Chapter Ⅰ Qin Xianglian as a Beijing Opera 1. The origin of the story 2. Synopsis of the plotline 3. Main Characters 4. Performance and Influence 5. Summary of Chapter Ⅰ Chapter Ⅱ Interpretation and Appreciation 1. Interpretation 2. Appreciation Chapter Ⅲ Qin Xianglian Dramatis Personae Scene 1: Departure Scene 2: Marriage Scene 3: At the Inn Scene 4: In Chen's Palace Scene 5: Meeting Wang Yanling Scene 6: Birthday Party Scene 7: Temple Killing Scene 8: Execution Bibliography Appendix: The Beijing Opera ABC Works Consulted and Cited
精彩片段:
3.3.2.From Bao the person to Bao the character
While Bao Zheng was well known during his life time,he becameeven better known after his death.He captured the imagination ofthe Chinese people for centuries,being made into a hero for literallyhundreds of fictional works,being portrayed as the most admiredgovernment official since the Song Dynasty in hundreds of plays andnovels and thousands of songs,and,most importantly,has been keptalive by the oral tradition,living in the minds of the common folk untilthis day.The following is a brief account of how he has been graduallyidealized into a representation of integrity,justice,and courage.Thisprocess has gone through four stages,arranged chronologically,eachcoincides with a dynasty:the Song,the Yuan(1206-1368),the Ming,andthe Qing.As will be seen below,the Song Dynasty was a time when oralliterature laid the foundation for Bao Zheng to be fictionalized.The YuanDynasty saw the emergence of plays as an art form,which contributedto Bao’s popularity.The short stories in the Ming Dynasty attachedsupernatural qualities to Bao Zheng,making him into a god—like being.Inthe last stage,the Qing Dynasty,however,Bao Zheng returned to the rankof the human being from the elevated status of a god,displaying qualitiesand traits that made him a more realistic representation of a judge forthe masses.
The first stage ofthe idealization ofBao Zheng took place right afterhis death,in the Song Dynasty.First,one sees sporadic documentationabout him in published sources.The aforementioned demotion of ZhangYaozuo,for instance,is recorded as such:Zhang Yaozuo,an uncle ofthe emperor’s favorite concubine,was promoted instead of demotedupon failures in his former duties.The entire central government wassurprised after learning the news.Bao Zheng,however,was the onlyperson to argue against it in an open deliberation session.He was so can find in the literature.
The Song Dynasty was the time when storytelling began to emergeas an art form.Storytelling was invented by the blind as a way of makinga living and gradually developed into an art form practiced bv commonartists.Some tellers sang as all as told while others only told.In thebeginning,it was entirely oral.Each teller would have his or her ownrepertoire of stories.These stories were later written down so that thesame story could—and indeed began to-be told by different artists.Thescripts for these stories,it is commonly believed,were the earliest form offiction.