Abstract
As a forum for public speech, the theatre can serve a social function by presenting political messages. Dialogue can be turned into speech exchanges between the stage and the audience, and hence its impact upon the audience is direct and effective. Because of this didactic and social function, Western-inspired spoken drama became a platform for revolution in modern China. Compared with fiction and poetry, Chinese drama has been constantly exposed to Western influence since the end of the nineteenth century, so much so that modern Chinese drama is a complete departure from its traditional form. Plays with realistic scenery and dialogue that were totally foreign to the Chinese at the end of the nineteenth century have since become the mainstream of drama in China. As defined by Tian Han 田漢, modern Chinese drama refers to “plays with plots and dialogue, with scenes and acts, realistic décor and lighting, mirroring contemporary life founded on historical facts.” The new drama was introduced to China in 1907.
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Notes
- 1.
In his definition, Tian Han 田漢 excludes “the modern developments of the many types of Chinese opera with their distinctive blend of speech, song and dance which are a time-honoured tradition in China.” For details, see Tian Han, “Modern Drama in China—Past, Present and Future,” People’s China, no. 15 (August 1956): 32.
- 2.
Many Chinese theatre historians consider Twentieth-century Grand Theatre [Ershi shiji da wutai 二十世紀大舞台] China’s first theatre journal, in which revolutionary ideas were propagated at the end of the nineteenth century. See Jing Yun 景雲, “China’s First Theatre Magazine—A Note on The Twentieth-century Grand Theatre” [Zhongguo diyige xiju zaji Ershi shiji da wutai 二十世紀大舞台]. Originally published in Theatre Studies Series [Xiju luncong 戲劇論叢], no. 2 (1958). Reprinted in Zhongguo shehui kexue yuan wenxue yanjiu so xiandai wenxue zhu 中國社會科學院文學研究所現代文學組, ed., A Collection of Essays on Modern Chinese Literature: Drama and Folk Literature 1949–1979 [Zhongguo jindai wenxue lunwen xuan: xiju minjian wenxue zhuan 中國近代文學論文選: 戲劇、民間文學卷 1949–1979] (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1982): 236–39.
- 3.
Chen Juntao 陳駿濤, a noted Chinese literary historian, has the view that the value of such early experimentations with the Western form in Chinese drama lies in their political orientations. See Chen Juntao 陳駿濤, “A Historical Evaluation of Early Modern Chinese Drama” [Zhongguo zaoqi huaju de lishi pingjia 中國早期話劇的歷史評價]. Studies on Literature and Art [Wenyi luncong 文藝論叢]] 11 (1980): 403.
- 4.
Wang Zhongxian 汪仲賢, “My Life as an Actor” [Wode paiyou shenghuo 我的排優生活], quoted in Zhang Geng 張庚, “A Preliminary Draft of the History of Chinese Spoken Drama” [Zhongguo huaju yundong shi chugao 中國話劇運勳史初稿], in A Collection of Essays on Modern Chinese Literature: Drama and Folk Literature 1949–1979 [Zhongguo jindai wenxue lunwenji: Xiju minjian wenxue lunwen juan 1949–1979 中國近代文學論文集: 戲劇, 民間文學卷 1949–1979], 244 (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe 中國社會科學出版社, 1982). The essay was originally published in Theatre Journal [Xiju bao 戲劇報] 1, no. 1–3 (1954).
- 5.
All these were plays full of political messages against the Manchu rule in China. See Zhang Geng 張庚, “A Preliminary Draft of the History of Chinese Spoken Drama,” 244.
- 6.
半梅 Banmei (Xu Banmei 徐半梅), “Comedy and Tragedy” [Xiaoju yu canju 笑劇與惨劇], in Memoirs of the Formative Period in Chinese Spoken Drama [Huaju chuangshiqi huiyilu 話劇創始期回憶錄] (Beijing: Zhongguo xiju chubanshe, 1957): 8–9. In his recollection, Xu comments that students at that time were interested in having the right to perform in schools. Yet, their productions were inspired by topical issues and lacked preparation of scripts. Without directors and without much rehearsal, these attempts were meant only to satisfy the curiosity of some enthusiasts.
- 7.
Sometimes also translated as “Civilized Drama Association.”
- 8.
According to Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, the “Six Big Reforms” were: (1) Political Reform (about five high officials touring Western countries to study their political institutions); (2) Military Reform (about organizing a new army); (3) Religious Reform (against superstition); (4) Social Reform (to prohibit drug addiction and gambling); (5) Family Reform (opposing arranged marriage); and (6) Education Reform (ridiculing traditional private schooling). Details about these six reform plays can be found in Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, “On Enlightened Drama” [Tan wenming xi 談文明戲], in Tian Han 田漢, Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, Xia Yan 夏衍, Yang Hansheng 陽翰 笙 , Ah Ying 阿英, Zhang Geng 張庚, Li Bozhao 李伯釗, and Chen Baichen 陳白塵, eds., Historical Resources on the Fifty Years of Chinese Spoken Drama Movement [Zhongguo huaju yundong wushi nian shiliao ji 中國話劇運動五十年史料集], 1 (Beijing: Zhongguo xiju chubanshe, 1958b): 49.
- 9.
Quoted in Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, “Memoirs of Spring Willow Society” [Huiyi chunliu 回憶春柳], in Tian Han 田漢, Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, Xia Yan 夏衍, Yang Hansheng 陽翰 笙 , Ah Ying 阿英, Zhang Geng 張庚, Li Bozhao 李伯釗, and Chen Baichen 陳白塵, eds., Historical Resources on the Fifty Years of Chinese Spoken Drama Movement 1958a, 21.
- 10.
Hong Shen 洪深, “Introduction,” in Zhao Jiabi 趙家壁, ed., Zhongguo xinwenxue daxi: 1917–1927 [A comprehensive anthology of modern Chinese literature: 1917–1927 中國新文學大系 1917–1927], 9 (Shanghai: Liangyou tushu yinshua gongsi, 1936. Reprinted. Hong Kong: Xianggang wenxue yanjiushe, 1962): 13.
- 11.
More details about Chinese students’ activities in Japan can be found in Saneto Keishu, A History of Chinese Students in Japan [Chugokujin Nihonryugakushi 中國人日本留學史] (Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan, 1960), 47–64.
- 12.
Kurahashi Takeshi, “Western Drama in Japan—The Japanese Shingeki Movement,” Japan Quarterly 5, no. 2 (1958): 178–85. For more details, see also Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, Theatre in Japan (Tokyo: Printing Bureau, Ministry of Finance, 1963), 181–241; Wang Aimin 王愛民 and Qui Yanan 崔亚南, eds., An Outline of Japanese Drama [Riben xiju gaiyao 日本戲劇概要] (Beijing: Zhongguo xiju chubanshe, 1982), 82–226. There is also a concise description of the acting style and techniques of shimpa in Thomas Rimer, Toward a Modern Japanese Theatre (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1974), 15.
- 13.
In Hong Shen’s 洪深 recollection, the Chinese students experimented with Japanese styles of adapting Western plays. See details in Hong Shen 洪深, “Introduction, 14; and Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, “Memoirs of Spring Willow Society” 1958a, 23.
- 14.
Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, “Memoirs of Spring Willow Society” 1958a, 24.
- 15.
See “Constitution of the Performance Department of the Spring Willow Society” [Chunliu she yanyi bu zhuan zhang 春柳社演藝部專章], in Ah Ying 阿英 [Qian Xinqun 錢杏邨], ed., Materials on Late Qing Literature: Studies on Fiction and Drama [Wan Qing wenxue congchao: xiaoshuo xiju yanjiu zhuan 晚清文學叢抄: 小說戲劇研究卷 (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1960), 635.
- 16.
Jürgen Habermas, “The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article (1964),” New German Critique, no. 3 (Autumn 1974): 49.
- 17.
Julia Kristeva, Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art, ed. Leon S. Roudiez; trans. Thomas Gora, Alice Jardine and Leon S. Roudiez (Oxford: Blackwell, 1980), 165.
- 18.
Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, “Memoirs of Spring Willow Society” 1958a, 35.
- 19.
Zhang Geng 張庚, “A Preliminary Draft of the History of Chinese Spoken Drama,” 248.
- 20.
See Zhao Mingyi 趙銘彝, “Early Spoken Drama Education in China” (Woguo zhao qi de huaju jiaoyu 我國早期的話劇教育), Theatre Arts (Xiju yishu 戲劇藝術), no. 1 (1979): 105–8.
- 21.
Bai Bin 柏彬, “A Probe into the Origin and Formation of Chinese Spoken Drama” (Zhongguo huaju de yuanliu ji qi xingcheng de tanso 中國話劇的源流及其形成的探索), Theatre Arts (Xiju yishu 戲劇藝術), no. 2 (1979): 86.
- 22.
Ding Luonan 丁羅男, “On the Formation of Early Chinese Spoken Drama” [Lun wo guo zhaoqi huaju de xingcheng 論我國早期的話劇的形成], Theatre Arts [Xiju yishu 戲劇藝術], no. 3 (1981): 117.
- 23.
“Spoken drama,” or “huaju 話劇,” is the term coined by Tian Han 田漢 in 1927 to designate modern Chinese drama which, as opposed to the traditional drama, uses speech instead of singing as dialogue. In modern Chinese drama, the use of speech is also indebted to the influence of Japanese shimpa in which there is a strong element of lecturing (soshi shibai 壯士芝居).
- 24.
Xu Banmei 徐半梅 gives vivid description of the various stage experimentations in modern Chinese drama. For details, see Xu Banmei 徐半梅, “Comedy and Tragedy,” [Xiaoju yu canju 笑劇與惨劇], in Memoirs on the Formative Period in Modern Chinese Drama, 24.
- 25.
Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, “On Enlightened Drama” 1958b, 54–55.
- 26.
“Early Chinese spoken drama” [zhaoqi huaju 早期話劇] is a periodization concept referring to the modern Chinese drama from 1907 to 1923. According to the theatre historian Zhao Mingyi 趙銘彝: “‘Early spoken drama’ refers to drama from 1907 to 1924 and ‘modern spoken drama’ to that after 1924, the origin of which can be traced to the May 4th Movement in 1919” (Quoted in Ding Luonan, “On the Formation of Early Chinese Spoken Drama,” 1.
- 27.
Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, “Memoirs of Spring Willow Society” 1958a, 33; and “On Enlightened Drama” 1958b, 50.
- 28.
Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, “On Enlightened Drama” 1958b, 64.
- 29.
Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, “As a Professional Actor” [Zuo zhiye paiyou shiqi 做職業俳優的時期], in Since I Became an Actor [Zi wo yanxi yilai 自我演戲以來] (Shanghai: Shenzhou guoguangshe, 1939), 103.
- 30.
Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, “Memoirs of Spring Willow Society” 1958a, 36.
- 31.
Ouyang Yuqian 歐陽予倩, Since I Became an Actor, 136.
- 32.
Ibid., 133.
- 33.
Ibid., 105.
- 34.
Ibid., 83–85.
- 35.
Ding Luonan 丁羅男, “On the Formation of Early Chinese Spoken Drama,” 12.
- 36.
Zhou Zuoren 周作人, “On Abolishing China’s Old Drama” [Lun Zhongguo jiuxi zhi yingfei 論中國舊戲之應廢], New Youth [Xin qingnian 新青年], 5, no. 5 (October 1918b): 526–28. In this article, Zhou proposed a new form of drama for a new morality which he believed would lead to social change in China.
- 37.
Song Chunfang 宋春舫, “One Hundred Modern Famous Plays” [Jinshi mingxi baizhongmu 近世名戲百種目]. New Youth [Xinqingnian 新青年] 5, no. 4 (October 1918): 361–65.
- 38.
Statistics based on those given in Tian Benxiang 田本相, “A Tentative Study of the Influence of Western Modernist Drama on the Development of Modern Chinese Spoken Drama” [Shilun xifang xiandaipai xiju dui Zhongguo xiandai huaju zhi yingxiang 試論西方現代派戲劇對中國現代話劇之影嚮], Nankai University Journal [Nankai daxue xuebao 南開大學學報], no. 2 (1983): 23–24.
- 39.
Statistics based on those given in Ah Ying 阿英 [Qian Xinqun 錢杏邨], “Index to Foreign Authors” [Waiguo renming soyin 外國人名索引], in Zhao Jiabi 趙家壁, ed., A Comprehensive Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature: 1917–1927 [Zhongguo xinwenxue daxi 中國新文學大系: 1917–1927], Vol. 10 (Hong Kong: Xianggang wenxue yanjiushe, 1962): 81–97; also in the same volume are “Index to Japanese Authors” [Riben renming soyin 日本人名索引]: 75–78 and “A Complete Index to Translations” [Fanyi zuopin zongmu 翻譯作品總目]: 355–79.
- 40.
Tian Qin 田禽, “A Comparison of Dramatic Translations in the Past Thirty Years” [Sanshi nian lai xiju fanyi zhi bijiao 三十年來戲劇翻譯之比較], in Drama Movement in China [Zhongguo xiju yundong 中國戲劇運動] (Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1946a), 117.
- 41.
Information given in Ding Luonan 丁羅男, “On the Formation of Early Chinese Spoken Drama,” 12.
- 42.
According to Ding Luonan 丁羅男, ibid., 15.
- 43.
Shi Qiao 石喬, “Introduction,” in Xianggang wenxue yanjiu she 香港文學研究社, ed., A Comprehensive Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature: 1928–1938 [Zhongguo xin wenxue daxis xupian 中國新文學大系續編], Vol. 7 (Hong Kong: Xianggang wenxue yanjiu she, 1968), 7.
- 44.
Bai Bin 柏彬, “A Probe into the Origin and Formation of Modern Spoken Drama,” 88.
- 45.
The Chinese transliteration of “amateur” is “aimeide,” which means “love for beauty.” The amateur theatre in China was meant to be opposed to the commercial theatre.
- 46.
Shi Qiao 石喬, “Introduction,” in Xianggang wenxue yanjiu she 香港文學研究社, 8.
- 47.
Quoted in Hong Shen 洪深, “Introduction,” 28.
- 48.
Quoted from “Manifesto of the People’s Drama Society” [Minzhong xiju she xuanyan 民眾戲劇社宣言], in Zhao Jiabi 趙家壁, ed., 10: 136–37.
- 49.
Ding Luonan 丁羅男, “On the Formation of Early Chinese Spoken Drama,” 10.
- 50.
Ibid., 11.
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Tam, Kk. (2019). Chapter One Modern Chinese Theatre as Public Sphere. In: Chinese Ibsenism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6303-0_2
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