Li Yu¡¦s Theory of Chinese Opera Abstract Li Yu (1611-1680) is a renowned Chinese opera writer in the early Qing dynasty. His work ¡§Ten Operas¡¨ features surprising plots and easy-to-understand scripts, criticized as ¡§intended to make common¡¨ and ¡§simple to comprehend¡¨, reflecting his writing attitude and style in developing popular and entertainment culture. This deviates himself from the literary direction of drama (chuanqi) writing since the mid-Ming dynasty. In addition, Li Yu is also a Chinese opera critic. The ¡§script¡¨ and ¡§play act¡¨ sections in his ¡§Xian Qing Ou Ji ¡¨(Journal of Leisure Time) discussed mainly the writing and performing of Chinese operas. The journal was written after the publication of the ¡§Ten Operas¡¨, which can be regarded as a summary of Li Yu¡¦s seasoned experience in writing Chinese operas. The journal is also a main research subject of this study. Literature on Chinese operas in Ming and Qing dynasties is rich. On the format, some focused their discussions in a specific book while some discussions were found scattered in anthologies and critics¡¦ notes. On the content, some examined the stories from historical perspectives, some centered on the wording as well as on tones and singing skills; or some were precise investigations on the development of Chinese opera history. The literature is documented with quite a few unique perceptions on the presentations of Chinese operas. These critiques, even as specific works, only present checklist style discussions. Some greater volumes manage to categorize various works but yet to conclude a coherent theory on Chinese opera. The results are usually unsystematic. Li Yu¡¦s theory is distinguished as having a subjective intension to establish a critique system on Chinese operas. In other words, he intended to construct the foundation and writing principles that ¡§others can follow¡¨ and clearly control the essence and development of Chinese operas. His emphasis of ¡§structure¡¨ in making critiques is the result of fully understanding the ¡§dramatic characteristics¡¨ in Chinese operas. Li Yu presented his theory mainly in the ¡§Xian Qing Ou Ji¡¨ with the ¡§script¡¨ and ¡§play act¡¨ sections, the ¡§script¡¨ section stressed on the writing theory while the ¡§play act¡¨ on the presentation. ¡§Dramatic presentation¡¨ is related to the professionalism of actors, not judged by writers¡¦ imagination, thus there are not many discussions on the performance. Li Yu doubled himself as writer and director and developed a system of perception and opinions of his own towards performing Chinese operas. Comparing his writing and presenting Chinese operas, the latter is weaker in depth than the former. Some of the discussions on presentation focus on how to handle scripts on stage and can be regarded as the extension of script writing. Therefore this study is led to focus on Li Yu¡¦s writing. Although Li Yu intended to establish a theory and principle of Chinese opera writing in the ¡§Script section of the Xian Qing Ou Ji¡¨, he only managed to reinforce the importance of the ¡§structure-first¡¨ principle and categorized rhetoric system, tonal pattern, rhyme scheme, conversation and humorous acts with the supplementary discussions of Chinese operas¡¦ ¡§forms¡¨. His categorization seems yet to reach a literature theory defined by modern literary norms. Actually Li Yu produced versatile discussions on Chinese operas. Some of his discussions are related to the fundamental definition, characteristics and functions of Chinese operas. Some belong to the construct of literary principles of Chinese opera. Some are the exploration of the principles and practical skills of Chinese opera writing. Furthermore, there is some comment on some specific works, as well as the discussion of different presentation styles in terms of the development in literary history. Li Yu made a clear intension in constructing the theory of Chinese opera, yet there is quite some space for adjustment in certain areas. Thus this study tries to integrate and summarize Li Yu¡¦s theory on Chinese opera, in a hope of re-constructing and re-translating from modern literary perspectives for eliciting more meaningful implications. During the process, the most important task is to analyze and formulate a theory structure on Li Yu¡¦s perspectives as three major aspects: fundamental theory of Chinese opera, theory of writing Chinese opera and theory of presenting Chinese opera. Fundamental theory of Chinese opera discusses the basic features of Chinese opera as the fundamental basis to construct theories on writing and presentation. These theories also project that his emphasis on the special formulation of Chinese operas and stagecraft. These distinguish him from other theories on Chinese opera in his contemporary era. This study develops as the following structure: Chapter one ¡§Introduction¡¨ states the research motives, scope, methodology and thesis summary in addition to the description of Li Yu¡¦s life and his literary achievements. Chapter two ¡§General Discussion¡¨ explores Li Yu¡¦s fundamental theory of Chinese opera, including the discussions on the artistic characteristics, position of Chinese operas in literature, the essence of Chinese operas, core values in appreciating Chinese operas and functions of Chinese operas ¡Ketc. Chapters three to seven are on theory of Chinese opera writing. Principles and standards in writing Chinese operas are discussed in terms of specific elements that compose Chinese operas. Chapter three ¡§Plot¡¨ redefines viewpoints on the structure in Li Yu¡¦s theory of Chinese opera. Chapter four ¡§Format¡¨ describes the regular formation of traditional Chinese opera presentation after the discussion on structure because set formation results in certain impact on the presentation. Chapter five ¡§Characters¡¨ is on the roles in Chinese opera. Li Yu embedded character formation in the design of plot structure, without independent character theory. The chapter is limited to the relationship among the language of characters, character descriptions and roles. Chapter six ¡§Language¡¨ discusses the common features of opera languages: rhymes and scripts, including the characteristics of representatives in Chinese operas and the standard the opera language should have. Chapter seven ¡§Rules of Tones and Rhymes¡¨ is divided as rhyme scheme and tone patterns with rhyme scheme as the main theme for discussion. The chapter also establishes the common principles of ¡§rule abiding¡¨ and proposed concrete suggestions on handling the rhymes and tones. Finally the thesis discusses Li Yu¡¦s theory of Chinese operas presentation in terms of scripts processing before performance, actor training and guiding and stage presentation. These concluded chapter eight ¡§Performance¡¨. It is hoped, through this thesis, to establish a specific theory structure of Li Yu¡¦s works on Chinese opera.

abstract: As many modern scholars have warned, the complexity of Tang narratives is far beyond the reach of Lu Xun’s twentieth-century generic labels. Therefore, we should have an acute awareness of the earlier limiting view of these categorizations, and our research should transcend the limitations of these views in regard to this extensive corpus or to being confined to rigid and meager reading of the richness of the stories. This dissertation will use a transdisciplinary methodology that incorporates both history and literature in close reading of seven Tang tales composed in the mid-to-late Tang eras (780s–early 900s), to break the boundaries between the two generic labels, chuanqi and zhiguai, and unearth significant configurations within these literary texts that become apparent only through stepping across genre. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation East Asian Languages and Civilizations 2017

Le point de départ de notre recherche a été la compréhension du phénomène Wang Xiaobo, de sa genèse, de son amplification et de ses échos dans l’histoire de la littérature chinoise. La thèse rappelle le contexte de la société chinoise et du monde littéraire des années 1990, indispensable pour saisir ce phénomène. Sa naissance est en effet étroitement liée à l’essor de la mouvance libérale chinoise et au développement rapide du pouvoir des médias et notamment d’Internet. Plusieurs personnages ont contribué à sa genèse, parmi lesquels on trouve notamment des chercheurs en sciences sociales tels que Li Yinhe, Qin Hui et Xu Jilin. Ce phénomène a été par la suite amplifié par les médias, qui ont étiqueté l’auteur comme « martyr sur l’autel de la littérature », « intellectuel libéral », « intellectuel public », etc. Ironie du sort, c’est l’appellation octroyée par Le Quotidien du peuple, « génie en dehors du système », qui résume le mieux l’identité controversée de l’auteur. L’étude des discours souvent impressifs sur le phénomène Wang Xiaobo nous a conduite d’abord à mener des analyses textuelles afin de sonder de manière approfondie l’art romanesque de l’auteur, insuffisamment exploré malgré sa notoriété posthume durable. Son art est caractérisé par des jeux à la fois subversifs et ludiques ; il démontre aussi comment le sujet pensant qui transforme les mots se voit lui-même métamorphosé par la société et la vie. Le corpus des textes étudiés couvre les trois périodes de l’auteur : avant 1984 (« l’âge fabuleux »), entre 1984 et 1992 (« l’âge de la maturité et l’âge d’or ») et enfin après 1992 (« réécriture et renouvellement »). Ensuite, à travers l’analyse comparée des textes de l’auteur et de ceux de ses successeurs, nous avons abouti à la thèse suivante : les jeux d’écriture de Wang Xiaobo affichent les caractéristiques de l’art de la postmodernité, et ce avant même que celui-ci s’installe progressivement en Chine ; ils illustrent comment l’esprit chevaleresque des lettrés chinois s’est progressivement transformé en un esprit de « voyous », terme évolutif, polysémique mais symptomatique de notre temps. / The starting point of our research was to understand the "Wang Xiaobo phenomenon". The paper describes the context of Chinese society and the literary world of the 1990s; some scholars’ liberal speeches and the growing power of media namely the Internet are parts of the reasons accounting for this phenomenon. The media put on the disappeared author new labels such as "martyr on the altar of literature", "liberal intellectual", "public intellectual". Ironically the name of "Genius outside the system", granted by the People's Daily to Wang Xiaobo, has stuck as the best way to encompass the author’s questionable identity. The impressive talks about the "Wang Xiaobo phenomenon" pushes us first to conduct deeper textual analysis to probe thoroughly the novellas’ art of the author, insufficiently explored despite his lasting posthumous fame. His art is characterized by subversive and playful language games; it also demonstrates how thinking subject who transforms words sees himself transformed by society and life. The corpus of the studied texts covers three periods of the author: before 1984, between 1984 and 1992, and finally after 1992. Then, through the comparative analysis of the author’s texts and those of his successors, we came up with the following thesis: The writing games of Wang Xiaobo display the characteristics of postmodern art, and even before it develops gradually in China; they illustrate how the chivalrous spirit of the Chinese intellectuals has evolved into a spirit of roguery, which in itself should be interpreted as an evolutionary term, both polysemic and symptomatic of our time.

Le point de départ de notre recherche a été la compréhension du phénomène Wang Xiaobo, de sa genèse, de son amplification et de ses échos dans l’histoire de la littérature chinoise. La thèse rappelle le contexte de la société chinoise et du monde littéraire des années 1990, indispensable pour saisir ce phénomène. Sa naissance est en effet étroitement liée à l’essor de la mouvance libérale chinoise et au développement rapide du pouvoir des médias et notamment d’Internet. Plusieurs personnages ont contribué à sa genèse, parmi lesquels on trouve notamment des chercheurs en sciences sociales tels que Li Yinhe, Qin Hui et Xu Jilin. Ce phénomène a été par la suite amplifié par les médias, qui ont étiqueté l’auteur comme « martyr sur l’autel de la littérature », « intellectuel libéral », « intellectuel public », etc. Ironie du sort, c’est l’appellation octroyée par Le Quotidien du peuple, « génie en dehors du système », qui résume le mieux l’identité controversée de l’auteur. L’étude des discours souvent impressifs sur le phénomène Wang Xiaobo nous a conduite d’abord à mener des analyses textuelles afin de sonder de manière approfondie l’art romanesque de l’auteur, insuffisamment exploré malgré sa notoriété posthume durable. Son art est caractérisé par des jeux à la fois subversifs et ludiques ; il démontre aussi comment le sujet pensant qui transforme les mots se voit lui-même métamorphosé par la société et la vie. Le corpus des textes étudiés couvre les trois périodes de l’auteur : avant 1984 (« l’âge fabuleux »), entre 1984 et 1992 (« l’âge de la maturité et l’âge d’or ») et enfin après 1992 (« réécriture et renouvellement »). Ensuite, à travers l’analyse comparée des textes de l’auteur et de ceux de ses successeurs, nous avons abouti à la thèse suivante : les jeux d’écriture de Wang Xiaobo affichent les caractéristiques de l’art de la postmodernité, et ce avant même que celui-ci s’installe progressivement en Chine ; ils illustrent comment l’esprit chevaleresque des lettrés chinois s’est progressivement transformé en un esprit de « voyous », terme évolutif, polysémique mais symptomatique de notre temps. / The starting point of our research was to understand the "Wang Xiaobo phenomenon". The paper describes the context of Chinese society and the literary world of the 1990s; some scholars’ liberal speeches and the growing power of media namely the Internet are parts of the reasons accounting for this phenomenon. The media put on the disappeared author new labels such as "martyr on the altar of literature", "liberal intellectual", "public intellectual". Ironically the name of "Genius outside the system", granted by the People's Daily to Wang Xiaobo, has stuck as the best way to encompass the author’s questionable identity. The impressive talks about the "Wang Xiaobo phenomenon" pushes us first to conduct deeper textual analysis to probe thoroughly the novellas’ art of the author, insufficiently explored despite his lasting posthumous fame. His art is characterized by subversive and playful language games; it also demonstrates how thinking subject who transforms words sees himself transformed by society and life. The corpus of the studied texts covers three periods of the author: before 1984, between 1984 and 1992, and finally after 1992. Then, through the comparative analysis of the author’s texts and those of his successors, we came up with the following thesis: The writing games of Wang Xiaobo display the characteristics of postmodern art, and even before it develops gradually in China; they illustrate how the chivalrous spirit of the Chinese intellectuals has evolved into a spirit of roguery, which in itself should be interpreted as an evolutionary term, both polysemic and symptomatic of our time.

Le point de départ de notre recherche a été la compréhension du phénomène Wang Xiaobo, de sa genèse, de son amplification et de ses échos dans l’histoire de la littérature chinoise. La thèse rappelle le contexte de la société chinoise et du monde littéraire des années 1990, indispensable pour saisir ce phénomène. Sa naissance est en effet étroitement liée à l’essor de la mouvance libérale chinoise et au développement rapide du pouvoir des médias et notamment d’Internet. Plusieurs personnages ont contribué à sa genèse, parmi lesquels on trouve notamment des chercheurs en sciences sociales tels que Li Yinhe, Qin Hui et Xu Jilin. Ce phénomène a été par la suite amplifié par les médias, qui ont étiqueté l’auteur comme « martyr sur l’autel de la littérature », « intellectuel libéral », « intellectuel public », etc. Ironie du sort, c’est l’appellation octroyée par Le Quotidien du peuple, « génie en dehors du système », qui résume le mieux l’identité controversée de l’auteur. L’étude des discours souvent impressifs sur le phénomène Wang Xiaobo nous a conduite d’abord à mener des analyses textuelles afin de sonder de manière approfondie l’art romanesque de l’auteur, insuffisamment exploré malgré sa notoriété posthume durable. Son art est caractérisé par des jeux à la fois subversifs et ludiques ; il démontre aussi comment le sujet pensant qui transforme les mots se voit lui-même métamorphosé par la société et la vie. Le corpus des textes étudiés couvre les trois périodes de l’auteur : avant 1984 (« l’âge fabuleux »), entre 1984 et 1992 (« l’âge de la maturité et l’âge d’or ») et enfin après 1992 (« réécriture et renouvellement »). Ensuite, à travers l’analyse comparée des textes de l’auteur et de ceux de ses successeurs, nous avons abouti à la thèse suivante : les jeux d’écriture de Wang Xiaobo affichent les caractéristiques de l’art de la postmodernité, et ce avant même que celui-ci s’installe progressivement en Chine ; ils illustrent comment l’esprit chevaleresque des lettrés chinois s’est progressivement transformé en un esprit de « voyous », terme évolutif, polysémique mais symptomatique de notre temps. / The starting point of our research was to understand the "Wang Xiaobo phenomenon". The paper describes the context of Chinese society and the literary world of the 1990s; some scholars’ liberal speeches and the growing power of media namely the Internet are parts of the reasons accounting for this phenomenon. The media put on the disappeared author new labels such as "martyr on the altar of literature", "liberal intellectual", "public intellectual". Ironically the name of "Genius outside the system", granted by the People's Daily to Wang Xiaobo, has stuck as the best way to encompass the author’s questionable identity. The impressive talks about the "Wang Xiaobo phenomenon" pushes us first to conduct deeper textual analysis to probe thoroughly the novellas’ art of the author, insufficiently explored despite his lasting posthumous fame. His art is characterized by subversive and playful language games; it also demonstrates how thinking subject who transforms words sees himself transformed by society and life. The corpus of the studied texts covers three periods of the author: before 1984, between 1984 and 1992, and finally after 1992. Then, through the comparative analysis of the author’s texts and those of his successors, we came up with the following thesis: The writing games of Wang Xiaobo display the characteristics of postmodern art, and even before it develops gradually in China; they illustrate how the chivalrous spirit of the Chinese intellectuals has evolved into a spirit of roguery, which in itself should be interpreted as an evolutionary term, both polysemic and symptomatic of our time.