The Orphan of Zhao, 赵氏孤儿, Adaptation of the Original Play of James Fenton

Treball de fi de màster Acadèmic

Nom i Cognoms Jiayu Geng

Màster： Estudis de Traducció

Edició: 2019-2020

Director: Dr. Enric Gallén Miret

Any de defensa: 2020

Collecció: Treballs de fi de màster

Departament de Traducció i Ciències del Llenguatge

Abstract

The objective of this academic work is to analyse The Orphan of Zhao, James Fenton's proposal, based on the original work of the classical Chinese theatre, and also to compare the concepts of western and eastern tragedy, which can explain the changes and modifications made by this English playwright. To approach, in our opinion, an adaptation of the original work, notions such as translation, rewriting, version and adaptation are evaluated and the typology of Fenton's creation is analysed. This work also exposes the characteristics of this adaptation regarding the tragic ending, the additions of plot and action, the aesthetic alterations, the thematic changes, the ideology and the language. Finally, the study addresses the tragic model assumed by James Fenton in his adaptation.

Keywords: The Orphan of Zhao, James Fenton, dramatic translation, adaptation, tragedy, classical Chinese theatre

Resumen

El objetivo del presente trabajo académico es analizar The Orphan of Zhao, la propuesta de James Fenton, basada en la obra original del teatro clásico chino, y comparar asimismo los conceptos de tragedia occidental y oriental que pueden explicar los cambios y las modificaciones realizadas por el dramaturgo inglés. Para abordar, según nuestra opinión, una adaptación de la obra original, se valoran nociones como translation, rewriting version y adaptation y se analiza la tipología de la creación de Fenton. Este trabajo expone también las características de dicha adaptación en lo concerniente al final trágico, las adiciones de trama y acción, las alteraciones estéticas, los cambios temáticos, la ideología y el lenguaje. Finalmente, el estudio aborda el modelo trágico asumido por James Fenton en su adaptación.

Palabras clave: The Orphan of Zhao, James Fenton, traducción dramática, adaptación, tragedia, teatro clásico chino

Contents 1. Introduction ...... 1 2. Objective and hypotheses ...... 2 3. Theoretical framework ...... 3 4. Analyse ...... 4

4.1. Introduction of The Orphan of Zhao (The Orphan)...... 4

4.2. The History and Evolution of the Story of The Orphan of Zhao ...... 5

4.2.1 Synopsis of The Orphan of Zhao ...... 5

4.2.1.1. The Records of the Clan of Zhao in Chunqiu ...... 6

4.2.1.2. The Account in Zuo Zhuan ...... 7

4.2.1.3. The Hereditary House of Zhao in Shiji ...... 8

4.2.1.4. The Orphan of Zhao, Play of Ji Junxiang ...... 9

5. On Tragedy...... 10

5. 1. Aristotelian Tragic Theories ...... 10

5.2. Classical Chinese Tragedy ...... 12

5.2.1. Chinese Traditional Tragedy’s Happy ending and the Poetic Justice .. 12

5.2.2. The Tragic Hero of Classical Chinese Tragedy ...... 14

5.2.3. Didactic Function of Traditional Chinese Tragedy ...... 15

5.3. Shakespearean Tragedy ...... 16

6. The Orphan of Zhao: “Pure Tragedy” or Not?...... 18 7. The Typology of James Fenton’s work: Translation, Rewriting or Adaptation? ..... 19 8. The Adaptation of James Fenton ...... 24

8.1. Organization of acts ...... 27

8.2. The characteristics of the adaptation of Fenton ...... 28

8.2.1. A Proper Tragic Ending ...... 28

8.2.2. Additions of Plots Following Shakespeare’s Exposition ...... 28

8.2.2. Aesthetic alterations ...... 29

8. 2.3. Changes of Theme and ideology in the original play ...... 33

8. 2. 4. Language ...... 36

Conclusion ...... 38 Bibliography ...... 40 Annex ...... 44

1. Introduction

In this thesis I will analyze James Fenton’s adaptation of the original play The Orphan of Zhao for Royal Shakespeare Company in 2012. What drives me to choose this play is that I want find out better ways of introducing an alien cultural invention to a new target culture, and how to realize the reception of an exotic cultural product. In the field of cultural reception exists many problems: the interaction is quite inequivalent. One example, and the focus of my thesis is the area of theatrical arts. There is no doubt that Western drama takes care the major proportion internationally, from ancient Greek drama to Shakespearean dramas to numerous modern dramas. Bare attention has been spared to oriental dramas, but this does not mean that they do not deserve appreciation. On the contrary, Asian theatrical art, in the case of my thesis, Chinese drama has a long and prosperous history no inferior than Western drama. The quantity is enormous and quality is very high: there are numerous plays of numerous versions, and classical Chinese idioms are of its own aesthetic. More specifically speaking, classical Western tragedy has its theorical base in Aristotle, Hegel and Shakespeare; traditional Chinese tragedy doesn’t have a strict standard for the dramatic construction, and it has a preference for a less tragic ending and burdens a special didactic function. Besides, for oriental and occidental cultures are distant both geographically and ideologically, the cultural collision will bring advantage for both. For the source culture, their excellent theatrical works presented in a broader stage, and the essence of their culture is appreciated for more audience; for the target culture, the audience will receive a quite distinct experience in the theatre, and there will even be a cultural collision and a reflection for their own. The interlacement of intercultural theatres may give birth to new creations, a hybrid of both cultures. As for the term hybrid has been mentioned, then I need to discuss the specific process of adaptation. No matter for which culture, before the introduction of their own classic overseas, the essential and most question is that: is the original theme kept and how much is kept. In many occasions, the “adaptor”

uses the alien classic as an instrument to fulfill his own new purpose, which can be quite biased from the original theme, and this is not helpful for cultural exchange: it wears an exotic mask, but it is still its own face underneath. The reason why I choose the production of Fenton as the object of my thesis is that compared to many other recreations of Chinese plays that are introduced into Western theatre, his adaptation is quite unique: he managed to make his work with a satisfactory reception among modern Western audience and being faithful to the original play at the same time: he fellows traditional Chinese theatrical idioms and keeps its spirit.

There are mainly three categories of bibliography that helped me organize this thesis: first, documents about the Chinese tragedy The Orphan of Zhao; second, bibliographies about classical Western and traditional Chinese tragic theories; and third, documents that introduce notions of translation, rewriting and adaptation.

2. Objective and hypotheses

The first objective of this work is to find out the typology of the production of Fenton: it is a translation, a rewriting or of an adaptation the Yuanqu xuan version of The Orphan of Zhao? After searching and reading many theories and interviews of the playwright, it is reasonable to say that James Fenton’s work is an adaptation and not a rewriting nor recreation of the original play. Then, what are the principal characteristics of this adaptation? What is the tragic theory or theories he followed? As a Western playwright that is influenced deeply by Aristotle’s principle of tragedy and knows very well about Shakespearean tragic tradition, he modified the original into one that corresponds more to Western standard for tragedy. But which is the most approaching model: the Aristotelian or the Shakespearean? Then, this work also aims to study on how he changed this Chinese classic into a play that could be acceptable and plausible for a new target audience: ordinary modern English-speaking drama spectators of a total western mind that barely know traditional Chinese culture. In which aspects has he

made his work different from the original? And how he transmitted the tragic sense from the east to the west and to what extent he modified it? is it still a drama that tells a truly Chinese story or just an over-westernized creation in disguise? Though he had manifested many times that he followed to the full extent of the Chinese dramatic idiom, is it possible for this adaptation not resulting in a hybrid of two cultures that transferred ideology of Western world?

3. Theoretical framework

The principle theories which I am going to apply in the current study are presented in the Chapters 7 and 8. The principal of this categorization of drama translation is mainly based on the methodology summarized by Santoyo in his essay Traducciones y adaptaciones teatrales: ensayo de tipología. Under the major categories of dramatic translation, which are "reader-oriented" and "performance-oriented”, he listed many subtypes in detail, and under these articles there are even more branches with a very sophisticated difference. For avoiding confusion and concentrate on the most relevant notions for my investigation, I kept the general categories of "reader-oriented" strategy and "performance-oriented” strategy but only certain subtypes: under the former, “translation” and “transliteration”; the latter, “version”, “adaptation” and “rewriting”.

As for The Orphan of Zhao is destinated to be staged, it is more accurate classifying Fenton’s work in to the performance-oriented category. And the most important and difficult part of the theoretical framework is making clear the conception of adaptation and rewriting and discussing the difference between them. For defining adaptation, apart from the essay of Santoyo, I will also combine perspectives of Vinay and Darbelnet, and of Sirkuu Aaltonen. Then about rewriting, I will use the definition of André Lefevere under the name refraction. The next step is to investigate to which subtype corresponds the work of Fenton.

After concluding that Fenton’s The Orphan is an adaptation of the original title, I will analyze Fenton’s working process from aspects of changes in the plots, theme, tragic ending, aesthetic and ideology and in the end, the linguistic style using tragic theories of Aristotle, Bradley’s Exposition, Hegel’s lyricism, Aaltonen’s ultraculturality and notions about zaju’s linguistic style. And in the end, form the discussion of Aaltonen and Fischer-Lichte about the problem of intercultural exchange in theatrical translation, I will investigate if it is possible adapting an ancient oriental play for modern English- speaking audience without jeopardizing the original core.

4. Analyse

4.1. Introduction of The Orphan of Zhao (The Orphan)

The classical Chinese play The Orphan of Zhao (The Orphan) is a zaju of Yuan dynasty (1271 C.E.-1368 C. E.) written by Ji Junxiang. The only have been saved are tune titles, lyrics of the songs, and a very few padding words. No stage directions or prose dialogue any or fragments are to be found. The version of Ji has a wedge and 4 acts, which is the regular form of a zaju of the Yuan Dynasty. An extremely heavily edited version of the play is also preserved in Yuanqu xuan complied by Zang Maoxun. What should be cleared is that the original play discussed in this work basically means the version of the Yuanqu xuan. In fact, the Yuanqu xuan version of The Orphan of Zhao is the one that enjoys the most popularity and is the source material of the majority of the later adaptations, old or relatively contemporary, of the same genre or changed into others, at home or overseas. The history of the introduction of the story of The Orphan can date back to eighteenth century. In the year 1731, the Jesuit father Joseph Henri Marie de Prémare translated the Yuanqu xuan version of The Orphan of Zhao into French, and it was the first Chinese play to be introduced to Europe, subtitled a Tragédie Chinoise. Then in 1741, entitled The Chinese Orphan: An Historical Tragedy, William Hatchett wrote and published the

earliest English adaptation of the play. Inspired by translation of Prémare, in 1753, Voltaire wrote a new drama, L’Orphélin de la Chine, also knew as L'Orphélin de la Chine: la morale de Confucius en cinq actes. However, L’Orphélin de la Chine is a remake completely different from the original title, with a change of historical time, of characters and plot, and a very personal comprehension to the Chinese culture and ideology of the French ideologist of the enlightenment. In spite of this, the exotic and touching Chinese play received the favour of the Western audience from the beginning, and new productions have never stopped emerging. Apart from those earliest adaptations, there are also distinct versions in English, Italian, German and Catalan. One of the latest and most significant adaptations might be the English one of James Fenton, wrote in 2012 for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and staged in the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from November 2012 to March 2013. Like introducing any other foreign drama to a new target theatre, this production of Fenton is a hybrid of two distinct cultures: the original source culture, traditional Chinese culture, and the new target culture, modern Western culture. Following classical Western tragic standards and with an object of both maintaining the traditional Chinese idiom and making the drama comprehensible for Western audience, Fenton made his work a very successful example of a creative adaptation of the prestigious classical Chinese play and may bring the later playwrights some inspirations of how to adapt and localize an alien classic without smashing its core.

4.2. The History and Evolution of the Story of The Orphan of Zhao

4.2.1 Synopsis of The Orphan of Zhao

The Orphan of Zhao is a story of revenge, loyalty and sacrifice. Tu’an Gu, the treacherous general of the state of Jin, jealous of the favour of the Duke Jin given to the humble and honest minister Zhao Dun, was trying to massacre the whole clan of Zhao. He first took years to train a feral mastiff to kill Zhao Dun, but the loyal servant of Zhao

Dun killed the mastiff and Zhao Dun escaped from the palace. However, Tu’an Gu didn’t give up. He slaughtered more than three hundred of lives of the family of Zhao by making use of the false order of the Duke, leaving alive only the princess of Jin, pregnant wife of the son of Zhao Dun, Zhao Shuo. Before committing suicide, Zhao Shuo instructs the princess to ensure the survival of their child, if she give birth to a boy, so that one day he may exact revenge for the clan. The princess gave birth to a boy then also committed suicide after giving the child to Cheng Ying, the physician of the Zhao family. Knowing that the clan of Zhao yet wasn’t wiped completely, Tu’an Gu ordered to find out and kill all the infants of the city to make sure the death of the orphan. Cheng Ying escaped out of the city with the help of general Han Jue and went to the house of the loyal and noble old minister Gongsun Chujiu. Gongsun promises to die together with the only-born son of Cheng Ying, whom they agree to substitute for the Orphan. When Tu’an Gu interrogated Gongsun, he denied hiding the orphan. After a search of his house resulted in the discovery and murder of the false orphan, Gongsun commited suicide. Tu’an Gu adopted the orphan of Zhao and named him Tu Cheng and promised that the child would be his heir. The child grew up taught and raised by both Tu’an Gu and Cheng Ying. When Tu Cheng turned 20, Cheng Ying revealed his true identity by showing him the scroll painting that tells the story of his father Zhao Shuo and Tu’an Gu and the extermination of his whole family. The orphan realized that his respectful adoptive father was in fact the archenemy of his whole family, so the orphan decided to revenge. With the help of Wei Jiang, the orphan finally killed Tu’an Gu.

4.2.1.1. The Records of the Clan of Zhao in Chunqiu

The history of the story of The Orphan of Zhao can date back to thousands of years ago and it suffered many developments and improvements of plots, personalities and relations of characters before being the play known by the modern audience. The Orphan of Zhao is based on actual events that occurred during the Spring and Autumn

era (722–481 C. E.), which is a subdivision of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 C. E.). The first records of the clan of Zhao can be find in Chunqiu, or Spring and Autumn Annals. There are only four short records of the clan of Zhao, from which we can find the very limited information of this family and the first roots of the later The Orphan of Zhao story.

4.2.1.2. The Account in Zuo Zhuan

The content for the family of Zhao in Chunqiu is of a very brief and informative style, while the Zuo Zhuan, in contrast, is written in a clear, narrative style, and elaborates on details. The Zuo Zhuan includes several accounts of a great minister named Zhao Dun. One of these accounts follows a familiar plot: Duke Ling of the state of Jin was a corrupt ruler, and he «shot at people from the top of a tower to see how they tried to avoid his pellets.» (Perloff et al. 2014, 37) Zhao Dun told the duke over and over that his actions were monstrous, but the duke did not listen; instead, the duke hired an assassin, Xu Ni, to kill Zhao Dun. But when Xu Ni arrived at Zhao Dun’s home to carry out his duty, he saw the man preparing for meeting the duke, wearing his court dress, half sleep. Xu Ni believed that Zhao Dun was «indeed the people’s lord», and «to murder the people’s lord would be disloyalty» (Perloff et al. 2014, 37), so he could not kill this noble man. But disobeying his master’s command would be unfaithfulness, so he chose to kill himself. Later, the duke summoned Zhao Dun to his palace, and released his grand mastiff to attack him, but Zhao Dun’s servant, Timi Ming, protected him and killed the dog. The duke’s soldiers killed Timi Ming, but Zhao Dun escaped. Later, Zhao Chuan, a relative of Zhao Dun, killed Duke Ling. According to the Zuo Zhuan, Zhao Dun did have a son named Zhao Shuo, but there are no stories about him nor mention of the orphan. However, the Zuo Zhuan does include an account about Zhao Shuo’s widow, Zhao Zhuangji, and the attempted annihilation of the Zhao family. Zhao Zhuangji, which was the sister of Duke Ling’s successor, Duke

Ching, had an “illicit relationship” with Zhao Dun’s brother, Zhao Ying. Upon finding out, two brothers of Zhao Ying sent him into exile. In anger and hungry for revenge, Zhao Zhuangji went to the duke and accused Zhao Ying’s brothers guilty of treason. Duke Ching had the brothers killed and confiscated the Zhao family’s estates. From the records of Zuo Zhuan, we can start to know the early form of the story of The Orphan, for example, the plot of deception and accusation of treason.

4.2.1.3. The Hereditary House of Zhao in Shiji

Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian, written by second-century C. E. historian Sima Qian, has a chapter titled “Hereditary House of Zhao” (Zhao Shijia) that tells the story of the orphan of Zhao Shuo, and this appears to be the main source of the classical Chinese drama that would be written almost one thousand years later. The story introduces Tu’an Gu, the commander in chief in the court of Duke Ching, who used tricks to kill all the males of the Zhao clan, except the unborn son of Zhao Shuo. The friends of Zhao Shuo, Gongsun Chujiu and Cheng Ying, conceived a plan to switch the orphan with a bought child to save him from Tu’an Gu’s wrath. Their plan was successful: Tu’an Gu killed the bought baby, and Gongsun Chujiu sacrificed his life to cover the orphan. The real Orphan was raised in the mountains by Cheng Ying. In the fifteenth year of the reign of Duke Jing, the duke fell ill, and oracles informed him that his illness was due to «a great house left without an heir» (West and Wilt Lukas Idema, 1893, 51) Han Jue thereupon told the duke that the house concerned was the exterminated Zhao clan, of which a single male descendant miraculously survived. After a battle between the armies of Han Jue and Tu’an Gu and Han achieved the triumph, all the estates were returned to the Orphan, and honour was restored to the Zhao family. Having witnessed the restore of the Zhao family and accomplished his undertaking, Cheng Ying killed himself to join Zhao Shuo and Gongsun Chujiu. In Shiji, Sima Qian rewrote the whole story of the Zhao family from the motivation,

development and the result. He deleted the disloyalty of Zhao Zhuangji and presented for the first time Tu’an Gu, the villainous minister in the story of the Orphan of Zhao. This compelling tale of good versus evil, honour, loyalty, and revenge earned the favour of many Chinese authors over the years.

4.2.1.4. The Orphan of Zhao, Play of Ji Junxiang

By the time the tale was presented to the stage by Ji Junxiang in the thirteenth century, the story was already well known among the Chinese public; the existing historical evidence proves that Ji was the first person to weave together all the essential elements into the story we know today. In Ji’s version, the other child killed by Tu’an Gu was no other but the baby son of Cheng Ying, and this dramatic addition intensifies the sacrifice Cheng Ying made and emphasizes his great virtues. And he changed the general Han Jue into the honourable subordinate of Tu’an Gu, who committed suicide after releasing the orphan and Cheng Ying. Another change is made in the life experience of the orphan, by deliberately making the orphan the adoptive son and future heir of Tu’an Gu, which increased the dramatic conflict. While the full title of this zaju (Injustice Repays Injustice: The Orphan of Zhao) draws attention to the theme of revenge, the actual revenge never takes place onstage, which is very different from the version of Yuanqu xuan. The later has an additional fifth act that tells the carry out of the execution of the orphan to Tu’an Gu. It turns the Orphan’s murder of Tu’an Gu from a private and ferocious act of revenge into the state-mandated execution of a traitor of the state. The difference between the two versions is also conspicuous in the ending of Cheng Ying. Ji made Cheng Ying killed himself after fulfilling his promise. But at that time, a suicide might be unacceptable on stage, so the Yuanqu xuan version has him rewarded with farms and mansions, which «in the eyes of some may compromise Cheng Ying’s morality » (West and Wilt Lukas Idema, 1893, 55).

5. On Tragedy

5. 1. Aristotelian Tragic Theories

Aristotle is the first person in the history that defined and explored the genre of tragedy. In Poetics, the notes of his thoughts complied for his own use or use of his students, he discussed tragedy quite thoroughly and systematically, which has a significant importance in the history of the creation and criterion of tragedy in the Western world. For a considerable time in the history, his theory has been the standard for creating and appreciating tragedy. For Aristotle, all artistic works are imitation of the reality; it is not the reality itself, but one possibility of it with artistic modification, and there is no exception for the case of tragedy. Tragedy is an imitation of action that is «admirable, complete and possesses magnitude» (Aristotle, 1996: 10). And the object of this tragic imitation is related to plot, character and reasoning. Plot is the events, character is an agent’s settled moral disposition, and reasoning is how the agent interprets the situation. «Tragedy is not an imitation of persons, but of actions and of life.» (Aristotle, 1996: 11) And in his point of view, there can be a tragedy without characters, but there cannot be one without action. So, it is not doubted the primacy of plot. As he said, «the plot, are what tragedy is there for, and that is the most important thing of all.» (Aristotle, 1996:11). And there are two kinds of plots: simple and complex, since «the actions of which the plots are imitations are themselves also of these two kinds.» (Aristotle, 1996:18) Here by simple actions he means that the action is defined, continuous and unified, and its change of fortune happens without reversal, which is a change to the opposite in the actions, or recognition, which is «a change from ignorance to knowledge, disclosing either a close relationship or enmity, on the part of people marked out for good or bad fortune» (Aristotle, 1996:18). And by complex, he means that the change of fortune involves reversal or recognition or both. Aristotle also explained his categorization of the kinds of tragedy. He divided the tragedies into four kinds: complex

tragedy, depending entirely on reversal and recognition; tragedy of suffering; tragedy of character and simple tragedy.

Aristotle also gave his principles of the selection of the characters of tragedy. For him, tragedy aims to imitate people better than us, and it is «an imitation in verse of admirable people» (Aristotle, 1996: 9). And in the chapter The Best kind of Tragic Plot, he argues that «the decent men should not be seen undergoing a change from good fortune to bad fortune ---this does not evoke fear or pity, but disgust.» (Aristotle, 1996: 20). Nor should the tragic hero be a very wicked person who falls from good fortune to bad fortune - this would be agreeable, but would not excite pity or fear, since pity has to do with someone who is suffering undeservedly, fear with someone who is like ourselves. Then what is left is the person intermediate between these. They are «not outstanding in moral excellence or justice; on the other hand, the change to bad fortune which he undergoes is not due to any moral defect or depravity, but to an error of some kind» (Aristotle, 1996: 21). And he gave further explanation for these characters: «he is one of those people who are held in great esteem and enjoy great good fortune» (Aristotle, 1996: 21).

To sum up, Aristotle believed that the tragic heroes should be of high social status, for example, kings or nobles like minister and generals. And they should be a person intermediate between flawless and wicked. They are broadly speaking virtuous, but have some flaw in their disposition, so that their undeserved downfall would not repel us and we would pity them.

Aristotle’s principle of tragedy has been not only practiced by Western tragedians ever since but also recommended by Western dramatic theorists as a classical guiding principle. And if we have a general look of the development of the history of Western tragedy, we will find out that since Aristotle’s ancient Greece to Shakespeare’s Renaissance, all the Western tragedies chose kings, generals or nobles as their leading roles, such as Prometheus, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth.

5.2. Classical Chinese Tragedy

The traditional Chinese definition of tragedy is quite distinct from classical Western theories. The most obvious and representative differences are manifested mainly in three aspects: first, ancient Chinese playwrights have a preference to poetic justice, whose result is a happy ending of triumph and restoration of justice; second, unlike Western tragic heroes, those of traditional Chinese tragedy are of all social status, what’s more, the majority of them are miserable poor people of lower class; and the last one is the particular didactic function of classical Chinese tragedies.

5.2.1. Chinese Traditional Tragedy’s Happy ending and the Poetic Justice

The Chinese playwrights often insist on a happy ending in which the virtuous is rewarded and the wicked punished. This kind of ending, according to Aristotelian principals, makes the play a second-class tragedy. Actually, he denies it to be the plot of a tragedy, because the pleasure derived from this ending is «not the pleasure which comes from tragedy; it is more characteristic of comedy» (Aristotle, 1996: 22). The Yuanqu xuan version of The Orphan spares only one sentence for the ending of Cheng Ying: «And Cheng Ying shall be provided a homestead of many acres.» The loyal physician is given some material rewards and permitted to retire and live peacefully for the rest of his life. This kind of compromise is very common in Chinese dramas, especially in those tragedies.

In fact, in the history of classical Chinese literature, almost all dramas end with a satisfactory ending. It can be explained by Chinese people’s favour to poetic justice. Bradley, the most prestigious Shakespearean scholar, wrote in his lectures about his definition of this term: «Poetic justice means that prosperity and adversity are distributed in proportion to the merits of the agents» (Bradley, 1992: 24). In the occasion

of traditional Chinese tragedy, it is a happy ending over a bad one: the evils got punished, the good men are righted and justice is restored. For Aristotle, this is a tragedy of worse kind, and is «in flagrant contradiction with the facts of life, and it is absent from Shakespeare’s tragic picture of life» (Bradley, 1992: 24).

The Chinese playwrights’ preference for the poetic justice is by no means a private hobby, but a cultural phenomenon. The playwrights must follow the Chinese audience’s aesthetical habit, which is shaped by the traditional Chinese culture, whose core is consisted of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, and they have deeply influenced the Chinese people’s ideology. Confucianism advocates “the doctrine of the golden mean”, which has become the Chinese people’s guiding principle for their behaviours. As for art, Confucianism holds to the aesthetical standard of “joy without wantonness, sorrow without self injury”. So, for Chinese people, everything shall not go extreme, and harmony is beauty. When appreciating a tragic play, after watching through the strong tragic conflicts, the audience always expect a «harmonious and balanced ending to relieve their previous sorrow» (Wang, 2016, 68). Besides, Confucianism’s belief in “order” is actually an emphasis of obedience, opposing to any disobedience or even the action of struggle, which also reconcile and fade the tragic conflict and the spirit of tragedy. Second, Taoism is dissatisfied with the darkness of the society, criticizing the ruthless reality, and advocating the freedom of spirit turning to the internal world. Taoism’s transcendence is a «pure internal reflection and imagination, a heavy escape from the dilemma of life and the tragic consciousness brought by the pursuit of spiritual freedom » (Wang, 2016, 68). Influenced by Taoism’s thoughts, sometimes the Chinese prefer to be peaceful and aloof, detached from the reality, avoiding contradictions and conflicts. The reflection of this ideology in the creation of tragedy is that the struggle and resistance constructed by tragic conflicts are softened. Third, the Buddhist instruction of “transmigration and retribution”, reinsured the Chinese people that the virtuous will be awarded, if not in this world, then in the next. The traditional moral

principle of Buddhist is to be kind. So no matter what sufferings the hero or heroine endures, he or she will end up with a good result.

Another cause for these differences between Western and Chinese tragedy is their different understanding of the concept of the Fate. The Chinese is always considered to be fatalistic people. But tragic Fate has nothing to do with fatalism. For Qian Zhongshu, the authoritative Chinese writer and critic: «Fatalism is essentially an efeatisy, passive, acceptant attitude which results in lethargy and inaction whereas tragic irony consists in the very fact that in face of mockeries of Fate at every endeavour, man continues to strive» (Qian, 2005: 62). Moreover, what the Chinese generally means by Fate is something utterly different from what is revealed in Greek tragedies. As pointed out professor Whitehead in his Science and the Modern World: «The laws of physics are the decrees of fate.» (Whitehead, 1997, 23) However, the Chinese idea of Fate has not such scientific vigour and is in fact poetic justice. The conception of Fate in a Chinese context is «the equivalence of action and award rather than that of cause and effect. It is not the ethically neutral idea that the doer must suffer, but the sentimental belief that virtue is its own reward with additional rewards to be forthcoming.» (Qian, 2005: 62) This idea and the Greek idea stand quite at opposite poles.

5.2.2. The Tragic Hero of Classical Chinese Tragedy

As we all know, all the protagonists of Western tragedies are people of high social status. However, for Chinese people, social status is not that relevant for arousing audience’s pity and admiration to the characters. In fact, there are many dramas showed that the playwrights in many occasions prefer protagonists of lower status, of poorer class, because they are much more like the audience, we can feel the feeling of these characters. One typical example is Tou Er, the heroine of The Gross Injustice to Maid

Tou (窦娥冤) , daughter of a poor country scholar. In China of that time, a poor scholar

is even less respectful than a peasant, so Tou Er is a character with a very inferior social position. However, Guan Hanqing, the playwright, narrates the miserable life of the poor labouring people and reveals the cruel and corrupt rule of those authorities and it received the love and tear of the audience, because they can empathize the misery of the characters. Although they are people of little importance, their undeserved sufferings excite our pity and their virtuous behaviours arouse our admiration.

Compared with characters with some defections in their disposition in ideal Western tragedy, those of classical Chinese tragedy are saint-alike. They tend to be honourable people morally and temperamentally perfect and definitely possess the most superior position of morality in this play. In the case of The Orphan, what touched the audience most is that Cheng Ying is just a common physician, and his tragedy has nothing to do with any of his own defect: the honest and virtuous physician sacrificed his own son and happiness to fulfil his promise. His gracious virtue and bad fortune can excite the pity and admiration of the audience.

5.2.3. Didactic Function of Traditional Chinese Tragedy

Moreover, tragedy in ancient Chinese society has its special function. In Analysis of the Differences and Causes of Chinese and Western Traditional Tragedy, Liu Hongyan mentioned especially the didactic function of traditional Chinese tragedy. Ancient China paid attention to the socializing effect of literary works on the society, and tragedy praised the virtue of goodness and strength by showing justice and eventually defeating evil, and influenced and educated the audience. When created tragedies, Chinese ancient playwrights consciously shouldered the mission of educating their audience. Ancient china did not value and advocate tragedy because they attach importance to its effect of purification or emotional expression, but with the motivation of arousing the citizen’s social consciousness through the beauty of tragedy. For them, tragedy is just the most superior aesthetic type that serves to improve the reality.

Therefore, in the tragedy, the writers emphasize ethical principles and the protagonists’ doom and suffering, all in order to maintain the sanctity and authority of feudal moral integrity. Meanwhile, for the same reason, they pay too much attention to this didactic function, so that they overlook other aspects, for example, the logic of the plots and setting of their characters’ personality. The plots sometimes have a standard, with a happy ending: and characters tend to be less enriched, to be plainer and flatter than these of western tragedies.

In a word, traditional Chinese tragedy have a form and a series of principles quite different with Western tragedy. Traditional Chinese tragedy is developed with the influence of its own religions and ideologies. The idea of “Nature and Man in One” influenced by Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhist creates a unique form of tragic play, and the main stream of the creation of traditional Chinese tragedy is applicating the principle of poetic justice in the setting of the tragic ending. And in the end, traditional Chinese tragedy also shoulder the mission of educating the people and guarding the feudal centralized government of ancient Chinese monarchs, which is absent in the judgement of the value of tragedy in Western world.

5.3. Shakespearean Tragedy

Then centuries later, in Elizabethan England, Shakespeare made tragedy more mature than ever before. But generally speaking, Shakespeare applicated the definition of «play of actions» and echoed the main principles of Aristotle in terms of the setting of the characters and plots. Firstly, no heroes remain alive in the end of a full sense Shakespearean tragedy. For Bradley, a Shakespearean tragedy is «a tale of suffering and calamity conducting to death.» (Bradley, 1992: 3). Secondly, a Shakespearean tragedy is about «exceptional calamity leading to the death of a man in high estate» (Bradley, 1992: 6). Almost all the heroes of tragedies of Shakespeare comes from royal families, like kings, princes or at least military leaders and members of noble family with a

superior social status. Besides, they are admirable but not perfect, and in many occasions, it is their flaw personalities that lead to the calamities of the drama. As Bradley wrote in his lecture, «comparatively innocent hero still shows some marked imperfection or defect» (Bradley, 1992: 25). And this imperfection or defect is relevant to their tragic ending: «The calamities and catastrophe follow inevitably from the deeds of men, and the main source of these deeds is character» (Bradley, 1992: 8). The heroes are «torn by an inward struggle» (Bradley, 1992: 12). And thirdly, the plots of Shakespearean tragedy are about the preparation and the development of the tragic conflicts, which lead to the final calamities of the heroes. There are reversals in all the full sense Shakespearean tragedies, that the heroes turn from good fortune to bad fortune, to his or her final destructions.

As a Shakespearean tragedy represents a conflict which terminates in a catastrophe, Bradley divides such tragedies into three parts. For him, the first part can be called Exposition ,which «sets forth or expounds the situation, or state of affairs, out of which the conflict arises»; and the second deals with «the definite beginning, the growth and the vicissitudes of the conflict»; and the final section shows «the issue of the conflict in a catastrophe» (Bradley, 1992: 31-32). The later paragraphs will focus especially on the notion of Exposition, because it can serve as an argument to analyse Fenton’s process of adaptation.

The main business of the Exposition is to introduce the audience into the world and life of the dramatic persons, to show the audience their circumstances, their relations to one another, and perhaps some of their characters; and to let the audience keenly interested in what will come later. The spectators are expectant not merely because some persons interest them at once, but also because «their situation in regard to one another points to difficulties in the future» (Bradley, 1992: 32). The situation of this part is not one of the tragic conflicts, but it threatens conflict, and it is a preparation for the beginning of the conflict. Using the example mentioned by Bradley in the lecture, in Romeo and

Juliet, with a street fight between Montagues and Capulets, we see first the hatred of these two families; and then we see that the sensitive Romeo is ready to fall in love; and then in the ball of Capulets we hear talk of a marriage between Juliet and Paris; but the exposition is yet not complete, and the conflict has not definitely begun, until Romeo sees Juliet and falls in love with the daughter of his family’s enemy. For Bradley, from the very beginning of a Shakespearean tragedy, though the conflict has not arisen, the plot is happening in certain startling and exciting degree.

As for Shakespeare’s usual strategy, it is to begin with a short scene, or part of a scene full of stirring actions or in some other attractive way. Then, having received the attention of the audience, he proceeds to conversations at a lower pitch, accompanied by little action but conveying much information, for example, introduction to almost all the dramatis personae and additions of other information left expecting.

6. The Orphan of Zhao: “Pure Tragedy” or Not?

For many Western as well as Chinese critics, it is a tricky question that if China has “pure tragedy” or not. Since Chinese culture is very distant and distinct from the Western culture, it is reasonable that the standard and criterion for the artistic works do not share much in common, and some elements in The Orphan of Zhao failed to agree with the Western standard. Qian Zhongshu, manifested his opinion about traditional Chinese tragedy in an essay include in his collection of English essays: «whatever value our old dramas may have as stage performances or as poetry, they cannot as dramas hold their own with great Western dramas» (Qian, 2005: 67). Apparently, he judged with the rules of the western scholars and points out the inferior artistic value of traditional Chinese tragedy.

The relatively better ending of the classical Chinese tragedy is the most important reason for the truth that many critics deny the existence of tragedy in China. But as far

as I am concerned, the quality of a play should be decided by its climax, not its ending. Since in the climax Cheng Ying has already experienced the downfall of his life, his reward and relief in the ending cannot undo his bad fortune. The plausible satisfactory ending is only an expression of the people’s good wishes and cannot change the tragic quality of the whole play.

7. The Typology of James Fenton’s work: Translation, Rewriting or Adaptation?

It is quite obvious that the theatrical translation has its own characteristics that distances it from other types of translation. For George E. Wellwarth: «dramatic translation is a specialized form of translation with its own rules and requirements seems on the face of it a truism — as indeed it is» (Wellwarth, 1981:140). Not like any other kind of text— poetry, informative texts, operative texts or expressive texts, the teleology of dramatic translation is distinct, because it is, unless in very rare conditions, creating and projecting things that are beyond the proper text, and it fulfils that complete vigour only when it becomes an actual paly in the theatre, before an audience: it is on the stage, and only in it, where the text is “fully realized”. According to Traducciones y adaptaciones teatrales: ensayo de tipología, thesis J.C. Santoyo dedicated to the typologies of theatrical translations and adaptations, the text contains text of two conditions: one in literary condition, and another text for the performance in the stage. As David Ritchie wrote: «On the page, a play is fixed, permanent, spatially arranged, and access to it is conceptual; on the stage a play is fluid, ephemeral, primarily temporally arranged, and access to it is physical» (Zuber 1984: 65). So, the dramatic translation can be grouped in two initial categories, for two different fields: textual translation and scenic translation. From this double condition and teleology derives the entire complex typology of theatrical translation, which is reduced, in its absolute limits, to two major strategies of dramatic translation: “reader-

oriented” and “performance-oriented”, or strategy for reading and strategy for the performance on stage. These two categories both have generated several subtypes. First, in the category of reader-oriented, there are translation and transliteration. The term translation is still applicable here, which is the transposition of texts from the source language to the target language. It concerns only about the literal texts, and the attention to the scenic project is absolutely absent. The translators only care about the fidelity and literary adequation, like what they operate with a novel, a news or a biography. Their attention has not reached to the mise en scène of the translated text. another subtype is transliteration, which is traditionally knew as literal translation. Wellwarth gave his definition of this term: «the process whereby a play... is transferred from one language to another with the original language’s word order and the grammatical constructions peculiar to it carried over into the target language» (Wellwarth, 1985: 142). Transliteration is practicable for linguistic investigation of the text, like rhythms, verses, metaphors, etc. Then, the dramatic translation in the category of performance-oriented, or with exclusively scenic aims, finds its ideal prototype in what is known as version. In precision of strict terminology, the version is to be understood only as the “translation for the stage”. Putting a text on the stage, speaking and communicating it to an audience that will only come into contact with it through orality and the gesture of the actors, all this requires very special qualities of this text, which is quite different from the text prepared for reading. Versions have the theatrical condition included: a spectator cannot reread or stop reading certain lines or gestures of the actors, the confusions and misunderstandings remained there. The dramatic version’s canal of communications should be more open than that of a translation. The adaptation is the term that needs to be defined with extreme precision, due to the danger that some theatrical buccaneers might use it to disguise all kinds of unacceptable manipulations, both textual and scenic. One of the first acceptations of the notion of adaptation is certainly Vinay and Darbelnet’s, who viewed adaptations as a “situational

equivalence” (Vinay and Darbelnet 1995: 39) conducted mostly to deal with cultural issues that might affect the target readers’ reception or understanding of the source text. For Newmark, the adaptation has only one object: naturalize the theatric work in a new target culture to achieve the “equivalent effect”. From all these definitions we can find out that the notion of adaptation involves the communication of at least two cultures: the source culture and target culture, and it is about making the audience of the target culture experience an equivalent effect as what is received for audience of the source culture. The aim of adaptation is to make the target audience understand with less effort a foreign work adjusting certain cultural issues and making the target text more relevant to their cognation. Converting the original play written in Chinese and for native audience, into a text for English speaker is not translating. It will have to be an adaptation, looking over and over again for equivalences in rhythms and forms that are acceptable for a new target audience, seeking to obtain similar effects in the original play. However, whatever is done over this border transgresses the rights of the author and those of the spectators, and it radically betrays the idiosyncrasy of the original play. Those beyond this demarcation must be recognized and reconsidered as rewriting or remake, in modern cinematographic terminology. Here, the so-called “adaptor” neglects the text, form and cultural parameters of the original play, in order to achieve certain modifications that the production is no longer equivalent to that from which it derives in many respects. Under the name refraction, André Lefevere defines this type of dramatic version as «a re-writing of a text in function of different linguistic, cultural, ideological and poetological constraints» (Zuber 1984: 191). In a remake, the original play withdraws to the subordinate position, and it is to the idiosyncrasy of the target culture that the playwright wants to pay attention. Rewriting becomes the most applicable way when the sociocultural distance between the original and the new audience is enormous and may also be an ideal first step to introduce a foreign classical work to the new target audience. But a biased practice can make the rewritings to be

other recreations, in which the playwright is taking advantage of the name of the original alien work for his own literary purpose. From what have been discussed, before, the basic criteria to distinguish adaptation and rewriting is that the original play has been maintained in the new production or not. For Aaltonen: «an adaptation may thus reactualize the foreign source by translating only parts of it, while other parts vanish or are changed. It may reactualize the foreign source text spatially and/or temporally, but in all these cases the adaptation still claims to represent the source text in the target system» (Aaltonen 2000: 64): meanwhile, a rewriting may modify the source text to serve for the comprehension of the target audience, so that it deviates too much and the original play becomes a shell for the playwright to fill his own artistic and ideologic core. As for the typology of the work of James Fenton, it corresponds most to the notion of adaptation. First, as a dramatic work, this production is created for theater, for performance on a stage, and only in this way its full life can be conceived: it is not a reader-oriented text, but belongs to the category of performance-oriented. Besides, it is not a translation, because in the case of Fenton’s The Orphan of Zhao, a literally source text just does not exist. Although the main source of the textual reference for the playwright is the Yuanqu Xuan version of this story, Fenton also learnt the history of the development of the story of The Orphan and absorbed the scripts of several Chinese playwright’s works. In other words, the translation of songs and dialogues is absent, and the new work is based on some ideas and theme of the original text, so it cannot be defined as a translation nor transliteration. Second, the term version is not adequate either for the case of Fenton. Version is of the category of performance-oriented, and it is the translation for actual performance. The differences between versions is presented on the speaking and communication between actors and audience and also other dramatic issues. For example, the Yu opera The Orphan of Zhao and the Beijing opera The Orphan of Zhao are two versions of the original play.

And finally, before we make the conclusion, we have to analyze if it is an adaptation with the original spirit and an analogous effect maintained or a recreation that is only entitled the same name of the original alien work but is in fact a totally westernized remake with ideology and sociocultural function for the new target audience. The intention of the creator determinates the typology of the production. In other words, if the playwright makes too many modifications in many aspects so that it goes far beyond the original play and the too many equivalences are lost, it cannot be an adaptation, but a rewriting. One of the earliest and most well-known rewriting of The Orphan of Zhao is Voltaire’s L’Orphélin de la Chine. It is not about the Zhao clan and Tu’an Gu that happened in Spring and Autumn period: he changed the background of his story into Yuan dynasty, and the orphan is not of a minister, but of the former royal family. What’s more, Voltaire introduces the theme of love, which is absent in the original play. Voltaire had biased the story too much from the original play for fitting his own idea of European enlightenment and Chinese civilization. It is not The Chinese Orphan, but The Chinese Orphan in Western Eyes. As for the case of RSC’s The Orphan, it is obvious that Fenton is a Western playwright and he has been working on an Eastern story for a Western audience. In an interview written by Dan Rubin, Fenton says that: «The whole point of doing this piece was to give us a feel for classical Chinese theater, so certain rules I wanted to follow quite slavishly». His fidelity to the original play can be traced in many aspects for example, the usage of the linguistic idioms: «it was clear that the theatrical idiom was very far removed from modern theater, and that idiom was something we wanted to keep»; and also the invention of the ghost of the infant son of Cheng Ying, by reading the scene of the ghost to an audience which included various experts on Chinese literature, and their respondence manifests that this invention is «in idiom». (Perloff et al, 2014:12) What’s more, Adaptations are motivated by keeping the original play applicable to the target culture and ensuring the efficacy of a foreign play for a specific target spectator. Successful adaptations allow or even force the target audience to discover this play in

a way that suits its aim, ensures an optimal reception experience, or simply promotes the understanding of some specific message. It is said that one of the defining characteristics of Fenton’s work is «a concern for foreign cultures and Western interaction with them». From this commentary, we can deduce that Fenton has intended preserve the cultural core of the original play while making his work comprehensible for the Western audience. And in the same interview with Rubin, he mentioned that there were Chinese scholars that would like have the permission for translating his work to Chinese, and thought that «it would be of interest to a Chinese readership». This suggests that the adapted production can achieve an effect among the target audience which is so close to the original one that the audience of the original culture may also appreciate. All above prove that Fenton’s work can be considered as a successful adaptation of an alien classic work. In conclusion, for reasons that modifications are made for the understanding and acceptance of a new target audience of a distant culture, and ideas of the foreign work is not hurt too much, an equivalent effect can be transmitted to the target audience, and the playwright does not make creation that deviates the original play, the production of James Fenton can be categorized as an adaptation.

8. The Adaptation of James Fenton

James Fenton adapted the story in 2012 for the Royal Shakespeare Company combining many factors in the history of the story of the Zhao clan (which are introduced in section 4.2), including characters and plots registered in all those historical records but absent in Yuanqu xuan. The main structure of the story of his adaptation comes from the Yuanqu xuan version, but the setting of some characters has its root in other versions that have been mentioned before. And one thing should be noticed is that Britain has Shakespeare, the world-famous master of drama (and of course, of tragedy), it is inevitable for any playwright to be influenced by him, and this is also true for the case

of the production of Fenton. No matter in purpose or unconsciously, the adaptation of James Fenton has manifested an obvious Shakespearean style, both in the construction of this tragedy and the enrichment of the plots. The main plot remains the same as the Yuanqu xuan version, that Tu’an Gu killed the Zhao clan, Cheng Ying sacrificed his own baby son to save the orphan of Zhao, Gongsun Chujiu and Han Jue both killed themselves to protect the orphan and the orphan achieved the revenge for his family. What is distinct from the Yuanqu xuan version are the personalities and end of some protagonists. First, Fenton changed the Duke in the original text into Emperor, because, according to what he said in the acknowledgement of the script: «To my Western ear, the word ‘Duke’ rings oddly in a Chinese feudal context, in a way that ‘Emperor’, ‘Lord’ and ‘Princess’ do not”. and from the behavior of the Emperor that enjoyed and got excited shooting his citizen from the Crimson Cloud Tower, we can see that the character of the emperor coincides with the Duke Ling in Zuo Zhuan. Then the Emperor got severely ill, and before dying, he summoned Wei Jiang in secret and Wei Jiang pointed out that he was tricked by Tu’an Gu and there is no cure for him. Comparing this part with the version in Shiji, we can imply that the writer got inspiration from the Duke Ching and Han Jue in Shiji. Second, there is a modification of the identity of Cheng Ying. In all the Chinese versions of this story, Cheng Ying is the family doctor of the Zhao clan, but in the work of Fenton, he introduced himself as a “simple country doctor” and most of his life “has been spent on the hillside» (Fenton, 2012:16). It seems that the playwright has chosen to remain the identity of this county doctor ambiguous, as what have been said by the character himself: «I myself no longer seem to know who I am, or why I have been chosen to save The Orphan of Zhao.» (Fenton, 2012:18) This essential modification leads to a thematic shift: the playwright intends to emphasis the virtue of the humanity, which is universal and without any cultural mark, instead of specific individual’s behaviour in a specific socio-cultural context. Also, it is highly reasonable, as for the spirit of self- sacrifice for his patron’s family is not that convincing for a Western audience. Next,

another essential change is the portrayal of the Orphan of Zhao. In the adaptation of Fenton, the orphan showed his elegance as an heir of a noble family, bravery as a daring young man and care and sympathy for the people. After realizing his true identity and before killing Tu’an Gu, he showed a hesitation and dilemma, which is of a Shakespearean style. What’ more, this Shakespearean style also finds expression in the ending of Cheng Ying and of the whole play. The figure of ghost is often used in the works of Shakespeare and appear in many Chinese versions of this story. In the final scene of Fenton, Cheng Ying went to the tree to find his child’s grave, and there he met the ghost of his child. After confronting his love for his child to the ghost, he killed himself with a knife, and the ghost tasted his blood then took him away. And there are also modifications of the female characters. The wife of Cheng Ying struggled emotionally but in vain when her husband and Gongsun Chujiu intended to take away her son, and the princess, mother of the orphan of Zhao, didn’t kill herself but imprisoned and lost her mind. Although Fenton might not be the first to make such changes, there is no correspondence in the historical record about this story. As for the songs, they are all assigned to the protagonists of the play both in the version of Ji Junxiang and Yuanqu xuan and serve at the same time as their monolog. However, Fenton assigned his four new songs to the undramatized ballad singers, which are out of the narration of the play, with contents very poetic and not related directly to the characters. And in the end, the formal structure of Fenton’s adaptation is very different from the regular form of zaju. The standard structure of zaju has a wedge and four acts, and the Yuanqu xuan version has an additional fifth act. As a Western writer, Fenton followed the regular form of the Western play and divided his work into two parts, with fifteen and eleven scenes respectively.

8.1. Organization of acts

To fellow the tradition of Western drama, Fenton reorganizes the wedge and five acts of the original title into two parts, twenty-six scenes. One of the most noticeable changes is that Fenton put four songs of the ballad singer at the beginning and ending of both parts. Part One includes the first fifteen scenes and corresponds to the wedge and first three acts of the original title. Scene Two to Scene Six cover roughly the plot of the wedge, that Tu’an Gu trained the demon mastiff, the emperor shot people for pleasure and the slaughter of the Zhao clan. In Scene Seven and Scene Eight, Cheng Ying took the Orphan away and escaped from the city with the help of General Han Jue, which corresponds to the original’s first act; Cheng Ying and Gongsun Chuijiu’s plan of the change of child and persuasion to the wife of Cheng Ying happen between Scene Nine to Scene Twelve, which corresponds to the plot of second act. Scene Thirteen and Scene Fourteen are about Tu’an Gu’s interrogation and the noble death of Gongsun Chuijiu, which corresponds to the plot of the third act. And the last scene of Part One is the song of General Wei Jiang, whose first appearance in the original play is in the fifth act. Part Two includes the rest eleven scenes, which tells the plot of the fourth and fifth acts of the version of Yuanqu xuan. The first scene of Part Two is the Song of the Groom sung by the ballad singer and created by Fenton. Scene Seventeen is about the return of General Wei Jiang, whose position in the original title is the start of the fifth act. Then in Scene Eighteen to Scene Twenty-one, the Orphan of Zhao, with the name of Cheng Bo, presents himself and realized his identity, which corresponds to the fourth act of the original. And there is a new plot in Scene Twenty-two and Twenty-three, that is the encounter of the Orphan and his mother, the imprisoned and insane princess. Then comes the revenge of the Orphan of Zhao, which is a very short fragment—only Scene Twenty-four for the fifth act. The revenge scene is followed by the last song of the ballad singer, and the whole show ends with the death of Cheng Ying in the arm of the ghost of his own sacrificed son.

After browsing and comparing the construction of the production of Fenton with the original play, we can conclude that in a general sense he maintained the dramatic construction of the original Chinese work. However, besides the four new songs, there are four major added scenes: the Peach Garden Massacre of Scene Three, Cheng Bo’s visit to general Wei Jiang in Scene Eighteen, the encounter of the Orphan with his mother and Cheng Ying’s death with the ghost of his son in the final scene. These are the most creative additions of the playwright and they worth further study.

8.2. The characteristics of the adaptation of Fenton

8.2.1. A Proper Tragic Ending

For Aristotle the best tragedy holds a structure of «a change not to good fortune from bad fortune, but from good fortune to bad fortune» (Aristotle, 1996:21). And if we look through all the tragedies of Shakespeare, we will find out that he followed Aristotle’s standard and all the heroes of his tragedies ended up with their own death. As a matter of fact, one typical characteristic of the Shakespearean Tragedy is that «every deathbed is the scene of the fifth act of a tragedy» (Bradley, 1992:18). At the end of a tragedy, the hero is bound to die. So, in order to make his adaptation conform more to classical Western definition of a good tragedy, Fenton changed the ending of Cheng Ying by making him induced to kill himself by the ghost of his sacrificed baby son. This modification enhances this play’s tragic sense and is more plausible for Western audience.

8.2.2. Additions of Plots Following Shakespeare’s Exposition

The notion of Exposition in Shakespearean tragedy can lead us to a very reasonable explanation for the added plot of the Peach Garden Massacre. To conserve the theatrical idiom and construction of this ancient drama, Fenton keeps the first scene for Tu’an Gu to perform his monologue. But after this, he adds the plot that the Emperor has fun

massacring his citizens in the peach garden, with the company of Tu’an Gu, then come Wei Jiang and Gongsun Chujiu, who manifest their disapproval to the ruler’s evil acts and ask for exile and retirement. The conflict of this play, which is Tu’an Gu’s murder to the clan of Zhao, has yet not begun. But in this scene, several main persons are introduced for the first time, and there are actions and dialogues that reveals some of their characters: the Emperor is fatuous and have no sympathy to his people; Tu’an Gu is cruel, adulatory and good at manipulating the Emperor and also making mischief between the Emperor and his subjects; and Wei Jiang and Gongsun are loyal and honest. This is a scene full of thrilling actions of shooting people and furious conversations, so the attention of the audience can be easily attracted and makes them expect the further development of the plot. Meanwhile, after this exciting scene, things are happening continuously and going nearer to the beginning of the tragic conflict. Though it is hard to affirm that Fenton follows this strategy of Shakespeare deliberately or without realizing it, this arrangement has achieved a good effect.

8.2.2. Aesthetic alterations

In traditional Chinese opera, lyricism was a fundamental aesthetic pursuit. Hegel defines lyricism as «a series of different modes of expression by the degree and manner in which the subject-matter is more loosely or more tightly interwoven with the person whose inner life that subject-matter reveals» (Hegel, 1975: 1193). As for Chinese opera, aural enjoyment is superior to other theatrical elements, poetic songs with musical accompaniment is the effective method of lyricism. The form of songs with poetic lyrics and accompany of customised musical instrument is largely used in traditional Chinese operas. The priority of musical lyricism led to the following results. Firstly, in terms of performance, the majority of the performance is consisted of singings, although accompanied by necessary monologues and dialogues. Secondly, in terms of plot, singing was very important in the allocation of stage time, therefore events with no

impact on characters’ subjective feelings would not be performed. The plot is driven and consisted of a series of emotions rather than logical actions. An action unrelated to the plot could be considered necessary as long as it is emotionally coherent to other parts. The real concern of the playwrights is not the story itself, but its function for arousing intense emotions. This neglect to the logic of the actions leads to the emptiness of the characters, for without action, the personalities of the characters cannot be presented. So, compared to characters in Western tragedies, those in traditional Chinese tragedies tend to be more polarized and flatter. For example, Tu’an Gu is evil, Cheng Ying is noble, willing to sacrifice his son to save others’. Thirdly, lyricism is always interwoven with Chinese opera’s allegorical or didactic function, for it is easier appealing to their emotions with touching songs than simply educate them with pale words. As what have been discussed before, one sociocultural function of traditional Chinese tragedy is moralising the people. They praise the good and criticise the evil to appeal to the people to be kind, and let the people believe that justice will be restored, and the monstrous force will be punished. Besides, in The Orphan, Tu’an Gu the usurper and order-disturber is in the end executed, reminding the audience of the importance of order: subjects should stay in their own position, and never challenge the authority of their rulers. From this we can see quite clearly that traditional Chinese tragedies also serve as a tool to consolidate the centralised power of feudal governors. To sum up, when the playwrights conceive their story, they care more about achieve those functions than square efforts to portray the special characteristics of their characters. This regularity is sufficient to moralise and educate the people, a coherent plot and a three-dimensioned character shaping are relatively less necessary. So, it is a phenomenon very frequent that the good people are flawless and the villain is without single humanity. Such dramaturgical characteristic is comprehensible for Chinese audience, but for Western theatrical works that take Aristotelian tragic theories as standard and influenced by Shakespeare, such dramatic aesthetics is quite problematic.

Aristotle proclaims: «an imitation of action, must represent one action, a complete whole, with its several incidents so closely connected that the transposition or withdrawal of any one of them will disjoin and dislocate the whole.» (Aristotle, 1991:10) the actions must be logic and coherent. One essential factor that the original play lacks is the Orphan’s motivation to kill his adoptive father. In the original play, the Orphan decides to kill Tu’an Gu immediately after Cheng Ying telling him the truth. This is a decision that shows a great reverse of emotion, but this change has no signs before and is so rapid so that it seems very suspicious and unlogic. To make this decision plausible, many scenes are added in Fenton’s adaptation, and a very typical one is he Orphan’s witness of an attack of the tax inspector. Before this event, he never doubted the benevolence of the Emperor and the kindness of his adoptive father. However, after this, he was confused and started to suspect the virtue of Tu’an Gu. He saw the suffer of the peasants with his own eye and sympathized them, and he begun to feel reluctant about the true face of his adoptive father. This modification is very successful, because not only rationalizes his rapid decision of revenge, but also changes this decision from a personal and family issue to an execution for a rough governor. Another alteration made by Fenton is the condition of mother of the Orphan. In most versions of The Orphan, the Princess dies saving her infant son. However, In Scene Nineteen, right after the scene about the attack of the tax inspector, Fenton made her imprisoned in the palace and arranged an encounter with her son after his shooting grease with Tu’an Gu, what’s more, she made a series of interrogation to the Orphan very fiercely:

Go ask your father who I am, and why I live here in this monkey palace. Ask him who he

is. Ask him who you are. Go ask the geese in the sky. Go ask the gibbons shrieking in the

treetops. Can a monkey keep a secret? Can a dog betray a minister? Can a great crime lie

unavenged? You call yourself the man’s son, but your faces torments me with a thousand

recollections. Go away at once, young man. You are not who you say you are. Torment me

no further. (Fenton, 2012:52)

This scene is about an omen of «one shot brought down two geese». And this monologue of the mad Princess is almost the suggested omen. With these words, she made the Orphan question even more about his own identity, which made him even keep a secret for the first time from Tu’an Gu. Fenton makes her part of Cheng Bo’s discovery of his identity. It makes the plot more logical and coherent.

Meanwhile, as Aristotle argues about law of probability: «whenever such-and-such a personage says or does such-and-such a thing, it shall be the necessary or probable outcome of his character». So, we can say that when Fenton adds actions to improve the logic of this play, he enriched the characters at the same time. From the massacre in the peach garden, the personality of love for pleasure and overlook to the people of the Emperor is stressed, which is described little in the original play. Fenton also enriches the characters of Gongsun Chujiu and Weijiang. There are no events or actions in the original story that support the virtues of these two persons, which makes their later actions less well-founded and reduces the audience’s enjoyment of a complicated character. For this reason, he writes a scene of Gongsun works with the peasants and the argument between the emperor and Gongsun and Wei Jiang, which shows that these two noble man cares for the people and are honest and loyal to their country.

As for the Orphan, the playwright uses quite a length to enrich his character. Firstly, he added the scene of the visit of the Orphan to the border to give general Wei Jiang a message. He travelled a long distance to the border of the state and overcame many danger and obstacles. He observed the nature with great care and love and said that the world opened before him «like an encyclopaedia». In this scene the Orphan shows a great bravery facing the difficulties and the passion to the nature, to his state, which not only suggest that he is noble and honest, but also shows his humanity, which is quite the opposite of his adoptive father. Then he also writes several long monologues that manifest his mental activity and the process of change of attitude towards his adoptive father. This arrangement may remind the audience of Hamlet, the classic Shakespearean

figure that burdens a similar mission of revenge and is famous for his speech that shows his reluctance.

8. 2.3. Changes of Theme and ideology in the original play

The adaptor should consider the purpose of this drama that will be introduced into the target culture, which might be very distant form the original culture both geographically and ideologically, and also takes into account the phycology of the target audience of this new adaptation. In other words, the playwright needs to alter or modify in certain degree the theme, the main idea of the original play to fit his motivation of this adaptation and to make this play acceptable and comprehensible for the target audience. One deletion of thematic value in the adaptation is the didactic function shouldered the original The Orphan. As for the Western culture and Chinese culture are very distant both geographically and ideologically, the characteristic of being a propaganda for nationalism and feudalism is simply meaningless. Besides, a didactic function that was valid in ancient China can be very confusing and repellent for modern Western culture. This alteration not only does not do harm to the dramatic value of the original play, but also helps the audience concentrate on the essential theme.

However, as what Aaltonen suggested:

a theatre production is always closely tied to its own specific audience in a particular place

in a particular point in time, and in consequence, when a foreign dramatic text is chosen

for a performance, the translation as well as the entire production unavoidably represents

a reaction to alterity. The Other in the form of a foreign source text may represent desirable

cultural goods. It may be of symbolic value or give domestic issues universal qualities, but

it may also epitomize a threat. (Aaltonen, 2000: 8)

There are certain things that people of the original culture, with their sense of history and culture, finds completely comprehensible in this play that other audiences will

worry about. For avoiding this risk, the adaptor should make efforts to «adjust them to the aesthetics of the receiving theatre and the social discourse of the target society» (Aaltonen, 2000: 8).

In the interview with Rubin, Fenton acknowledged that: «what worried me most is when the Doctor’s Wife gives up her child» (Perloff et al, 2014:14). For any Chinese audience that with an average knowing for ancient Chinese society would not find this plot worthy a special attention. Because in patriarchal-feudal China, women were subjects of their husband, and they must obey them without any reluctance. And this is what Chinese experts told Fenton: she’s a woman. She has no choice. What he does is making it «absolutely clear what this was the reality in China long ago». In the end of

Scene Twelve, before giving out her son, she said: «My child will die. I can see that. I cannot understand why, but I can see that it will happen. I am a woman, and there is nothing in the end that I can do.» With this reasonable and logical addition, the audience who are ignorant of ancient Chinese women’s social status can immediately understand her decision.

Apart from Cheng Ying’s wife, what may also impact the Western audience is her sacrificed innocent baby. It was really unfair for the baby that was killed, but the Chinese audience and Western audience may pay different level of attention to this. For in the culture of the former, the last blood of a noble family is superior than that of a humble doctor, and even Cheng Ying himself believed that: «it is more righteous to fulfil the duty of sacrifice than indulge in paternal love» (Qian, 2005: 61), and this is shown most clearly in Gongsun Chujiu, who sacrificed his own life to protect the Orphan, in a way that «shows not the slightest hesitation in choosing between love and duty» (Qian, 2005: 61). What’s more, they care more about the exciting restoration of the justice in the end and intends to neglect this; however, the latter, who are followers of humanism, they are going to be worried about the idea of that sacrifice. Considering

the felling of the target audience, «their worry ought to be addressed», and the resolution is the creative presentation of the ghost of the doctor’s baby.

The appearance of the figure of ghost is a very typical characteristic in Western drama, and its function fall in mainly two aspects. First, it establishes a represent for the absent part due to death, which can date back to Aeschylus’s design of the ghost of Clytemnestra, and a classical example if this development in Elizabethan time is the ghost of the old King in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In fact, besides Hamlet, ghost is a figure widely used in Shakespearean dramas, like King Lear and Macbeth. With a ghost, the playwright becomes the voice of the sacrificed baby, so the wronged child can argue for his own life right and questions not only his own father, but also the patriarchal- feudal norm of ancient China. Its second function is creating and emphasizing the tragic atmosphere and promotes the development of the plots. For Allardyee Nicoll, one of the most effective techniques is to express directly some kind of supernatural power in the play. The playwright uses it as a rather powerful means to obtain more significant events than purely personal events on stage. At the same time, it can provide some kind of fear, which we will find that this kind of emotion is one of the basic elements of tragedy. It is this child’s ghost who induced the tragic hero into his final tragic ending, so we can see that it serves as the promotor to the complication of a standard Western tragic ending and will achieve a great impact on the audience’s emotion. Except the changes above, the playwright tries not do any other unnecessary ones to keep these Chinese ideologies. His first resolution is keeping the ambiguity existing in the original play. Fenton (Royal Shakespeare Company 2012b) said in an interview:

Then there are certain things in the original that we could see would be very difficult for a

western audience. I began to see that the right thing to do was not to tone down the original,

but to make that problem a feature of the play. For instance, the life of one child is sacrificed

to save the life of another, and it is very hard to convince a western audience of that

argument. So you have to leave the ambiguity and difficulty there in the play.

Another device applicated by Fenton is correspondent to the notion of ultraculturality. In definition of Aaltonen, it signifies: «a movement of return to the roots, the authentic rite and ceremony, on the assumption that there exists a common human substratum, whatever cultural elements have been imposed upon it» (Aaltonen, 2000: 13). The major change of this adaptation in terms for achieving ultraculturality is the relocation of the play’s historical context. The temporal period of this play is changed from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Ming Dynasty. Although both periods were parts of the history of the ancient China, the ethical and ethnical perspectives and ideologies differed, for the spirit of self-sacrifice was not so convincing after hundreds of years. This move led to a thematic shift: the emphasis of universal humanity instead of specific individuals’ behaviour in a specific socio-cultural context, and this universal humanistic virtue is loyalty. Loyalty is no doubt one of the themes of the original The Orphan, and by focusing especially on loyalty, Fenton made the tragic conflict in his adaptation much more enhanced than the original.

Like Fischer-Lichte wrote in his History of European Drama and Theatre: «any production of a foreign play therefore became a cultural hybrid, a mixture of elements taken from two cultures: the one in which the play originated and the one in which it was staged» (Fischer-Lichte, 1989:173). Fenton has made thematic and ideological change to achieve his dramatic purpose and a comprehension of the new target audience, but at the same time avoid reshaping the Chinese classic into an over-westernized recreation.

8. 2. 4. Language

Unlike most Western drama, The Orphan of Zhao uses a declarative style in which characters tell the audience what they want and are doing with little subtext. This is not a random try, but a fidelity for the linguistic style of ancient Chinese drama. The characters explain his mental activities and perform actions as they doing it. This can

be quite an impact for western audience, for they seldom have such experience. This choice for declarative style can be a very applicable method for adaptation of a foreign work for a new target audience who know little about the original culture, for it can lead the audience into the dramatic world of this play more economically.

Besides, the playwright has intended conserve the linguistic style of the original play. As for the main source of textual reference of Fenton’s work is the Yuanqu Xuan version of The Orphan, it is necessary first making clear several principle characteristics of the linguistic style of zaju, which are manifested in this specific play of The Orphan of Zhao. In Linguistic Style of Yuan Zaju, Xu Jinbang summarized three characteristics. First, is the usage of vulgar spoken language, which not only makes the play understandable and friendly to the ordinary people, but more importantly, it produces a natural, sincere and vivid style. Second, there are a mass of existing phrases like slangs and proverbs. Such colloquialism makes the language flexible, vivid and natural, and reflects the distinctive personality of the characters. In zaju also exists a combined use of four-character idiom and colloquialism, and large number of quotations of sentences and verses in poems, which results in a coexistence of long sentences and short phrases. This unique construction makes it dynamic and harmonious in tone, enhancing the expressiveness and rhythm of the language. Third, is the usage of popular allusion. As for traditional Chinese drama is basically operas with singings, and the audience cannot stop to ponder the meaning of the songs, so the lyrics should not be too difficult to understand. For this reason, the playwrights use many folklores and historical characters and stories familiar to the audience.

Fenton has managed to keep a similar style in his adaptation. These colloquialism, proverbs and idioms are generally cultural references of the target culture. To achieve an analogous effect among the target audience, the functional equivalence is an applicable strategy. For example, he uses idioms like «the serpent was raised in the bosom of the Court» (Fenton, 2012: 44); and in Scene Four Chu Ni said that he would

«go though fire and water» for his master, an existing idiom in Western culture, but it coincide with an ancient Chinese four-characters idiom, which is a very exquisite design that contributes both to the understanding for western audience and the conservation of the original Chinese flavour. Besides, he adds several typical oriental cultural references like peach garden in Scene Three, which can remind people of a classic Chinese chef d’oeuvre Romance of the Three Kingdoms; and pagoda tree in Scene Four, a reference related to the Buddhist. Serving as a cultural guide these ingenuities help the new target audience step into an imaged distant oriental world.

Meanwhile, the most creative invention in terms of the text are the four ballad songs written by Fenton. In a description of his process for London’s Guardian, Fenton says: «The play itself, isn’t written in verse. But it’s written in a poetic style that suggests the feudal psychology of early China.»” These four songs are located in the beginning of the whole play, the beginning and ending of both acts. Experts of Confucius Institute confirmed that Fenton’s «imagined language of a fearsome, distant kingdom» was on the right track. What’s more, one of the Chinese experts Fenton spoke to about the play told him that the poems are reminiscent of poems from the Book of Songs, the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry.

Conclusion

In the end, I will conclude this study in two aspects. Firstly, Fenton’s The Orphan of Zhao is a significant example showing that it is possible to adapt an alien classic comprehensible for new target audience and do not harm the very essence of the original play. Due to mainly socio-cultural differences, he made certain modifications so that the new audience can find this play acceptable, and at the same time this adaptation still claims to represent the source play. As for this adaptation aims at modern ordinary western audience, it is reasonable and realistic weakening some timeworn and old-

fashioned values expressed in the original play and emphasizing those that have a common human root.

Secondly, the English playwright made his work different from the original work from generally these following aspects: he erased the poetic justice favoured by traditional Chinese tragedy playwrights, and altered the ending to a typical western one with the death of the tragic hero, which enhanced this play’s tragic sense; following Bradley’s Exposition and eliminating the original play’s lyricism, he added several scenes and plots to make his adaptation a tragedy with more logic and coherence; in terms of the theme, though westernized in certain degree, he managed to keep the essential ideology of the source culture by keeping certain ambiguity and addressing some confusions for the audience; as for the language and theatrical form, he tried to follow traditional Chinese idioms to maintain the oriental style of this play.

From studies above, we can find out that following tragic theories of Aristotle and Shakespeare, Fenton adapted the original play from an ancient Chinese drama that does not conform to conventional Western principle of a tragedy into one does. However, there is a preferred tragic modal. As for traditional Chinese tragedies dispense with the three unities and emphasise characters and their responses to evil circumstances, they tend more towards Shakespearean type, and some alterations can be reasoned by the characteristics of Shakespearean tragedy, especially the additional plots which can be classified into the first part of Shakespearean tragic construction and the appearance of ghosts, we can draw the conclusion that Fenton’s adaptation is more approximate to Shakespearean tragic modal. Though the playwright has made certain westernized modifications, the Chinese play also contributed to this adaptation. The playwright’s efforts to find solutions to aesthetic differences and difficulties created a very unusual play, even when compared to many other productions. For example, the four ballads song which restored lyricism in the source play – neither completely Shakespearean nor

Chinese, were sparked by this encounter.

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Annex

The copy of The Orphan of Zhao of James Fenton

Acknowledgement

First of all, I would like send my gratitude to my tutor, Dr. Enric Gallén Miret, who helped me choose the subject and build the construction of my study. He also gave me many bibliographies that are very useful for the writing of my work and inspired me to look for more relevant references. And thanks for his instructions and suggestions, I can finish this work with a better quality. What’s more, as for we are now in a very hard time, he also cared about the safety of my family and my own, which makes me feel very moved and grateful.

Then, I would like thank my family. My parents, who have always been very supportive in my whole life. Without their support, I would not have the opportunity of studying abroad nor finishing this thesis. Then I want to thank especially my sister and brother- in-law. Although they have always been very busy with their work, they have given emotional support during my study in Spain. Their encourages gave me power to move on and finish my study.

What’s more, I need to thank all my friends that cared about me during my staying in Barcelona. Being an international student for the first time in my life, thanks for their care and company, I feel loved and not that lonely in a completely new environment in an uneasy time.

And in the end, I would like to send my respect and gratitude to James Fenton, who adapted the marvellous and touching Chinese drama into modern English theatre. He made his work very satisfactorily both for western audience and Chinese spectators. He not only kept the essential good value of the original play, but also gave this play a modern sense. He helped the occidental theatre learn more about Chinese theatrical art and gave his colleagues more inspiration about adapting alien classics.