This dissertation examines the preservation of Chinese kunqu, one of China’s indigenous operatic genres, in recent years with a special focus on renowned writer Pai Hsien-yung’s new adaptation of classic kunqu play The Peony Pavilion (Mudan ting). I use this adaptation as a case study to demonstrate how the actual shape of a stage production can be determined by a producer’s choice between tradition and innovation. The contention between the two variables can be identified in the hundreds of years of kunqu history. The introduction provides a brief overview of the ascension of kunqu to its dominance as a national opera between late Ming and early Qing dynasties (late sixteenth century to early nineteenth century). The first two chapters analyze the downfall of this genre and its struggle for existence and development from mid-Qing through the turbulent twentieth century with particular emphasis on exploring the interplay between tradition and innovation. The next two chapters focus entirely on Pai Hsien-yung’s stage production of Peony and its wide distribution. The last chapter examines the latest kunqu production modes developed under the influence of Pai’s approach. Through this detailed analysis of Pai’s kunqu production and its impact, this research identifies one of the most prominent trends in kunqu preservation and development in the twenty-first century. It explores the dialectical approach adopted in this trend to handle the relationship between tradition and innovation, and the particular redefinition of audience construction. A renewed wave of kunqu preservation efforts within China during the past decade created a favourable environment for Pai’s productions. The success of his works has drawn new attention to the opera and eased kunqu crisis to a fairly large extent. The most significant contribution of Pai’s works to Chinese kunqu discourse can be seen from the expansion of audience base, particularly among the educated youth, and the increasingly varied and creative strategies for kunqu production and distribution. These changes have greatly transformed the overall Chinese kunqu scene, and ushered in a new era when new kunqu stage works are made into collages of intrinsic kunqu aesthetics and certain traditional artistic values. Pai’s ability to negotiate a space for kunqu amidst fierce competition against the many different forms of modern entertainment has restored people’s confidence in both kunqu and Chinese cultural traditions at large. Pai’s experience of finding a particular balance between tradition and innovation, between art and market, has contributed critically not only to the emergence of more hybridized kunqu productions, but also to the preservation and development of other forms of traditional Chinese performing arts genres in the age of globalization and commercialization.

This essay aims to explore the transformational writing of ¡§emotion¡¨ and ¡§women¡¨ embedded in The Peony Pavilion and The Dream of The Red Chamber in the field of Chinese women study during the Ming and Qing Dynasty of China, attempting to testify that text is writer¡¦s grand work to establish humanitarian caring. The research purposes lie in the following areas. First, the contemporary research leans toward the integrative approach. Hence, how can traditional text and contemporary research subject be well blended to generate continuous interpretations? Second, in light of text, what is the most significant meaning of the text while deciphering The Peony Pavilion and The Dream of The Red Chamber from the perspectives of time and space? Third, how to evaluate the continuality and transformation of the textual spirit embedded in The Peony Pavilion and The Dream of The Red Chamber? In terms of the scholarship, this essay hopes to expand the author¡¦s early work entitled ¡§Illustrated Fine-lined Portrait Novel of The Dream of The Red Chamber in the Qing Dynasty¡¨ (1992), which investigates the aesthetic views of illustrated fine-lined portrait novel of The Dream of The Red Chamber. On the other hand, this essays combines the author¡¦s recent research on Chinese gender study. Consequently, this essay attempts to study two ¡§Romance¡¨ Classics¡XThe Peony Pavilion from the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century and The Dream of The Red Chamber from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty in the 18th century. The essay deepens its caring about emotion and women in order to discover the consistent remote sound of life value crossing from the Ming-Qing era to the contemporary period, highlighting the humanitarian significance of text. Moreover, it explores the theme of caring to pinpoint the meaning of text, providing an innovative approach for the frequent but weak interpersonal caring attitude in our contemporary life. This essay examines texts in an attempt to integrate texts and gender with field of caring ethics to some extent, expanding the plausibility of interpreting texts to multiple explanations and extending rich and coexisting meanings. In particular, it analyzes female images written by male writers. It first probes into the emotion writing and women writing in The Peony Pavilion and The Dream of The Red Chamber respectively. Then it compares and contrasts the emotion writing and women writing of these two classics as well as the comparison and continuality of activity space. These two classics are known for its emotion characteristics. For instance, the emotion of Du Li-niang and the emotion of Jia Bao-yu both denote writers¡¦ experiences and status, the components and levels of endorsements, emotion between Du Li-niang and Liu Meng-mei, background, ending, and application of emotion between Jia Bao-yu and Lin Dai-yu, as well as Du Li-niang¡¦s and Liu Meng-mei¡¦s female experiences, activities, space, and skills. Put differently, this essay respects and promotes women¡¦s consciousness. The main characters in The Peony Pavilion and The Dream of The Red Chamber, such as Du Li-niang, Liu Meng-mei, Jia Bao-yu, and Lin Dai-yu, speak for the writers and turn themselves into ¡§ideal lovers.¡¨ ¡§Typical Lady¡¨ is the ¡§ideal woman¡¨ created by the writers for the female roles. While shaping the ideal image for Du Li-niang and for Lin Dai-yu, the long-term gender dilemma of women is also highlighted as the important description of the texts. In addition, the earlier studies on Ming-Qing women¡¦s situation and image have biased conclusion that male texts tend to be presented with flair of patriarchal domination. In contrast with female texts, male texts deserve further exploration. Furthermore, some men held positive views on women during the Ming-Qing era. Coincidentally, these men overlapped with the writers who stressed the importance of emotion. Consciousness often takes precedence over implementation. Scholars remark that prior to the booming of Western feminism in the 18th century, women¡¦s consciousness was already popularized during the Ming-Qing Era in the 16th and 17th century, which not only paved the way to the new women¡¦s thinking but also set up foundation for introducing Western feminist concepts. This essay is divided into five chapters. Chapter One includes research purpose, research focus, research methodology, and research questions. In particular, it discusses writers¡¦ psychological basis of caring via emotion and women, including the discussion and molding of emotion and women in the long-term Chinese thinking. The focus of this chapter consists of impact of Confucianism, politics, and education on emotion writing and women writing, thinking background of writing on emotion and women in late Ming Dynasty, positive views of emotion, as well as women¡¦s confinement, reflection, and representation. Chapter Two investigates writing and caring about emotion and women as described in The Peony Pavilion. The focus of this chapter includes Tang Xian-zu¡¦s life story and his life-long emotion-oriented writing transformation and determination, the content and level of emotion theme in The Peony Pavilion as well as the pursuit of true emotion process and aesthetic significance occurred between Du Li-niang and Liu Meng-mei. Chapter Three discusses writing and caring of emotion and women, including textual pursuit of Grand theme emotion as described by writer Cao Xue-qin, implication and level of theme emotion as portrayed in The Dream of The Red Chamber, the pursuit process of emotion alliance and aesthetic significance occurred between Jia Bao-yu and Lin Dai-yu as well as significance of female artistic ability as found among Lin Dai-yu, Wang Xi-feng, and Jia Tan-chun. Chapter Four compares these two classic texts, including text inheritance, meaning and difference of emotion and women caring, and transformation and contrast, such as meaning of transformation among emotion, ideal emotion, ideal women, and women space. Chapter Five concludes male texts of The Peony Pavilion and The Dream of The Red Chamber, analyzing its value on oneself, female caring, and contemporary meaning.

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乾隆年間蘇州曲家葉堂刊行的《納書楹曲譜》，為戲曲工尺譜之首，不僅在曲譜的發展脈絡中具有開創意義，且兼具選本性質，又為崑曲音樂作法集大成之作品，故筆者以其為研究對象，期對乾隆時期崑曲劇目的內容、作曲手法的發展，及葉譜承先啟後的重要性，展開翔實且深刻的論述。 葉堂於乾隆49年（1784）至60年（1795）間陸續刊行的曲譜，包括初刻《西廂記譜》、《納書楹曲譜》（正續外補四集）、《四夢全譜》、重鐫《西廂記全譜》，皆為帶曲文、板眼及工尺，不帶科白的樂譜，一時風行，號稱「葉譜」，其內容豐富，計收566齣／套曲，且訂譜成就向受稱道，影響深遠。筆者於撰述時，首先梳理乾隆時期蘇州的崑曲活動、葉堂之志趣及交遊、葉譜的刊行及影響，以為全文論述之基礎；繼而開展兩個主要的關注面向，第二章為葉譜選錄的內容，第三、四章則為葉堂訂譜的作法，為集中焦點，乃選擇最具曲樂創作意義之《四夢全譜》為核心，討論葉堂如何為馳騁才情、不拘格律的湯顯祖《四夢》曲文訂譜，以見在曲律及曲樂發展上的重要意義。 就葉譜選錄的內容，筆者歸納其特色有三：（一）「散齣」與「全本」兼收：《納書楹曲譜》選錄自元至清前期，名家名作與時俗流行的散齣，而《西廂記譜》與《四夢全譜》則為全本劇作。（二）「劇」與「曲」雙重觀照：除大量選入有曲可唱之演劇散齣，兼及新興時劇，又收錄部分可供清唱的散曲及散齣，尤其好尚北套曲。（三）「流行」與「追憶」並存：除選入當時流行的劇目，又有《千鍾祿‧慘睹》等，當是因葉譜收錄而引領演出風潮，至於《桃花扇》等漸次退出劇壇的散齣，葉譜的記錄則帶有追憶性質。再將葉譜收錄的內容與其前《九宮大成譜》等、其後殷溎深傳譜等刊行的曲譜相較，則可見收錄內容頗為相近；然而，曲譜的性質，則由重「曲」轉而至重「戲」，頗可比喻為「加上板眼、工尺的《綴白裘》」，由以記錄唱腔為主之樂譜，變為於演出頗有助益之臺本。 關於葉堂訂譜的作法，筆者以《四夢全譜》為核心，第三章先論「宛轉相就」之法，討論葉堂如何改調就詞，在譜曲時妥貼適應湯顯祖不盡合律的曲文。首先析論其中較富變化的集曲作法，以見不同曲牌的摘句如何銜接為集曲；其次，取鈕少雅《格正還魂記詞調》、馮起鳳《吟香堂牡丹亭曲譜》、劉世珩《雙忽雷閣彙訂還魂記曲譜》，與葉堂《納書楹四夢全譜》共同參照，綜論並評議各譜宛轉相就的處理方式，相較於諸家的作法往往較向「律」傾斜，葉堂訂譜的特殊之處在於：追求文、律、樂之間的平衡，故可見增刪部分曲文字句、移動板位以使語氣更為流暢、致力於以樂傳情，某些作法甚至遊走於合律邊緣，葉堂的手法固有獨到之處，然宜置入清前期曲律及曲樂發展的背景下考察，由《南詞新譜》、《南詞定律》、《九宮大成譜》漸次收錄《四夢》曲牌，可見曲律鬆動之趨勢，這些迥異於往的曲牌，無法套用既有腔調，故需曲譜記錄唱腔，然而，曲譜的刊行，雖便傳唱，卻也形同「定譜」，若過度襲用，反而侷限曲調發展。 第四章則比較諸譜《四夢》之曲腔，切入點有二：其一乃葉譜本身作法之比較，葉堂於相同曲牌，鑑於情境不同，各有變化發揮，展現曲牌音樂在律定字句及點板之下的活腔作法；其二乃與其他曲譜之比較，取葉堂為《四夢》所訂之曲腔，與其前《南詞定律》、《九宮大成譜》、其後《遏雲閣曲譜》等相同曲牌比較，固不乏曲腔一脈相承者，然亦見細節處的板眼、行腔參差變化，甚至腔句、曲牌之音樂構思不盡相同者，可見乾隆時期曲腔活潑變化之情形。最後，藉由比較的結果，探討曲樂相關問題，在曲文字聲與曲腔旋律方面，「依字行腔」雖是原則，然遇韻腳等處，則往往需配合全曲的結音；在曲牌行腔與固定曲調方面，每一牌調雖有其音樂框架，但實際的行腔，則是字聲與曲調互相調適而成；而綜觀葉譜的音樂成就，除首次為《四夢》訂定完整的工尺譜，更在於其作法有繼承亦有開創，可謂集曲樂作法之大成。 本文最後以「葉堂之曲樂觀點」、「葉譜之價值」綰結全文。就葉堂的觀點而言，重樂輕律，以盡度曲之妙；雅俗兼備，適度採錄時俗唱法、流傳劇目，俱見一代曲家的朗闊襟懷。就葉譜之價值而言，於刊行曲譜具有開創意義，為首度刊行之崑曲戲齣唱譜，收羅甚廣，兼有選本性質，乃藉譜以傳曲；且於曲樂發展具獨特貢獻，藉實際的訂譜成果，彰顯「不合律即不可歌」之謬，並將訂譜的觀照對象，由單隻曲牌之行腔，擴展為套內諸曲的和諧，其所譜曲腔，不僅穩稱湯顯祖揮灑才情之曲文，促成《四夢》在舞台上展演流傳，且安腔訂譜之法亦成為典範。