Composing, Revising, and Performing Suzhou Ballads: a Study of Political Control and Artistic Freedom in Tanci, 1949-1964 by Stephanie J. Webster-Cheng B.M., Lawrence University, 1996 M.A., University of Pittsburgh, 2003 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Music Department in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2008 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MUSIC DEPARTMENT This dissertation was presented by Stephanie Webster-Cheng It was defended on [author‟s name] October 31, 2008 and approved by Mark Bender, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Literature, Ohio State University Xinmin Liu, Assistant Professor, East Asian Languages and Literature Wenfang Tang, Associate Professor, Political Science Andrew Weintraub, Associate Professor, Music Akin Euba, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Music, Music Dissertation Advisor: Bell Yung, Professor of Music, Music ii Copyright © by Stephanie J. Webster-Cheng 2008 iii Composing, Revising, and Performing Suzhou Ballads: a Study of Political Control and Artistic Freedom in Tanci, 1949-1964 Stephanie J. Webster-Cheng, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2008 This dissertation explores the dynamics of political control of the arts and artistic freedom in the musical storytelling art of Suzhou tanci between 1949 and 1964, years marked by extensive revision of traditional performance repertoire, widespread creation of new, contemporary-themed stories, and composition of boldly innovative ballad music. I examine four stories and ballads either composed or revised during this time, looking broadly at the role of the State in the creative process. I consider the role of high-ranking officials whose personal comments to artists shaped their creative processes, and the role of societal political pressure placed on artists through political movements and shifting trends in the dramatic arts. I study the artists‟ responses to these political forces as expressed in their newly composed and revised works. I examine decisions made during the creation of story and ballad texts, and analyze bold innovations taken by three artists during the composition of ballad music. I suggest that the musical innovations be viewed both as responses to the coercive political atmosphere of the 1950s and 1960s and as significant expressions of artistic freedom within this politicized atmosphere. This dissertation begins with an overview of the main research questions, theoretical framework, research methodology, and literature. This is followed in Chapter 2 by an introduction to the art form, and an exploration of the 1950s-1960s period in Chinese history in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4, I examine the revision of the traditional story Jade Dragonfly, and the composition of new music in the story‟s climactic ballad Fighting for the Son. In Chapter 5, I iv study the creation of the new story We Certainly Must Fix the Huai River, and the composition of new music in the pivotal ballad Staying for the New Year. In Chapter 6, I explore the musical innovations made during the creation of two new ballads New Mulan Song and Butterfly Loves the Flower. Chapter 7 summarizes Chapters 4, 5, and 6, offers concluding thoughts regarding the nature of political control and artistic freedom in the Chinese arts during the 1949-1964 period, and suggests broader implications for the field of ethnomusicology. v TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... VI LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... X ACKNOWLEGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ XII PREFACE ................................................................................................................................. XIV 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 MAIN QUESTIONS ASKED ..................................................................................... 1 1.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND APPROACH ........................................... 3 1.2.1 Hegemony ......................................................................................................... 3 1.2.2 Ideology ............................................................................................................. 5 1.2.3 Artistic Agency ................................................................................................. 6 1.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND SCOPE ....................................................... 9 1.3.1 Field Research .................................................................................................. 9 1.3.2 Approach to transcription ............................................................................. 13 1.3.3 Analytical Approach ...................................................................................... 14 1.3.4 Project Scope .................................................................................................. 15 1.4 STATE OF RESEARCH AND LITERATURE REVIEW ................................... 16 1.4.1 English-language research on tanci .............................................................. 16 1.4.2 Chinese-language research on tanci ............................................................. 18 1.4.3 Studies of the Chinese Performing Arts, 1950s-1960s ................................ 21 1.5 CHAPTER OUTLINE .............................................................................................. 23 2.0 OVERVIEW OF SUZHOU TANCI ................................................................................. 25 2.1 PERFORMANCE CONTEXTS ............................................................................... 27 2.2 VARIETIES OF PRESENTATION ........................................................................ 32 2.3 VISUAL ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE ............................................................ 34 vi 2.4 SPOKEN SECTIONS AND SUNG BALLADS ...................................................... 35 2.4.1 Spoken sections ............................................................................................... 35 2.4.2 Sung ballads .................................................................................................... 36 2.5 CONCEPT OF MUSICAL STYLE ......................................................................... 38 2.6 PERFORMERS’ TRAINING AND TRANSMISSION OF TANCI ..................... 42 3.0 THE DRAMATIC AND NARRATIVE ARTS IN CHINA: 1950S-1960S ................... 45 3.1 EARLY YEARS OF THE PRC: 1949-1955 ............................................................ 46 3.1.1 Influx of new ideology .................................................................................... 47 3.1.2 Nationalized Performance Troupes .............................................................. 48 3.1.3 State Culture Institutions .............................................................................. 49 3.2 THE HUNDRED FLOWERS AND ANTI-RIGHTIST MOVEMENTS: 1956- 1958...................................................................................................................................... 51 3.2.1 Hundred Flowers Movement ........................................................................ 51 3.2.2 Anti-Rightist backlash: 1957-1958................................................................ 52 3.3 THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD AND AFTERMATH: 1958-1963 ................... 53 3.3.1 The Great Leap Forward in the Arts ........................................................... 55 3.3.2 Aftermath of the Great Leap: 1959-1962 ..................................................... 57 3.4 PRELUDE TO THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION: 1964-1967 .......................... 58 3.4.1 The re-emergence of contemporary repertoire ........................................... 58 3.4.2 Festival of Peking Opera on Contemporary Themes.................................. 59 3.4.3 The Cultural Revolution in tanci .................................................................. 61 4.0 POLITICS, ARTISTIC AUTONOMY, AND THE REVISION OF TRADITIONAL REPERTOIRE ............................................................................................................................ 63 4.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADITIONAL REPERTOIRE............................... 64 4.2 POLITICAL FACTORS........................................................................................... 67 4.2.1 “Weed through the old to bring forth the new” .......................................... 67 4.2.2 “Three Reformations” ................................................................................... 69 4.2.3 Chen Yun ........................................................................................................ 70 4.3 “CUTTING THE TAIL” OF FEUDALISM ........................................................... 72 4.4 THE REVISION OF JADE DRAGONFLY ............................................................. 76 4.4.1 Story Plot ........................................................................................................ 77 vii 4.4.2 Revised versions ............................................................................................. 83 4.4.3 Revisers ........................................................................................................... 85 4.4.4 Deleting politically