing killing and death scenes on the stage. Moreover, the characters in Yuan dramas introduce themselves as "family members" and sing and talk, which is even more puzzling or novel.
Data picture: Stills of "The Orphan of Zhao" (Source/Xinhua News Agency)
As a result, four or five adaptations of this script have appeared one after another. For example, Voltaire's "The Chinese Orphan" (French version), Murphy's "The Chinese Orphan" (English version), Metastasio's "The Chinese Hero" (Italian version), etc.
Voltaire's "The Orphan of China" basically deviates from the Yuan drama "The Orphan of Zhao" in terms of plot and characters, and is more in line with the classical drama style. The play is divided into five acts. The story is set during the period when the Mongols occupied the Central Plains. It mainly tells that after Genghis Khan captured Beijing, Zhang Ti, the deceased minister, decided to use his own medicine to protect the legal heir of the empire, "Chinese Orphans". The children came to take the place of the search.
In order to increase the necessary love scenes in a classic drama, the drama also sets up the plot that Yi Damei is the girl Genghis Khan fell in love with when he was young. He asked Yi Damei to leave Zhang Ti and follow him to save the lives of "Chinese orphans" and others. When saying goodbye to Zhang Ti, Yi Damei asked her husband to kill her first and then commit suicide. When Zhang Ti raised his dagger, Genghis Khan broke in, saying that he had been conquered by their virtues and promised to let the couple and their two children go.
"Orphans of China" was first performed at the Théâtre Française for 16 times, causing a sensation throughout Paris. Later, it was performed at the court and gained great attention.
Data map: In 1765, a French actor played Genghis Khan in Voltaire's "The Orphan of China"
About 100 years later, another Chinese classical opera also attracted the attention of the Western cultural world. This is the brilliant Southern opera "Pipa Ji" in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. Later, in order to adapt this script, American writer and journalist Will began to look for more translations of "The Story of Pipa". Twenty years later, he borrowed the French translation of "The Legend of Pipa" by the French sinologist Bazin from Professor Zucker of the University of Maryland. Then he began to re-create the script.
Will combined the habits and preferences of American theater audiences and changed the original 42-act "Pipa Diary" into "Pipa Song" in three acts and 12 scenes. At the same time, the theme of loyalty and filial piety in Gao Ming's script was changed, and the focus of the whole drama was on love. Because the ancient Chinese concept of "one husband and two wives" was inconsistent with the American concept at that time, the play chose to end with Miss Niu's withdrawal and the reunion of Zhao Wuniang and Cai Bozhe.
"Pipa Song" debuted on Broadway on February 6, 1946, and performed for 5 months and a total of 142 performances. There are no Chinese among the production and performance staff of the entire script. This is extremely rare in the history of Western dissemination of Chinese classical opera. The heroine Zhao Wuniang is played by popular star Mary Martin, the male lead Cai Bojie is played by Yul Brynner, and Miss Niu is played by Helen Clegg. It is particularly worth mentioning that Nancy Davis, who later became the first lady of the United States, played Miss Niu's maid Xichun.
In 1980, the American sinologist Bai Zhi released the full English translation of "The Peony Pavilion" with the sponsorship of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. On this basis, "The Peony Pavilion" performed in the form of Kunqu Opera gradually attracted the attention of Western audiences.
At the end of the 20th century, American producer John Rockwell and Chinese-American director Chen Shizheng teamed up with the Shanghai Kun Opera Troupe to produce a complete Kunqu opera "The Peony Pavilion", which is divided into 6 books and 55 scenes, with a duration of 20 hours. The stage design of this version is very distinctive.A crescent-shaped pool of water is set up on the stage. There are several water plants, a few carps and a pair of ducks swimming in the pool, creating the image of a Chinese garden. Chen Shizheng believes that the play "can rediscover the essence of the art form" and aims to "provide new experience for Chinese opera to take to the world stage in the next millennium."
Text/Zhu Xiajun (The author is an associate professor at Shanghai Theater Academy)
Editor/Cui Wei
