View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Washington University St. Louis: Open Scholarship Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations Arts & Sciences Summer 8-15-2018 Parodies of Qing: Ironic Voices in Romantic Chuanqi Plays Yanbing Tan Washington University in St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds Part of the Asian Studies Commons, Comparative Literature Commons, East Asian Languages and Societies Commons, and the South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Tan, Yanbing, "Parodies of Qing: Ironic Voices in Romantic Chuanqi Plays" (2018). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1656. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/1656 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Arts & Sciences at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures Program in Comparative Literature Dissertation Examination Committee: Robert E. Hegel, Chair Beata Grant Robert K. Henke Marvin Marcus Jamie Newhard Parodies of Qing: Ironic Voices in Romantic Chuanqi Plays by Yanbing Tan A dissertation presented to The Graduate School of Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2018 St. Louis, Missouri ©2018, Yanbing Tan Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: The Burden of Selfish Desires: Wu Bing’s Comic Adaptation of the Legend of Xiaoqing ........................................................................................................................................ 26 Chapter 2: Mistakes, Duplication, and Appropriation: Ruan Dacheng’s Ironic Rewriting of Qing in The Swallow's Letter ................................................................................................................. 60 Chapter 3: Caizi and Jiaren in the Market: Male Artists and Their Female Forgers in Li Yu’s Ideal Love Matches ....................................................................................................................... 96 Chapter 4: A “Glorious” Dream of Awkward Romance: Humor and Desire in Wang Yun’s A Dream of Glory ........................................................................................................................... 130 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 166 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 172 Appendix 1 .................................................................................................................................. 182 Appendix 2 .................................................................................................................................. 188 Appendix 3 .................................................................................................................................. 197 Appendix 4 .................................................................................................................................. 204 ii Acknowledgements This dissertation has been made possible due to the generous help of many people. I first would like to acknowledge the support from the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Comparative Literature program at Washington University in St. Louis. I owe the largest debt of gratitude to Professor Robert Hegel for his encyclopedic knowledge and sharp insights. He always responds to my inquiries with patience and care. His dedication to scholarship and selfless devotion to education have inspired generations of students, including me. I also owe my thanks to Professor Beata Grant, who introduced me to the fascinating field of women’s writings in late imperial China. I would like to thank Dr. Robert Henke, Dr. Marvin Marcus, and Dr. Jamie Newhard for agreeing to join the dissertation committee and offer their intellectual support. During various stages of dissertation writing, I have benefited from advice and help from scholars outside of Washington University. I would like to thank Professor Wang Ayling who kindly received me in Taiwan, Professor Li Wai-yee who generously shared her paper, and Professor Zhou Yiqun who offered thought-provoking comments on my project. I am grateful to colleagues and friends at Washington University for their professional and emotional support. They have helped me survive difficult stages of graduate studies. Finally, I want to thank my caring and encouraging parents who always believe in me. Yanbing Tan Washington University in St. Louis August, 2018 iii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Parodies of Qing: Ironic Voices in Romantic Chuanqi Plays by Yanbing Tan Doctor of Philosophy in Chinese and Comparative Literature Washington University in St. Louis, 2018 Professor Robert E. Hegel, Chair This dissertation looks into tongue-in-cheek moments in Chinese romantic chuanqi plays of the late 17th and 18th centuries and examines their reflections on the chuanqi dramatic genre and its close ties to the discourse of qing (sentiment, feeling). The discourse of qing during the late imperial era highlighted emotional authenticity and spontaneity as the defining elements of one’s self and celebrated romantic love as an important manifestation of such elements. After Tang Xianzu’s dramatic masterpiece, The Peony Pavilion (Mudanting, 1598), pushed the literary rendition of the discourse of qing to its peak, chuanqi became an important vehicle for representing deep and spontaneous emotions. The standardization of the chuanqi genre, the concentrated interest in the theme of caizi-jiaren (scholar-beauty) love affairs, and the popularity of chuanqi as a writing practice among the educated elite led to the rather predictable problem of repetition and cliché. But in many chuanqi compositions, we also witness increased self- reflexivity that directs romantic narratives toward the comic and the ironic. My dissertation focuses on four chuanqi plays that represent this rhetorical turn: Wu Bing’s The Remedy for Jealousy (Liaodu geng, ca. 1633), Ruan Dacheng’s The Swallow’s Letter (Yanzi jian, 1642), Li Yu’s Ideal Love Matches (Yi zhong yuan, 1655), and Wang Yun’s A Dream of Glory (Fanhua meng, 1778). These plays underline the tension between the artificial iv conventions of the chuanqi genre and the emotional spontaneity that the genre is purported to convey. They also expose many incongruities and contradictions embodied in the concept of qing: qing as both authentic emotion and textual imitation, devoted love and abundant desire, an aspiration for transcendence and an excuse for mundane self-interest. Furthermore, these chuanqi plays and their commentaries demonstrate that behind these incongruities and contradictions lie contested understandings of gendered emotions and ambitions. This dissertation recognizes parodies of qing, glorified emotion, as a main source of amusement in romantic chuanqi plays. It is not only a study of a literary genre but also an inquiry into how the development of this genre facilitated reflections on one of the most important intellectual trends in late imperial China. v Introduction Wang Yun’s 王荺 (1749-1819) 18th-century chuanqi play Fanhua meng 繁華夢 (A Dream of Glory, 1778) includes a comic episode, in which a naïve young man named Wang seeks a romantic dalliance for the first time at a brothel. His hope for a great romance is crushed when he is received by Pipa Qian, a prostitute whose face resembles a wild ghost and who is old enough to be Wang’s mother. The horrified Wang cannot think of anything but a quick escape. Pipa Qian, however, determines to take this young lad straight to her bed for quick sex. Chaos thus takes place: （生急揖介）媽媽，可憐饒了小生去罷。（丑）說得這般容易，女兒們一同動手， 擡也擡他進去。（二雜應，生慌介）媽媽姐姐，快請放手，那邊有人來了。（丑回 看介）人在哪裏？（生推倒丑急下）（雜）啊呀呀，跌壞了媽媽哉。（同扶丑起介） （丑）啊喲，有這等事，氣死我也。（大叫，起介）待我趕上去。（欲跑，二雜扯 介）媽媽，那人去遠，趕不上了。（丑）氣殺我哉。正是：走脫薄倖王公子，惱殺 多情琵琶錢。(Hua, Xiqu ji 230) Wang (bows anxiously with his hands clasped): Mother, please take pity on a young lad and let me go. Pipa Qian: Easier said than done. Daughters, please give a hand. Carry him in for me. Maids: Yes, Mother. Wang (truly panicked): Mother, Sisters, please let me go! Someone is coming! Pipa Qian (looking behind her): Where? (Wang knocks Pipa Qian to the ground and runs off.) Maids: Ah ya! Mother has taken a bad fall. (They help Pipa Qian to get to her feet.) Pipa Qian: Ah ya ya ya—I could just die, I’m so mad! There is such audacity in this world. My anger is like a dagger piercing my heart. (She yells.) I’m going to go catch him! (She attempts to run after him. Two maids stop her.) Maids: Mother,