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A Peony Transplanted: Pai Hsien-yung and the Preservation of Chinese Kunqu Wei Zhou PhD The University of Edinburgh 2011 1 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation is a presentation of my own work and that it has not been submitted for any other degree or qualification. All materials obtained from other sources have been duly acknowledged. ____________________________ (Wei Zhou) 2 ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the preservation of Chinese kunqu, one of China’s indigenous operatic genres, in recent years with a special focus on renowned writer Pai Hsien-yung’s new adaptation of classic kunqu play The Peony Pavilion (Mudan ting). I use this adaptation as a case study to demonstrate how the actual shape of a stage production can be determined by a producer’s choice between tradition and innovation. The contention between the two variables can be identified in the hundreds of years of kunqu history. The introduction provides a brief overview of the ascension of kunqu to its dominance as a national opera between late Ming and early Qing dynasties (late sixteenth century to early nineteenth century). The first two chapters analyze the downfall of this genre and its struggle for existence and development from mid-Qing through the turbulent twentieth century with particular emphasis on exploring the interplay between tradition and innovation. The next two chapters focus entirely on Pai Hsien-yung’s stage production of Peony and its wide distribution. The last chapter examines the latest kunqu production modes developed under the influence of Pai’s approach. Through this detailed analysis of Pai’s kunqu production and its impact, this research identifies one of the most prominent trends in kunqu preservation and development in the twenty-first century. It explores the dialectical approach adopted in this trend to handle the relationship between tradition and innovation, and the particular redefinition of audience construction. A renewed wave of kunqu preservation efforts within China during the past decade created a favourable environment for Pai’s productions. The success of his works has drawn new attention to the opera and eased kunqu crisis to a fairly large extent. The most significant contribution of Pai’s works to Chinese kunqu discourse can be seen from the expansion of audience base, particularly among the educated youth, and the increasingly varied and creative strategies for kunqu production and distribution. These changes have greatly transformed the overall Chinese kunqu scene, and ushered in a new era when new kunqu stage works are made into collages of intrinsic kunqu aesthetics and certain traditional artistic values. Pai’s ability to 3 negotiate a space for kunqu amidst fierce competition against the many different forms of modern entertainment has restored people’s confidence in both kunqu and Chinese cultural traditions at large. Pai’s experience of finding a particular balance between tradition and innovation, between art and market, has contributed critically not only to the emergence of more hybridized kunqu productions, but also to the preservation and development of other forms of traditional Chinese performing arts genres in the age of globalization and commercialization. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I completed this dissertation with the help of many people. I would here like to express my profound appreciation to them for their support. It is with their help and support that my four years of study on this project at the University of Edinburgh has turned out to be a highly rewarding process. First and foremost, my deepest gratitude goes to my supervisor Professor Natascha Gentz, who has never failed to provide constant encouragement, constructive and critical comments and a great deal of generous support throughout these few years. It would be virtually impossible for me to improve my scholarship and complete this dissertation without her continuing guidance, caring mentorship, and warm encouragement. I am forever indebted to her tremendous intellectual insights and inspiration during the entire process of my research and study. I would like to gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the University of Edinburgh/China Scholarship Council (CSC) joint PhD scholarship programme, which made my study for this project possible. The Universities’ China Committee in London (UCCL) generously awarded financial support for my 2008 fieldwork in Beijing. The Institute of Literature at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences was the host institution for my research during my stay in Beijing, which provided me with valuable resources. I am very grateful for Professor Bao Mingde, Professor Yang Yi, and Dr. Yang Zao who kindly arranged my study at the institute. I also benefited from the inspirational conversation with Dr. Li Na from the Institute of Taiwan Literature. I would like to thank Frances Christensen, Chen Jie and other staff of the Confucius Institute for Scotland for their friendship and moral support. It has been a great pleasure to have known all of you and become friends through our work together. Thanks also go to many other teachers, administrative staff and institutes in the University, for their great support during the last four years. A big thank you to my friends Christian Jowers, Lara Arnason, Meng Pei, Zhu Zhu, Zheng Ji, Zou Yijie 5 and all others who have helped me and encouraged me in these years. Their friendship has made my years in Edinburgh precious and memorable. I have had the great advantage of being able to interview Pai Hsien-yung when he took his kunqu stage work to London in the summer of 2008. Pai’s perseverance and resilience, his love and devotion is one of the reasons kunqu has enjoyed such a raised presence in the world in recent years. This project is my humble dedication to the work of Pai and many other kunqu promoters. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Elizabeth Leith and Richard Stevenson, who agreed to proofread the draft of my dissertation as a last minute involvement. Their straightforward and useful comments and corrections have greatly improved the appearance of the dissertation. I also would like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Yao Baorong from my home university in China who was the advisor for my master’s programme. It was with her generous support and constant encouragement that I started the journey of my academic pursuit. Finally, I would like to thank my wife and best friend Huang Jianmin for her immense trust, unselfish support and great patience which has helped me focus on my study and research. I am also deeply indebted to my daughter Qi Qi, to my parents and in-laws and all my family for their belief in me. I really could not have finished this project without their unconditional love and unfailing support. Thinking of them always gives me the strength to stand against all the difficulties in the journey of the last few years. I do apologize to all of those who have helped me in my past four years of study whom I may have omitted here. I feel deeply grateful for all those who honoured me with their precious time, insightful suggestions, and great friendship. I reserve responsibility for all mistakes remaining in this thesis. All opinions and analysis contained in this work, unless otherwise attributed, are my own. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... 9 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER ONE From National Prominence to the Brink of Extinction: Kunqu between mid-Qing and the Republican Era ............................................................... 31 1.1. The Waning of Royal Patronage ................................................................. 33 1.2. From Domestic to Public Realm: the Rise of Professional Troupes .......... 42 1.3. The Maturation of Excerpted-scene Performances ..................................... 51 1.4. On the Brink of Extinction: Kunqu in the Early Twentieth Century .......... 57 1.5. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 68 CHAPTER TWO Kunqu in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century ............. 70 2.1. The Traditional Drama Reform and Fifteen Strings of Coins: 1950s ......... 72 2.2. The New Adaptation of Li Huiniang and Sudden Suppression: 1960s ...... 83 2.3. Kunqu in the 1980s: a Brief Recovery ........................................................ 90 2.4. Kunqu in the 1990s: Further Crisis ............................................................. 99 2.5. Conclusion ...............................................................................................