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The Peony Pavilion

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Portrait of the playwright, Tang Xianzu
The first page of Tang Xianzu's preface toThe Return of the Soul at the Peony Pavilion

The Peony Pavilion(Chinese:Mẫu đan đình;pinyin:Mǔdān tíng;Wade–Giles:Mu-tan t'ing), also namedThe Return of Soul at the Peony Pavilion,is a romantictragicomedyplay written bydramatistTang Xianzuin 1598. The plot was drawn from the short storyDu Liniang Revives For Loveand depicts a love story betweenDu LiniangandLiu Mengmeithat overcomes all difficulties. Tang's play diverges from the short story in that it integrates elements of theMing dynasty,despite being set in theSouthern Song.

The play was originally written for staging asKunquopera, one of the genres of traditional Chinese theatre arts. It was first performed in 1598 at thePavilion of Prince Teng.Its author, Tang Xianzu, was one of the greatest dramatists and writers of the Ming dynasty, andThe Peony Pavilioncan be regarded as the most successful masterpiece of his life. It is also one of the dramas in Tang's famous collectionLinchuan si meng(The Four Dreams in the Jade Tea Hall), along withZichai Ji (The Purple Hairpin),Nanke Ji(A Dream Under the Southern Bough) andHandan Ji(The Handan Dream). Both the play and its dramatist get a high reputation on Chinese and international stages, and the study of Tang Xianzu has become a popular subject today.

The play has a total of 55 scenes, which can run for more than 22 hours on stage.[1][2]

Synopsis[edit]

Illustration of Du Liniang drawing her self-portrait, from a Jiuwotang Hall imprint ofThe Peony Pavilion,Ming dynasty

The story is set in the last days of the Southern Song dynasty. The stage performances traditionally center on the romance betweenDu LiniangandLiu Mengmei,although the original text also contained subplots pertaining to the fallingSong dynasty's defense against the aggression of theJin dynasty.The romantic theme goes along the following outline.

On a fine spring day, her maid persuades Miss Du Liniang, the sixteen-year-old daughter of a senior official, Du Bao, to take a stroll in the garden, where she falls asleep and has a dream. In that fateful dream, Liniang encounters a young scholar (identified later in the play as Liu Mengmei, whom in real life she has never met). Liu Mengmei's bold advances ignite a passionate love affair between the two that flourishes rapidly. A flower petal that drops on Liniang startles her from the romantic dream (according to her soliloquy in a later act, "Retracting the Dream" ). However, Liniang cannot get the oneiric love affair out of her mind since and her lovesickness quickly wastes her away. Unable to recover from herfixation,Liniang dies shortly after.

The president of theunderworldadjudicates that marriage between Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei ispredestinedand Liniang ought to return to the earthly world. Liniang subsequently appears to Liu Mengmei, who now inhabits the garden where Du Liniang had her fatal dream, in his various dreams. Recognizing that Du Bao's deceased daughter is the girl who appears in his dreams, Liu agrees toexhumeLiniang's body upon her request and bring her back to life. Liu Mengmei then visits Du Bao to inform him of his daughter'sresurrectionas well as their relationship. The disbelieving and furious Du Bao throws Liu Mengmei into prison for being agrave robberand an impostor.

The ending of the story follows the formula for many popular Chinese dramas. Liu Mengmei narrowly escapes death by torture thanks to the arrival of the results of theimperial examinationin which Liu has proved himself to be of great talent and value. Theemperorpardons and delivers rewards to all.

In the first scene, there is a four-sentence introductory speech succinctly summarizing the main storyline:

"Du Liniang draws a portrait true to life;

Chen Zuiliang brings about the peace once more;

Liu Mengmei meets his resurrected wife;

Du Bao gives tortures to his son-in-law. "

Scenes[edit]

There are total of fifty-five scenes in the play. This is the version translated by Zhang Guangqian.[1]Scenes in boldface are those usually adapted/performed onstage.

Characters[edit]

There are around 160 characters in the play, with 30 main characters,[2]including:

  • Du Liniangis a sixteen-year-old young lady, daughter of Du Bao. The play's female protagonist.
  • Liu Mengmeiis a young scholar, Du Liniang's lover. The play's male protagonist.
  • Du Baois a court official, father of Du Liniang.
  • Chunxiangis a maid to Du Liniang.
  • Chen Zuiliangis a Confucian follower, who failed imperial examinations for fifteen times in his life, and later became Du Liniang's tutor.
  • Sister Stoneis the pivotal role in Du Liniang's revival and facilitates this young couple's happy union in the end.

Interpretation and criticism[edit]

Script and staging[edit]

Albeit conventional in its narrative structure, notably thedeus ex machinaending,The Peony Pavilionis unique in its lyricism and its text is hailed as one of the high points of Chinese literature, featuring a body of refined and lavish lyrics. Embellished and accentuated by the then still-developingKunmusic,The Peony Pavilion's prosaic script agilely weaves a fabric of nuances and metaphors that seamlessly transgresses the divide between nature's beauty and man's inner cosmos of emotions and desires. Through the light and shadows of this lyrical fabric transpire ravishing delicacy and intoxicating effeteness. Yet at the same time, an underlying youthful optimism and playfulness palpitate throughout the entire script. Embedded in the leisurely and undulant melodies of the Kun music, the lyrics of the opera promptly pitch the audience into a world created by a prosaic banquet of metaphors, an ecstatic dance of the imagination, and most importantly, an unfettered celebration of sensitivity.

At the core of the play is a transcendental experience. The unfolding of the play leads the audience into the conviction that the daily life which they physically and temporally occupy bears little or no significance whereas the ultimate reality resides in the transcendental realm created by the play in which some of the most familiar conceptual dichotomies which fundamentally characterize the physical world and plague the human mind melt away. In both the content of the script and the storyline of the play, the audience constantly runs into the obscuring of the objective nature and the subjective feelings of a person, the blurring of the divide between dream and reality that marks the romance between Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei, and the seemingly surreal interaction between the protagonists which transcends the hiatus between life and death and above all, the simultaneous presentation of the undying nature of beauty and its evanescent appearance. Apparently Tang Xianzu, the author, is not attempting to resolve such conceptual dichotomies by reason but to present them as necessarily coexistent and the divide between which can and have to be traversed through a transcendental experience such as the one created by the play. Underlying this construction of beauty and transcendence is Tang Xianzu's philosophical idea of ' duy tình ', which advocates that the nature of a human being is NOT his position in the order of a certain grand scheme, be it the universe or a society as promoted by Neo Confucianism, but his individual sensitivity and emotions. Therefore the solutions to the fundamental problems of man, the resolutions of the basic dichotomies that haunt his existence must be found in his sensitivity and feelings and not in reason. It is in the transcendental experience that the play of the Peony Pavillion offers that one can find the final answer to his existential problems and therefore peace.

In creating this otherworldly experience for the audience, Kun music plays a vital role. As is the case always, the text of an opera is delivered through music. What is singular in the case of the Peony Pavilion is its unique way of integrating the text and the music so that together they resonate and deliver the audience to the realm of tình - the realm attained through sensitivity and feelings. It is impossible to offer this transcendental experience if the text is divorced from the music. For this reason, the Peony Pavilion has established itself unquestionably as a summit of Chinese operas and classical Chinese plays in general.

From 1598 until 1616, the year Tang passed away,the Peony Pavilionwas always performed with whole scenes onstage. But later, an increasing number of adaptions focusing on several scenes were adopted onstage rather than the complete play, since it would demand a significant amount of expenditure/energy and time to run the whole play. "A walk in the Garden" ( du viên / du viên ) and "The Interruption of a Dream" ( kinh mộng / kinh mộng ), these two acts originating from one scene, namely "A Surprising Dream" in the original text, and "Reflection On The Lost Dream" ( tầm mộng / tầm mộng ), are generally considered as the apogee of Kunqu in term of their literary achievements as well as for their musicality, choreography, and the integration of all components. Due to the uniqueness of its lyrics, rhythm, and ancient style of prose, the translation became a daunting challenge for literature scholars and theatre practitioners.

Besides, recent adaptations have sought to inject new life, such as more accessible scripts for a modern audience, new choreography, or new theatrical technologies, into one of China's best-loved classical plays, but since such efforts have met with opposition from the Kun opera traditionalists, to a certain degree, some scholars seriously critique them. To keep its traditions or to make it modernized has become a controversial conversation in the Chinese theatre.

Humanism[edit]

The play was widely acclaimed by the public and critics when it was first presented onstage, and it is also regarded as the Chinese version of "Romeo and Juliet".Through narrating a tortuous love story, Tang portrays an image of a young couple with a strong desire for democratic thoughts and individual emancipation, which evoked most audience empathy, especially women audiences, and regarded Du Liniang as their idol for free love. Subject/ theme on" uncovering social darkness and caring for people's sufferings "," qualities of heroism "," attacking feudalism and marriage system "," exposing the miserable fate of women "and" reflecting family and social ethics ", etc., are generally discussed in ancient Chinese drama, which is also evident inThe Peony Pavilion.

About "Dream"[edit]

Some people also raise an idea that Tang's works of "The Four Dreams" somehow resemble Freud's interpretation of dreams. From the perspectives of psychoanalysis, the action of "A Walk in the Garden" is the awakening of Du Liniang's suppressed urges and unacknowledged emotions, while the scene of "A Surprising Dream" is exactly her fantasy of sexual satisfaction.

Performance productions[edit]

Actress Fengying Shen and actor Jiulin Yu performingThe Peony Pavilion,Peking University Hall, 2006
Actress Shan Wen performingThe Peony Pavilionat the Nanjing Museum
  • In 2012, an outdoor production ofMetropolitan Museumgalleries presentedThe Peony Pavilionin a compact seventy-minute version developed and directed by celebrated composerTan Dunwith choreography by Huang Doudou, one of China's most prominent dancers, in the Met's Astor Court, the courtyard modeled on a seventeenth-century garden.[3]
  • In 2012, the China Arts & Entertainment Group, a creative enterprise under the administration of the Ministry of Culture for the People's Republic of China, announced the United States premiere of a new dance drama production ofThe Peony Pavilionby China Jinling Dance Company of Nanjing would be performed at the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center, for four performances in early January.
  • In June 2008, the Suzhou Kunqu Opera company performedThe Peony PavilionatSadler's Wells,London, the UK premiere. It was presented in 3 parts on consecutive evenings, each lasting 3 hours, though still much shorter than the original 20 hours.[4]
  • In May 2008, theNational Ballet of Chinapremièred a two-scene ballet adaptation ofThe Peony Pavilionin Beijing. This production was rewritten and directed byLi Liuyi,choreographed by Fei Bo, and the music was composed byGuo Wenjing.It also attended Lincoln Center Festival in 2008, at David H. Koch Theater, andEdinburgh International Festivalin August 2011.[5]
  • The Imperial Granary's productionThe Peony Pavilionin Beijing,directed by Kunqu Opera master Wang Shiyu and scenography by the renowned Lin Zhaohua, was a permanent residency show for about 5 years since its premiere in 2007.
  • In 2004,Pai Hsien-yung's youth edition ofThe Peony Pavilionaims to rejuvenate the traditional staging. Pai, a Chinese scholar at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara,and his colleagues - scholars and performers, some brought back from retirement - spent five months editing Tang's script. Working out of the Jiangsu Suzhou Kunqu Theater, the group condensed and adapted the original fifty-five scenes to twenty-seven scenes, and twenty hours of performance time to nine. Bai, who had chosenThe Peony Pavilionbecause of its universal message of love, hoped that his rendition would attract youth to Kunqu. In fact, in its tour of China's top universities, the show was marketed as the Youth Edition of Peony Pavilion.[1] (The production also toured inTaipei,Hong Kong,Macau,seven cities in mainland China, and the Zellerbach Theater in Berkeley, California.) According to Bai, the goal of this youth-oriented production was to "give new life to the art form, cultivate a new generation of Kunqu aficionados, and offer respect to playwright Tang and all the master artists that came before." [2] His production ofThe Peony Pavilionwas his way of doing so.Pai Hsien-yunghas also usedThe Peony Pavilionas inspiration for a short story and a television script.
  • Recent adaptations ofThe Peony Pavilionand allusions in popular music have revived interest in Kunqu, an art form that had been in danger of disappearing into obscurity. In 2001,UNESCOproclaimed Kunqu as a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity," yet the secrets of that heritage were kept by only a few aging masters in even fewer schools and institutions.
  • In 1999,Lincoln Center for the Performing Artsproduced a 20-hour version ofThe Peony Pavilion,directed by Chen and starring Qian Yi as Du Liniang. This 20-hour version was perhaps the first full-length staging in 300 years. Lincoln Center's version toured extensively, including New York, Paris, Milan, Singapore, Caen, Charleston, Aarhus, Berlin, Perth, and Vienna.[3]
  • In 1998, an experimental or “avant-garde” production ofThe Peony Pavilioncomposed byTan Dun,directed byPeter Sellars,and performed by Kun Opera Troupe, premiered in Vienna and travelled to London, Roma, Paris, and Berkeley later. Also, a CD recording of this opera was released entitled "Bitter Love".

Famous performers[edit]

  • Mei Lanfang,sometimes paired with Yu Zhenfei ( du chấn phi / du chấn phi ) as Liu Mengmei, was famous for his sensitive portrayal of Du Liniang.
  • The most famous actress of recent years is likely Zhang Jiqing's ( trương kế thanh / trương kế thanh ) traditional approach out of Nanjing'sJiangsu Province Kun Opera.
  • In Shanghai, Jennifer Hua Wenyi ( hoa văn y / hoa văn y ) was very popular in the role and has played the role abroad several times.
  • For a particularly pleasant and graceful interpretation, one may refer to Zhang Zhihong ( trương chí hồng )'s performances in the 1990s.

Translation[edit]

  • The earliest western version ofThe Peony Pavilionis in German - An selected translation of and an introduction toThe Peony Pavilion,which published in an articleChina' s Love Stories,written byXu Daolin(Hsu Dau-lin) in 1929.[6]
  • A complete German translation ofThe Peony Pavilion,translated byVincenz Hundhausen,was published by Lacherre Publishing House in Zurich and Leipzig in 1937.[7]
  • A France translation of the scene "A Surprising Dream" was contained inAn Anthology of Chinese Poems and Essays,published by the Delagraphe Publishing House in 1933.
  • The latest complete French translation ofThe Peony Pavilion,translated byAndre Levy,was published in 2000.
  • A selected translation in Russian by L. N. Menshkov inOriental Classic Drama: India, China and Japanin 1976.
  • Main complete translations in English:
  1. The Peony Pavilion,translated by Cyril Birch, first published byIndiana University Pressin 1980
  2. The Peony Pavilion,translated by Zhang Guangqian, first published by Tourism Education Press in 1994.
  3. The Peony Pavilion,translated by Wang Rongpei, first published by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press in 2000.
  4. The Peony Pavilion,translated by Xiaoping Yen, Dumont: Homa & Sekey Books, 2000.

Other adaptations[edit]

Pop music[edit]

  • Leehom Wang,the popular Taiwanese American music artist, referencedThe Peony Pavilionin his song "Beside the Plum Blossoms" ( tại mai biên ) on his albumHeroes of Earth,which drew heavily fromBeijing OperaandKunquinspiration.[8]Lee-Hom sang and rapped over traditionalKunqumelodies blended with hip-hop beats. The music video features the artist, in modern clothes, superimposed on animated scenes. The animation depicts thematic and stylistic elements ofThe Peony Pavilionas well as hip-hop imagery: abreak dancerdoes tricks atop a pavilion and pink peonies turn into speakers. A performer dressed inKunqucostume plays the role of Liu in the music video, often singing with theKunqutechnique next to Lee-Hom. The artist quotes lines fromThe Peony Pavilionand entreats his lover, "Let me love you…in the classical style."[9]The lyrics reveal a longing to return to the way love was portrayed in the drama. In this way, Lee-Hom draws visual and thematic inspiration fromThe Peony Pavilionin his song, signaling its relevance in contemporary popular culture.
  • The Chinese indie band Carrchy[10]useThe Peony Pavilionas inspiration for their lyrics. The two young members of Carrchy, lyricist Keli and producer Fly, share an affinity for ancient Chinese opera and drama, an interest that appears prominently in their work. Borrowing some of the original text, Carrchy alludes toThe Peony Pavilionin their song "Romantic Dream in the Garden" ( du viên kinh mộng ).[11]The band uses Tang's lyrics and story to create the dual sensations of a lush and sensual spring and sorrow upon awakening from the dream. These Ming dynasty era-inspired lyrics play over thoroughly modern music.
  • In the Jiangsu Pavilion at theShanghai 2010 World Expo,a 13-minute short section fromThe Peony Pavilionproduced by the Kunqu Opera Department of the Jiangsu Performing Art Group Co., Ltd. filmed in high definition was presented for the audience. Luo Chenxue and Zhang Zhengyao, young outstanding Kunqu Opera performers from Jiangsu province, play the leading roles in this film. By combining the traditional Kunqu performing art and modern video art techniques, a stage of poetic and simplified scenes is presented.[12]

Film[edit]

  • A filmPeony Pavilion (film)( du viên kinh mộng ) was released in 2001 under the same title. Though only indirectly related to the original work in terms of plot, it used the music extensively.
  • A Taiwanese movieWǒ de měilì yǔ āichóuNgã đích mỹ lệ dữ ai sầu directed byChen Kuo-fu,with cinematography byChristopher Doyleand starring Luo Ruoying shared the same English title.

Novel[edit]

  • In 2007,Lisa See's novelPeony in Lovewas published by Random House. The story's protagonist, Peony, falls in love with a young stranger, and her life loosely parallels that of Liniang.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^abTang, Xianzu.The peony pavilion.Zhang, Guang-qian (1st ed., [Rev. ed.] ed.). Beijing.ISBN7119026925.OCLC49607176.
  2. ^abTan Xianzu.Library of Chinese Classics - The Peony Pavilion.Translated by Wang Rongpei, Human People’s Publishing House and Foreign Language Press, 2000. p54
  3. ^Oestreich, James R. (2012-12-02)."Sprawling Love Story, Abridged".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2023-11-24.
  4. ^"Kunqu Opera, The Peony Pavilion: Suchow Kunqu Opera Company/ Orchestra conducted by Zhou Youliang Sadler's Wells, London".
  5. ^Chen Jie "The Stage is Set" ChinaDaily.com 19 April 2011http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2011-04/19/content_12349411.htm
  6. ^Hsu Dau-lin. 1929. "Die Chinesische Liebe. [In German]"Sinica6
  7. ^Bieg, p.69.
  8. ^"Asia Finest Alexander Lee-Hom Wang." Asia Finest.com. 11 Feb. 2009
  9. ^Wang Leehom. "Beside the Plum Tree." By Leehom Wang. MP3. 2005.
  10. ^"2007-12-29 Band Carrchy".english.cri.cn.Archived fromthe originalon June 12, 2009.Retrieved2017-12-08.
  11. ^"Band Carrchy." CRIENGLISH.com. 29 Dec. 2007. 11 Feb. 2009http://english.cri.cn/webcast/
  12. ^China's version of 'Romeo and Juliet' refreshed,http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010expo/2010-06/07/content_9944782.htm

References[edit]

  • Owen, Stephen, "Tang Xian-zu,Peony Pavilion:Selected Acts, "in Stephen Owen, ed.An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911.New York:W. W. Norton,1997.p. 880-906(Archive).
  • Xianzu Tang; Cyril Birch (2002).Mudan Ting.Indiana University Press.ISBN0-253-21527-7.
  • Xianzu Tang (1994).The Peony Pavilion.Cheng & Tsui.ISBN978-0-88727-206-6.
  • Swatek, Catherine Crutchfield.Peony Pavilion Onstage: Four Centuries in the Career of a Chinese Drama.Center for Chinese Studies Publications, The University of Michigan, 2002.
  • John C.Y. Wang. "MULTIFLORATE SPLENDOUR" - A COMMENTARY ON THREE ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF SCENE 10 OF "THE PEONY PAVILION",Journal of Oriental Studies,Vol.46(1), 2013, pp. 1–33.
  • Tan Xianzu.Library of Chinese Classics - The Peony Pavilion.Translated by Wang Rongpei, Human People's Publishing House and Foreign Language Press, 2000.
  • Volpp, Sophie.Worldly Stage: Theatricality in Seventeenth-century China.Harvard University Press, 2011.
  • Tina Lu.Persons, Roles and Minds: Identity in Peony Pavilion and Peach Blossom Fan.Stanford University Press, 2002.

External links[edit]

  • Peony PavilionatProject Gutenberg(in Chinese)