Pub Date : 2017-07-03DOI: 10.1080/01937774.2017.1403192
Margaret B. Wan, Vibeke Børdahl
André Lévy passed away in Bordeaux, France, on October 3 2017 at the age of 91 (fig. 1). Perhaps best known for his full translation of Jin Ping Mei into French (Gallimard, 1985), he was a pioneering Sinologist in many respects. He published extensively on traditional Chinese literature, in particular pre-modern vernacular literature. His ground-breaking studies in this field include Études sur le conte et le roman chinois (École Francaise d’Extreme-Orient, 1971) and Le conte en langue vulgaire du XVIIe siècle (College de France, 1981). His research also appeared in English as Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical (translated by William H. Nienhauser, Jr., Indiana University Press, 2000). FIG. 1. André Lévy. Courtesy of Anne Marie Lévy. CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature 36.2 (December 2017): 175–178
他发表了大量关于中国传统文学，特别是前现代白话文文学的文章。他在这一领域的开创性研究包括Études sur le conte et le roman chinois (École Francaise d 'Extreme-Orient, 1971)和le conte en vulgaire du xxi si(法兰西学院，1981)。他的研究成果还发表在英文版《中国古代文学与古典文学》(William H. Nienhauser, Jr.译)，印第安纳大学出版社，2000年)。图1所示。安德烈征税。安妮·玛丽·莱姆维提供。《中国口头与表演文学杂志》36.2(2017年12月):175-178
{"title":"In Memory of André Lévy","authors":"Margaret B. Wan, Vibeke Børdahl","doi":"10.1080/01937774.2017.1403192","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01937774.2017.1403192","url":null,"abstract":"André Lévy passed away in Bordeaux, France, on October 3 2017 at the age of 91 (fig. 1). Perhaps best known for his full translation of Jin Ping Mei into French (Gallimard, 1985), he was a pioneering Sinologist in many respects. He published extensively on traditional Chinese literature, in particular pre-modern vernacular literature. His ground-breaking studies in this field include Études sur le conte et le roman chinois (École Francaise d’Extreme-Orient, 1971) and Le conte en langue vulgaire du XVIIe siècle (College de France, 1981). His research also appeared in English as Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical (translated by William H. Nienhauser, Jr., Indiana University Press, 2000). FIG. 1. André Lévy. Courtesy of Anne Marie Lévy. CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature 36.2 (December 2017): 175–178","PeriodicalId":37726,"journal":{"name":"CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81778652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-07-03DOI: 10.1080/01937774.2016.1242832
Zu-yan Chen
The Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University (CICO) was co-founded by Binghamton University, SUNY (BU), and the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts (NACTA) 中國戲曲學院 in November 2009. It is the only one of its kind among 500 Confucius Institutes in the world. As the name of the institute indicates, the mission of CICO is to promote Chinese opera, mainly Beijing opera (Jingju 京劇, also known as Peking opera), in the United States. As the Director of CICO, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our Institute and its activities. CICO regularly hosts seven instructors sponsored by the Confucius Institute Headquarters, commonly known as Hanban. Our current faculty includes the following faculty members: Professor Tu Linghui 涂玲慧, a national tier one Chinese opera performer and Professor Cheng Shijun 程世君, a Chinese flute expert, both from NACTA. There are also three young volunteer teachers who are graduate students of the Department of Performance at NACTA. In addition, there are two language instructors sent directly by the Hanban. These CICO teachers, working together with Binghamton University professors, carry out activities in the four areas of teaching, performance, outreach, and student competitions.
{"title":"Promoting Beijing Opera in America: The Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University","authors":"Zu-yan Chen","doi":"10.1080/01937774.2016.1242832","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01937774.2016.1242832","url":null,"abstract":"The Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University (CICO) was co-founded by Binghamton University, SUNY (BU), and the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts (NACTA) 中國戲曲學院 in November 2009. It is the only one of its kind among 500 Confucius Institutes in the world. As the name of the institute indicates, the mission of CICO is to promote Chinese opera, mainly Beijing opera (Jingju 京劇, also known as Peking opera), in the United States. As the Director of CICO, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our Institute and its activities. CICO regularly hosts seven instructors sponsored by the Confucius Institute Headquarters, commonly known as Hanban. Our current faculty includes the following faculty members: Professor Tu Linghui 涂玲慧, a national tier one Chinese opera performer and Professor Cheng Shijun 程世君, a Chinese flute expert, both from NACTA. There are also three young volunteer teachers who are graduate students of the Department of Performance at NACTA. In addition, there are two language instructors sent directly by the Hanban. These CICO teachers, working together with Binghamton University professors, carry out activities in the four areas of teaching, performance, outreach, and student competitions.","PeriodicalId":37726,"journal":{"name":"CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90880733","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-07-03DOI: 10.1080/01937774.2017.1403191
Margaret B. Wan
{"title":"In Memory of Catherine “Kate” Stevens 1927–2016","authors":"Margaret B. Wan","doi":"10.1080/01937774.2017.1403191","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01937774.2017.1403191","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37726,"journal":{"name":"CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81365713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-07-03DOI: 10.1080/01937774.2017.1337695
David Johnson
Wilt Idema is well-known to readers of CHINOPERL—or should be—for his dedication to translating fiction and verse intended for popular audiences. When students of traditional Chinese culture finall...
{"title":"The Immortal Maiden Equal to Heaven and Other Precious Scrolls from Western Gansu","authors":"David Johnson","doi":"10.1080/01937774.2017.1337695","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01937774.2017.1337695","url":null,"abstract":"Wilt Idema is well-known to readers of CHINOPERL—or should be—for his dedication to translating fiction and verse intended for popular audiences. When students of traditional Chinese culture finall...","PeriodicalId":37726,"journal":{"name":"CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77906972","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-07-03DOI: 10.1080/01937774.2017.1403186
Katherine Alexander
This article compares two editions of an obscure late Qing baojuan 寶卷 (precious scroll), which seemingly hoped to capitalize on the late nineteenth-century popularity of Liu Xiang baojuan 劉香寶卷 (The precious scroll of Liu Xiang) by appropriating its heroine as a mouthpiece for the kinds of conservative social values espoused most vocally by moralist Yu Zhi 余治 (1809–1874). In Liu Xiang zhong juan 劉香中卷 (The middle scroll of Liu Xiang), the familiar protagonist animates a number of tales taken from popularly circulating Confucian morality literature of the time, particularly an illustrated primer written by Yu. Reading two different editions of this work against each other uncovers signs of a disagreement between its anonymous writer and Yu Zhi about how best to adopt a precious scroll to the purposes of disseminating the morals represented in Yu's extensive corpus. Were these texts supposed to convince their readers of the supremacy of his approach above all other methods of merit cultivation, even the recitation of precious scrolls? Or was the point to allow lay Buddhist devotees to continue their appreciation of precious scrolls while using them to inculcate Confucian values as well?
{"title":"Conservative Confucian Values and the Promotion of Oral Performance Literature in Late Qing Jiangnan: Yu Zhi's Influence on Two Appropriations of Liu Xiang baojuan","authors":"Katherine Alexander","doi":"10.1080/01937774.2017.1403186","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01937774.2017.1403186","url":null,"abstract":"This article compares two editions of an obscure late Qing baojuan 寶卷 (precious scroll), which seemingly hoped to capitalize on the late nineteenth-century popularity of Liu Xiang baojuan 劉香寶卷 (The precious scroll of Liu Xiang) by appropriating its heroine as a mouthpiece for the kinds of conservative social values espoused most vocally by moralist Yu Zhi 余治 (1809–1874). In Liu Xiang zhong juan 劉香中卷 (The middle scroll of Liu Xiang), the familiar protagonist animates a number of tales taken from popularly circulating Confucian morality literature of the time, particularly an illustrated primer written by Yu. Reading two different editions of this work against each other uncovers signs of a disagreement between its anonymous writer and Yu Zhi about how best to adopt a precious scroll to the purposes of disseminating the morals represented in Yu's extensive corpus. Were these texts supposed to convince their readers of the supremacy of his approach above all other methods of merit cultivation, even the recitation of precious scrolls? Or was the point to allow lay Buddhist devotees to continue their appreciation of precious scrolls while using them to inculcate Confucian values as well?","PeriodicalId":37726,"journal":{"name":"CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87406511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-07-03DOI: 10.1080/01937774.2017.1407057
Jing Shen
Two performances at the National Theater in Taipei 台北國家戲劇院 in December 2014 adapted masterworks of classical Chinese novels: Dangkou zhi 蕩寇誌 (108 Heroes: Tales from Water Margin) directed by Wu Hsing-kuo 吳興國 (1953–) and Honglou meng 紅樓夢 (What is Sex?) directed by Edward Lam 林奕華 (1959–). Both Wu Hsing-kuo from Taiwan and Edward Lam from Hong Kong are known for their experimental theater. Dangkou zhi, based on the story of Shuihu zhuan 水滸傳 (Water Margin) from chapters 72 to 120, is a play in the form of Jingju 京劇 (Peking opera) blended with rock and roll music. It was the premiere of the Honglou meng play, and Edward Lam appeared on stage for the curtain call. Lam’s production is a spoken drama (huaju 話劇) on selected chapters of the novel Honglou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber), but the main performers in this interpretation are twelve males in place of the twelve beauties in the novel to suggest man’s self-reflection in relation to woman. In their Dangkou zhi and Honglou meng, Wu and Lam incorporate traditional Chinese literature and opera with Western and modern art forms, and convey contemporary concerns through a creative and critical interpretation of two literary classics. This story of Dangkou zhi starts with Yan Qing asking the courtesan Li Shishi to secure Song Jiang an imperial amnesty through her connection with Emperor Huizong of the Song dynasty and ends with Song Jiang and Li Kui dying from poisoned wine by imperial order. Granted the amnesty, Song Jiang leads the heroes of Mount Liang at the emperor’s order on a punitive expedition against the state of
{"title":"Shuihu (Water Margin) and Honglou (Dream of the Red Chamber) Adaptations on the Modern Stage","authors":"Jing Shen","doi":"10.1080/01937774.2017.1407057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01937774.2017.1407057","url":null,"abstract":"Two performances at the National Theater in Taipei 台北國家戲劇院 in December 2014 adapted masterworks of classical Chinese novels: Dangkou zhi 蕩寇誌 (108 Heroes: Tales from Water Margin) directed by Wu Hsing-kuo 吳興國 (1953–) and Honglou meng 紅樓夢 (What is Sex?) directed by Edward Lam 林奕華 (1959–). Both Wu Hsing-kuo from Taiwan and Edward Lam from Hong Kong are known for their experimental theater. Dangkou zhi, based on the story of Shuihu zhuan 水滸傳 (Water Margin) from chapters 72 to 120, is a play in the form of Jingju 京劇 (Peking opera) blended with rock and roll music. It was the premiere of the Honglou meng play, and Edward Lam appeared on stage for the curtain call. Lam’s production is a spoken drama (huaju 話劇) on selected chapters of the novel Honglou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber), but the main performers in this interpretation are twelve males in place of the twelve beauties in the novel to suggest man’s self-reflection in relation to woman. In their Dangkou zhi and Honglou meng, Wu and Lam incorporate traditional Chinese literature and opera with Western and modern art forms, and convey contemporary concerns through a creative and critical interpretation of two literary classics. This story of Dangkou zhi starts with Yan Qing asking the courtesan Li Shishi to secure Song Jiang an imperial amnesty through her connection with Emperor Huizong of the Song dynasty and ends with Song Jiang and Li Kui dying from poisoned wine by imperial order. Granted the amnesty, Song Jiang leads the heroes of Mount Liang at the emperor’s order on a punitive expedition against the state of","PeriodicalId":37726,"journal":{"name":"CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73990070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-07-03DOI: 10.1080/01937774.2017.1337842
Dong Sun
On October 12, 2016, the Flushing Town Hall in New York City held its first forum on Chinese Opera in New York entitled “In Art We Trust.” As a joint program cohosted by The Permanent Conference on Chinese Oral and Performing Literature (CHINOPERL), the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts (FCCA), and Chinese Theater Works, the forum brought together the academic world and performance practitioners to discuss the state of Chinese opera in the Greater New York Area, to share their best practices, and to explore ways of leveraging their respective resources toward greater success. CHINOPERL is an academic association on Chinese oral and performing literature established by Yuanren Chao and other renowned American scholars in 1969. The FCCA, established in 1979, takes as their mission the presentation of multi-disciplinary global arts that engage and educate the international communities of Queens and New York City in order to foster mutual appreciation. Chinese Theater Works was created in 1995 and is known for their endeavor to cut across ethnic and cultural boundaries as well as their commitment to theater education. Three other organizations participated in the forum: Qi Shu Fang Peking Opera Company (Qi Shufang Jingjutuan 齊淑芳 京劇團); New York Chinese Opera Society; and the Confucius Institute for Chinese Opera at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Professor Dong Sun 孫冬, who is the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute for Business at the State University of New York, as well as professor of Theater Studies at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, moderated the forum. Fan Pen Chen, Associate Professor at University at Albany, State University of New York, presented opening remarks on behalf of CHINOPERL in which she briefly reviewed the organization’s history and mission. She further addressed two significant topics related to Chinese Opera in New York: modes of transmission of Chinese opera in the United States, and the status and performance of Chinese troupes in Greater New York. Michael Liu, manager of Chinese Community Initiatives at Flushing Town Hall, spoke next. He welcomed the guests and expressed his organization’s endorsement of the cultural programs and partnerships in Chinese communities in New York. Kuangyu Fong, co-director of Chinese Theater Works, concluded the opening remarks by stating her organization’s purpose in initiating the forum and its vision of increased mutual understanding and broader collaboration between scholars and performance groups in New York. For the event, the four theater groups and institutes produced four eight-minute video clips which were screened after the opening remarks. These videos not only CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature 36.2 (December 2017): 120–122
{"title":"Report on the First “In Art We Trust” Chinese Opera in New York Forum, New York City, USA, 2016","authors":"Dong Sun","doi":"10.1080/01937774.2017.1337842","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01937774.2017.1337842","url":null,"abstract":"On October 12, 2016, the Flushing Town Hall in New York City held its first forum on Chinese Opera in New York entitled “In Art We Trust.” As a joint program cohosted by The Permanent Conference on Chinese Oral and Performing Literature (CHINOPERL), the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts (FCCA), and Chinese Theater Works, the forum brought together the academic world and performance practitioners to discuss the state of Chinese opera in the Greater New York Area, to share their best practices, and to explore ways of leveraging their respective resources toward greater success. CHINOPERL is an academic association on Chinese oral and performing literature established by Yuanren Chao and other renowned American scholars in 1969. The FCCA, established in 1979, takes as their mission the presentation of multi-disciplinary global arts that engage and educate the international communities of Queens and New York City in order to foster mutual appreciation. Chinese Theater Works was created in 1995 and is known for their endeavor to cut across ethnic and cultural boundaries as well as their commitment to theater education. Three other organizations participated in the forum: Qi Shu Fang Peking Opera Company (Qi Shufang Jingjutuan 齊淑芳 京劇團); New York Chinese Opera Society; and the Confucius Institute for Chinese Opera at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Professor Dong Sun 孫冬, who is the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute for Business at the State University of New York, as well as professor of Theater Studies at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, moderated the forum. Fan Pen Chen, Associate Professor at University at Albany, State University of New York, presented opening remarks on behalf of CHINOPERL in which she briefly reviewed the organization’s history and mission. She further addressed two significant topics related to Chinese Opera in New York: modes of transmission of Chinese opera in the United States, and the status and performance of Chinese troupes in Greater New York. Michael Liu, manager of Chinese Community Initiatives at Flushing Town Hall, spoke next. He welcomed the guests and expressed his organization’s endorsement of the cultural programs and partnerships in Chinese communities in New York. Kuangyu Fong, co-director of Chinese Theater Works, concluded the opening remarks by stating her organization’s purpose in initiating the forum and its vision of increased mutual understanding and broader collaboration between scholars and performance groups in New York. For the event, the four theater groups and institutes produced four eight-minute video clips which were screened after the opening remarks. These videos not only CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature 36.2 (December 2017): 120–122","PeriodicalId":37726,"journal":{"name":"CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85114080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-07-03DOI: 10.1080/01937774.2017.1337694
M. Bender
{"title":"Passion, Poverty, and Travel: Traditional Hakka Songs and Ballads","authors":"M. Bender","doi":"10.1080/01937774.2017.1337694","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01937774.2017.1337694","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37726,"journal":{"name":"CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80916205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-07-03DOI: 10.1080/01937774.2017.1403189
Liang Luo 羅靚
book not only an ideal tool for classroom use but also a must-read for anyone interested in Chinese theater, literature, and history, specialists and non-specialists alike. The book opens up the way for new histories of gesture and acting conventions in local opera that similar case studies will hopefully address further. Given its main focus on the textual renditions of the script and its illuminating discussions of acting conventions and choreography, the book provides an excellent basis and point of departure for studies exploring the musical aspects of the opera, as well as the more medium-specific aspects of the film. Professor Idema is the author of an impressive range of academic studies and annotated translations. As mentioned in the Preface, he began his career as a student of modern and contemporary Chinese literature focusing on the reform of professional storytelling in early 1950s PRC, but soon afterwards his interests shifted toward traditional vernacular literature. His work testifies to how fruitful it is to think across conventional periodization, shedding light on how and why the stories of the past endure and continue to matter in the present. The Metamorphosis of Tianxian pei, finally, makes a compelling case for translation: it shows that translation ought to be valorized even more by publishers and by academic institutions as a fundamental component of scholarship and knowledge production about Asia.
{"title":"Three paradigms of reforming traditional theater in the twentieth century","authors":"Liang Luo 羅靚","doi":"10.1080/01937774.2017.1403189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01937774.2017.1403189","url":null,"abstract":"book not only an ideal tool for classroom use but also a must-read for anyone interested in Chinese theater, literature, and history, specialists and non-specialists alike. The book opens up the way for new histories of gesture and acting conventions in local opera that similar case studies will hopefully address further. Given its main focus on the textual renditions of the script and its illuminating discussions of acting conventions and choreography, the book provides an excellent basis and point of departure for studies exploring the musical aspects of the opera, as well as the more medium-specific aspects of the film. Professor Idema is the author of an impressive range of academic studies and annotated translations. As mentioned in the Preface, he began his career as a student of modern and contemporary Chinese literature focusing on the reform of professional storytelling in early 1950s PRC, but soon afterwards his interests shifted toward traditional vernacular literature. His work testifies to how fruitful it is to think across conventional periodization, shedding light on how and why the stories of the past endure and continue to matter in the present. The Metamorphosis of Tianxian pei, finally, makes a compelling case for translation: it shows that translation ought to be valorized even more by publishers and by academic institutions as a fundamental component of scholarship and knowledge production about Asia.","PeriodicalId":37726,"journal":{"name":"CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89301236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Noise as an element evocative of teahouse atmosphere was part of the voice of opera in China at the turn of the twentieth century. As such, Chinese listeners embraced the talking machine wholeheartedly from the very beginning and reckoned with its musical force within the paradigm of high-class arts. We find an opposition in the early reception of the phonograph in the Western context in which concert-hall or opera-house performances encouraged the serious spirit of nineteenth-century musical romanticism.In this essay I list specific examples of teahouse theaters with phonographic musical accompaniment to early film. Such examples gleaned from newspapers do not appear consistently after the year 1910, suggesting that year may reasonably be considered a watershed in terms of the tentative endings of the symbiotic existence of phonographic music and live operatic performance. This special Chinese mindset paved the way for the gramophone to enter urban households as an “operatic singing machine.” I contend that the Chinese listening habit cultivated in the boisterous acoustic environment of teahouse theaters had prepared the Chinese opera buff to focus on the meaningful operatic voice against the sonic backdrop of the “ambient” noise, an aesthetic experience similar to listening to early opera records.
{"title":"Hearing the Opera: “Teahouse Mimesis” and the Aesthetics of Noise in Early Jingju Recordings, 1890s—1910s","authors":"Xu Peng","doi":"10.1353/cop.2017.0000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/cop.2017.0000","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Noise as an element evocative of teahouse atmosphere was part of the voice of opera in China at the turn of the twentieth century. As such, Chinese listeners embraced the talking machine wholeheartedly from the very beginning and reckoned with its musical force within the paradigm of high-class arts. We find an opposition in the early reception of the phonograph in the Western context in which concert-hall or opera-house performances encouraged the serious spirit of nineteenth-century musical romanticism.In this essay I list specific examples of teahouse theaters with phonographic musical accompaniment to early film. Such examples gleaned from newspapers do not appear consistently after the year 1910, suggesting that year may reasonably be considered a watershed in terms of the tentative endings of the symbiotic existence of phonographic music and live operatic performance. This special Chinese mindset paved the way for the gramophone to enter urban households as an “operatic singing machine.” I contend that the Chinese listening habit cultivated in the boisterous acoustic environment of teahouse theaters had prepared the Chinese opera buff to focus on the meaningful operatic voice against the sonic backdrop of the “ambient” noise, an aesthetic experience similar to listening to early opera records.","PeriodicalId":37726,"journal":{"name":"CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49018885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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