UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Ascending the Hall of Great Elegance: the Emergence of Drama Research in Modern China A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Hsiao-Chun Wu 2016 © Copyright by Hsiao-Chun Wu 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Ascending the Hall of Great Elegance: the Emergence of Drama Research in Modern China by Hsiao-Chun Wu Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2016, Professor Andrea Sue Goldman, Chair This dissertation captures a critical moment in China’s history when the interest in opera transformed from literati divertissement into an emerging field of scholarly inquiry. Centering around the activities and writings of Qi Rushan (1870-1962), who played a key role both in reshaping the modes of elite involvement in opera and in systematic knowledge production about opera, this dissertation explores this transformation from a transitional generation of theatrical connoisseurs and researchers in early twentieth-century China. It examines the many conditions and contexts in the making of opera—and especially Peking opera—as a discipline of modern humanistic research in China: the transnational emergence of Sinology, the vibrant urban entertainment market, the literary and material resources from the past, and the bodies and !ii identities of performers. This dissertation presents a critical chronology of the early history of drama study in modern China, beginning from the emerging terminology of genre to the theorization and the making of a formal academic discipline. Chapter One examines the genre-making of Peking Opera in three overlapping but not identical categories: temporal, geographical-political, and aesthetic. It argues that it is within the context of emerging theatrical genres and heated debates on drama in early twentieth-century China that a “researcher mode” of theatrical appreciation became meaningful for Qi Rushan and his contemporaries. Chapter Two and Three study the link between the urban theater and the emergence of modern drama research in China. Chapter Two examines from a material point of view how studies on China’s native theater were shaped by the local conditions of Republican Beijing. It investigates how the city’s well-established cultural market, unique thriving opera scene, and long-standing performing community fueled the collecting of theatrical materials, thereby providing a solid basis of research artifacts in the transnational competition for texts and things pertinent to Sinological studies. Chapter Three explores the urban theater from the production side and revises the assumption of a linear temporal sequence between theatrical knowledge and production with attention to the local conditions (audiences preferences and entertainment fashion) of the site where the theatrical art develops. It shows that Mei Lanfang’s signatures plays were responding to contemporary market trends rather than being the materialization of any pre-existing aesthetic ideas. It was not until these productions were translated to contexts different from the entertainment market in 1910s and 1920s China that they came to be identified as illustration of an aesthetic representing Chinese theatrical art. !iii Chapter Four examines the formation and transition of theatrical knowledge through discussion of two kinds of performer education: for career actors and for amateurs. The discussion on education for career actor uncovers a tension between aspiration for full-rounded preparation and the economic and social restraints encountered, while the controversies surrounding amateur performers were windows onto the identity-claims of insiders and outsiders to the performing business. This chapter shows that it was in the course of contemporaneous discussions on what and how to learn about opera performance that the scope and content of theatrical knowledge came into shape. Chapter Five discusses Qi Rushan’s effort to stabilize an understanding of Chinese theatrical art by writing a history of Chinese opera with textual resources from Chinese antiquity and the early imperial dynasties. It shows how Qi theorized Chinese opera with the constructed gewu—song-and-dance—notion and how he depicted an unbroken genealogy of the Chinese performance tradition dating from the ancient period to recent times. For Qi, gewu was the guiding principle to connect the past and present of Chinese theater and to make an aesthetic that attested to the superiority of Chinese theatrical art. The concluding chapter reflects the irony of knowledge production about an art form dislocated from its native place and ponders the links between the birth of a scholarship and the loss of the thing being studied. Reviewing Qi Rushan’s immigrant years on Taiwan after he moved there in 1947, it argues that the “geographical” rupture due to the Chinese Civil War engendered new incentives to nationalize the interest in opera in service of the party-state. When theatrical connoisseurs and researchers relocated to Taiwan because of the loss of their homeland, their indulgence in opera was finally accepted as “elegant.” !iv The dissertation of Hsiao-Chun Wu is approved. Roy Bin Wong William Marotti Richard E. Strassberg Andrea Sue Goldman, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2016 !v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DISSERTATION ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viii CURRICULUM VITAE xi INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: The Making of the Genre of Peking Opera Introduction 21 When: Is Pihuang Old or New 25 Where: Is Pihuang National or Regional 40 What: Is Pihuang Spoken Drama, Opera, or Something Else 57 Conclusion 67 CHAPTER 2: Qi Rushan’s Collecting Activities in Republican Beijing Introduction 68 Motivation: Seeking a Theory of Chinese Drama 71 The Beijing Wonderland: Collecting the Tangible 81 Oral Wisdom: Collecting the Intangible 108 Conclusion 127 CHAPTER 3: Legendary Beauties Revived Onstage Introduction 129 The New Role of Dramaturge 131 The Plays 137 Reflections and Critiques 151 Conclusion 157 CHAPTER 4: Bodily Learning, Book Learning Introduction 161 Reform Education for Career Actors 166 The Piaoyou: A Programatic Role in the Theatrical Realm 195 Conclusion 218 !vi CHAPTER 5: Writing a History of Chinese Drama with the Classics Introduction 219 Escape from the Recent Past 222 Writing the History of Song-and-Dance in Chinese Drama 235 Conclusion 261 CONCLUSION 263 BILBIOGRAPHY 270 !vii ACKONWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is an expression of my life-long love for the performing arts. My deep thanks go my mother for raising me in an environment that encouraged me to explore the wonderful world of the arts. I thank my mentor Andrea Goldman for nurturing this love into serious scholarly pursuit. Without her steadfast support, it would have been impossible to complete this dissertation. From the first day I arrived on the UCLA campus, she has been my source of inspiration and encouragement. Over the years, she has guided me to shape my original, sometimes random ideas into well-founded arguments. Because of her deep knowledge of the field, I have always been able to see the dissertation in new lights and regain the momentum to continue the research after hours of rewarding conversation with her. Bin Wong reminds me of the pleasure and craft of a historian. I am grateful for the time and patience he has spent on me despite his busy administrative schedule. Based on his teaching, I will continue to explore shared human experiences and questions across cultures in my future endeavors. The annual dinner feast at Richard von Glahn’s place was always one of the best ways to start a new academic year. William Marotti showed me the possibilities of reading theory and history together. I was thrilled by the beauty of the literary conversation between Eastern and Western languages in the classroom of Richard Strassberg. I will always admire his passion for Chinese culture. Friends at UCLA have been wonderful companions over the course of writing the dissertation. Amy Gordanier proofread chapters of the dissertation with great carefulness. Guo Xing has been a wonderful roommate to share sweets and conversations about life. Mari Ishida has been the best friend to share the ups and downs of graduate student life. Chien-Ling Liu, !viii Meng Zhang and Sun Kyu Lee have been cordial friends with whom to grow together in the graduate program. Thanks to Yunshuang Zhang and her parents, I was fortunate to experience and enjoy life in a hutong alley in Beijing. The comradeship of Shiau-Yun Chen, Hsin-Yi Lin, and Yun-Ju Chen has been instrumental to the completion of my doctoral study. I remember the great times I spent with you in Ithaca, Chicago, and Oxford. The dissertation writing group I formed with Hsin-Yi and Yun-Ju has been my periodic outlet for the boredom of the long writing process. Shiau-Yun’s laughter always fuels my research life. Our friendships across the many corners of the world are preserved in the pages of this dissertation. National Tsing Hua University, my alma mater, prepared me to become a scientist and a humanist. The education I received at NTHU shaped the outlook of my later career. Cho-Ying Li and Yuehtsen Juliette Chung at the Institute of History, NTHU, guided an ambitious but tender mind to turn a voyage into a dream. Friendships I built as a visual art assistant curator at the Arts Center, NTHU, have been invaluable assets. I especially thank Mu-Jung Wang for introducing me to the thrilling world of Chinese opera. My research in Beijing would not have been as fruitful without the kind help of Lu Yingkun and Qin Huasheng. I benefitted from responses to my research at the Annual Meetings of CHINOPERL. I am also thankful for the engaging discussion on Chinese operatic art and literature at the Rehistorizing Kunqu workshop at UCLA in 2016. At the workshop, comments from Professors Joseph Lam, Hua Wei, and Chen Fang were especially insightful and helped me to sharpen my arguments in the last chapter of the dissertation.