Cultural Adaptation in Medieval Japanese Nô Theatre
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REINVENTING CHINA: CULTURAL ADAPTATION IN MEDIEVAL JAPANESE NÔ THEATRE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Leo Shing Chi Yip, M.A. * * * * * The Ohio State University 2004 Dissertation Committee: Professor Shelley Fenno Quinn, Adviser Approved by Professor Amy Shuman Professor Charles J. Quinn, Jr. ______________________________ Advisor Professor Patricia A. Sieber Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures Copyright by Leo Shing Chi Yip 2004 ABSTRACT This study examines adaptations of Chinese culture in medieval Japanese Nô theatre through analyzing a group of Nô plays featuring Chinese motifs, also referred to as “Chinese plays,” written between the late fourteenth and the early sixteenth centuries. It investigates how changing relations with China, reception history of Chinese motifs, as well as evolving aesthetic and cultural norms on the part of playwrights and audiences of Nô theatre, shaped the making of these plays. I propose what I refer to as a Filter Model, based on my reading of theatrical treatises of Nô and supported by contemporary theory of intercultural theatre, in order to analyze the (re)interpretations and (re)construction of various images of China within specific historical and cultural contexts. I argue that this group of plays was not about representing China (a cultural Other), but rather about manipulating the perceived images of China and catering to the cultural practices, aesthetic preferences, and sociopolitical attitudes of various audience groups in medieval Japan. It is through the different images of China constructed ii in these plays that the playwrights amplify certain aspects of Nô, such as auspiciousness, cultural identity, depictions of human emotion, as well as spectacular dance performances. Chapter One lays out the theoretical and historical framework for the study. I critically review current scholarship on issues of Other and Self, and on conceptions of Intercultural Theatre. I then trace the dynamics of cultural exchanges between China and Japan from the seventh to the late sixteenth centuries that had influenced the reception of Chinese motifs in Nô theatre. Chapter Two centers on the underlying variables in the composition of “Chinese plays.” I first assess the influential role of audience and patron in the art of Nô. I then introduce my Filter Model, which illustrates the complex interplay of sociopolitical milieux, basic sources, perspectives of the playwrights, and selections and compositions of dance and song, in the making of “Chinese plays.” Chapters Three to Seven examine ten “Chinese plays,” written at various junctures of Nô theatre and sociopolitical circumstances that, taken together, display a well-rounded representation of Chinese images constructed in Nô. A close study of these plays elucidates the various patterns and motivations for cultural adaptation on the part of playwrights, as well as disparate, and sometimes conflicting, sentiments and political stances towards China held by audiences of Nô. Chapter Eight identifies the characteristics and significance of iii cross-cultural adaptations involved in “Chinese plays.” Furthermore, I put relevant modern theories to the test against my findings to highlight the particularities of “Chinese plays” in an East-East context. iv Dedicated to Yip Pikha and Tam Hungkwong v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my many mentors for their guidance and support. First and foremost, I wish to thank my adviser, Professor Shelley Fenno Quinn, for her encouragement, guidance, and patience throughout my graduate work. Her expertise in Nô directed me to explore various aspects of the performing art, and her detailed and insightful feedback on my drafts were invaluable. Sincere thanks also go to Professor Patricia Sieber for her inspiring discussion, high expectations, and unfailing support that kept propelling me forward in the course of this project. I benefited immensely from the stimulating discussion in her classes on interdisciplinary study and reception history of theatre and Yuan drama. I am indebted to Professor Amy Shuman for intellectual conversations and enthusiastic support. It was her seminars on cultural studies and folklore that inspired me to ponder the dynamics of Other and Self from various perspectives. Her inspirational style of teaching opened up my mind and helped me to pursue important issues for this study. I am also grateful to Professor Charles J. Quinn for his careful and insightful readings of the drafts, as well as important comments on the approach to Classical Japanese vi texts. I want to thank Professors Mark Bender and Chan Park. Their teachings on oral performance in local and cross-cultural settings have inspired and guided me to develop some crucial arguments in this study. I am grateful for the invaluable advice, suggestions, and encouragement at various stages of this project that came from Professors Mari Noda, Naomi Fukumori, Julia F. Andrews, Stratos Constantinidis, Pat Mullen, Xiaomei Chen (University of California at Davis), John Miles Foley (University of Missouri), Yamanaka Reiko (Hôsei University), Miyake Akiko (Yokohama National University). I am thankful for the opportunities to study Nô performance under Professor Richard Emmert of the Musashino Women’s University, a scholar, playwright, performer, and licensed instructor of Nô, as well as Mr. Matsui Akira, a professional Nô actor. Their expertise in all aspects of Nô performance and in teaching them to foreigners have provided answers to some of the fundamental questions raised in this study. I am very grateful for a number of funding resources that supported this research. The Toshiba International Foundation Scholarship provided me with the opportunity to study Nô performance under professional Nô actors in the Nô Training Workshop Project in 1998. The International Travel Award and Mentorship Project of the American Folklore Society enabled me to present my project to scholars of various cultural backgrounds. The International Dissertation Research Travel Grant and Dissertation Research Grant, both from vii The Ohio State University, facilitated my research in Japan. A Presidential Fellowship granted by the Graduate School at the Ohio State University enabled me to devote myself to writing the dissertation. I would also like to extend appreciation to the staff at the National Nô Theater Library, and the Museum and Library of Theatre at the Waseda University in Tokyo. I owe thanks to friends for their encouragement, help, and advise throughout my graduate years, especially Shauna Seung, Roxana Fung, Chao Fangyi, Noda Kenji, Takei Hiroko, Tsunokuni Mami, Annie Keung, Ah Lung, Ocean Fung, Yu Li, Michael Tangeman, Stephen Filler, Jonathan Noble, Debbie Knicely, and Ella Leung. Finally, I must thank Pikha and Hungkwong, for more than I can ever express. Without their support, I would never have come this far. It is to them I dedicate this work. viii VITA March 1994 . B.A. Japanese Language and Area Studies Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Tokyo, Japan September 1995–December 2002 . Graduate Teaching Associate East Asian Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University August 1997 . M.A. East Asian Languages and Literatures East Asian Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University March 2002-June 2002 . Lecturer East Asian Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University January 2003-December 2003 . Graduate Fellow (Presidential Fellowship) Graduate School The Ohio State University FIELD OF STUDY Major Field: East Asian Languages and Literatures ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract . ii Dedication . v Acknowledgments . vi Vita . ix List of Figures . .xii List of Tables . .xiii Chapters: 1. Introduction: Theoretical and Historical Frameworks . .1 2. Audience and Performer: Towards a Theoretical Framework to Analyze “Chinese Plays” . 42 3. Chinese Beauties . 90 Shôkun (Lady Zhaojun). 91 Yôkihi (Consort Yang) . 146 4. Chinese Deities and Emperors . .174 Seiôbô (The Queen Mother of the West) . 177 Tôbôsaku (Dongfang Shuo) . 200 5. Chinese Literati: Expelled or Embraced . .210 Hakurakuten (Bai Letian) . 211 Sanshô (The Three Laughers) . 229 x 6. Exotic Creatures . .257 Shakkyô (Stone Bridge) . .258 Ryôko (The Dragon and the Tiger) . .271 7. Visitors from China: Invaders and Captives . 282 Zegai (Zegai) . 283 Tôsen (The Chinese Boat) . .295 8. Conclusion . 309 Bibliography . .330 xi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Patrice Pavis’s Hourglass Model . .18 2 The Filter Model: Composition of a “Chinese play” . 58 3 The Filter Model: Performing a “Chinese play”. 58 4 Standard Structure of a Nô play. 77 xii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Structures of Seiôbô, Kureha, and Ukon . 191 2 Structures of Hakurakuten, Oimatsu, and Tama no i . .220 3 Structures of Zegai . 291 xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL FRAMEWORKS This dissertation examines adaptations of Chinese culture in medieval Japanese Nô theatre through analyzing a group of Nô plays featuring Chinese motifs that were written between the late fourteenth and the early sixteenth centuries. There are about twenty-four of these plays in the current repertoire that retell stories of Chinese origin, which are referred to as “Chinese plays” (karagoto-mono 唐事物) today.1 This study investigates how changing relations with China, earlier receptions of Chinese motifs in question, as well as evolving aesthetic and cultural norms