莎士比亚汉化研究

分类号密级
H31
U D C 编号 10486
博士学位论文
戏曲改编莎士比亚的策略研究
研究生姓名：熊杰平
指导教师姓名、职称：朱宾忠教授
学科、专业名称：英语语言文学
研究方向：英美文学
二〇一八年五月
A Study on the Strategies of Adapting
Shakespeare into Traditional Chinese Theater
Xiong Jieping
戏曲改编莎士比亚的策略研究
熊杰平
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论文创新点
莎士比亚是英美文学史上的经典作家，他的戏剧在世界舞台、银屏上被反复
改编。本人根据近百年来莎士比亚戏剧改编为中国传统戏曲的实践活动，研究了
改编过程中的语言、文化迁移，以及素体诗转换为唱念做打中的矛盾冲突，评价
了中外理论家的“机趣”、“中国化”、“挪用”、“文化他者”等改编策略，
提出了戏曲改编莎士比亚戏剧的加减法理论，根据改编与原作的偏离，回答了改
编后的作品是否还是莎士比亚的问题，并且通过实践与逻辑推理加以证明，还由
此引申出对改编作品中莎士比亚以及戏曲有机构成之研究。以往的研究较多的集
中在原著的翻译、中西戏剧的文化差异，本文则聚焦跨艺术样式的比较莎学研究，
无论是通过五线谱、汉语拼音来描绘改编作品，还是结合作者的改编实践活动来
论证加减法的改编策略，都有创新之处。
学位论文作者（签名）：
年月日
A Study on the Strategies of Adapting Shakespeare into Traditional Chinese Theater
摘要
莎士比亚改编了他人，也被他人所改编。莎士比亚的大部分戏剧都改编自历史、传
说、他人的剧作，以适应自己的戏剧范式。过去的一百余年，至少有十七部莎士比亚戏
剧被改编为中国戏曲，简称莎戏曲。有些中国理论家根据戏曲对莎剧的接受模式，把这
些作品归纳为中国化、西洋化或者英文原版式的改编，而西方理论家则根据改编后的作
品在语言文化上对原著的偏离程度，划分为改编、挪用、征用、变通与衍生等。改编存
在着不忠实于原著的风险，产生了著名的拜伦式诘问：改编后的作品还是莎士比亚吗？
与翻译相比，跨文化剧场改编在语言文化传递后会更加偏离原文。如果采用西洋化
的改编方法，固然可以避免与原文文化相违和，但有可能违背在地戏曲的本体特征。在
跨文化剧场实践中，存在着文化他者，需要双方进行沟通与交换。
而在戏曲剧种内化的过程中，曲文（唱念）需要与为之服务的音乐沟通，音乐变通
不能伤害旋律节奏，曲文变通也要遵守诗词格律。戏曲虽然演绎类型人物，舞蹈（做打）
要服从刻画人物的需要，莎戏曲的文本产生跨行当演出，以尽量减少偏离。
莎戏曲要吸引观众，还必须充满机趣。运用机趣可以生动的改编莎士比亚丰富而细
腻的语言，使原文的趣味在文字文本与视觉文本上得到转换。然而，机趣的定义含混，
与戏剧冲突没有关联或者关联不大，因而与西方戏剧冲突理论发生矛盾冲突。机趣可能
使莎戏曲进一步偏离莎士比亚。
由于忠实于原著的理论在改编实践中不可行，因而提出加减法作为改编策略。对原
文做减法是要为戏曲做加法，给唱、念、做、打腾出空间，甚至增加人物、语言与视觉
文本，改变结构，符合目的语文化与戏曲的本体要求。加减法还有助于理解改编对原作
的偏离和对戏曲的偏离。改编对戏曲的加法做得越多就越靠近戏曲，越可能偏离莎剧；
对莎士比亚的减法做得越多，改编作品中的莎士比亚成分就越少，反之亦然。加减法通
常是同时发生的。所以，回答拜伦式的诘问——莎士比亚改编后是否还是莎士比亚戏剧
——取决于改编策略与改编后的作品对原文的偏离程度。同时，莎戏曲在多大程度上是
戏曲也取决于改编作品偏离戏曲的程度。莎戏曲并非莎士比亚与戏曲的拼贴，而是汇集
了双方优点的有机融合。
关键词：莎士比亚、戏曲、改编策略、加减法、偏离
I
Doctorial Dissertation of Wuhan University
II
ABSTRACT
Shakespeare adapts and is adapted. Most of his plays are adapted from historical
chronicles, legendary accounts and someone else’s plays to suit his own theatrical paradigm.
Over the last hundred years, at least seventeen of his plays have been adapted into traditional
or indigenous Chinese theater, Shake-xiqu for short. Some Chinese theorists tend to classify
them in three adaptation styles, namely, the Chinese, the Occidental, and the English-English,
based on how traditional Chinese theater receives them. On the other hand, some Western
theorists tend to classify them into adaptation, appropriation, expropriation, inspiration and
spin-off, depending how much the adaptation deviates from Shakespeare linguistically and
culturally. In view of the risky infidelity to the original, there is a famous Byronc question: Is
the adaptation of Shakespeare still Shakespeare?
In comparison with translation, transcultural theater may deviate the adaptation, to a
larger extent, from the original in language and culture transfers. While the Occidental style
may help to avoid incongruity in culture, the adaptation may run into conflict with the
theatrical idioms of the genre. In a transcultural theater, the cultural other is there for both
sides to negotiate and trade-off.
In the intra-genre process, the libretto for singing and chanting has to negotiate with the
music that serves it. Music may have to vary without distorting the pattern of melody and
rhythm. The librettist’s licence may be confined to prosody. The choreography for dancing
and acrobatics should help to portray the characters although traditional Chinese theater is
peopled with codified role types, hence cross-role-type performance in Shake-xiqu to curb
deviation.
For Shake-xiqu to entertain the patron, there has to be jiqu or wit and fun, the application
of which helps to adapt Shakespeare’s language nuances vividly into a verbal and visual text.
However, jiqu is a loosely defined term. It may have little or nothing to do with the conflict in
the play and therefore runs into conflict with the Western drama concept of conflict. It is
possible for Shake-xiqu to further deviate from Shakespeare.
III
As fidelity criticism does not work in the adaptation practice, the strategy of addition and
subtraction is proposed. Subtraction applies to the source text which must be cut or trimmed
to make room for singing, chanting, dancing and acrobatics, all of which are required by
traditional Chinese theater. On the other hand, addition applies when a new role or new verbal
and visual text appears, or even the structure of the play alters in order to satisfy the cultural
or theatrical requirement of the target text. The strategy of addition and subtraction also helps
to understand the deviation of Shake-xiqu from Shakespeare and traditional Chinese theater
respectively. When the addition of xiqu elements occurs, the adaptation will stay close to
traditional Chinese theater and may deviate from Shakespeare. The more the original is
subtracted, the less Shakespeare there will be in the adaptation, and vice versa. Usually
addition and subtraction will happen at the same time. Thus the Byronic question whether the
adaptation is still Shakespeare is answered according to the deviation from the bard. Similarly,
to what extent Shake-xiqu is traditional Chinese theater depends on how much the adaptation
deviates from xiqu. It is not a collage of Shakespeare and xiqu but an integration of their
merits.
Key Words: Shakespeare, traditional Chinese theater, adaptation strategy, addition and
subtraction, deviation
IV
Contents
摘要------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ⅰ
ABSTRACT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ⅲ
Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
0.1 Canon of the Adaptation---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
0.2 Three Phases of the Adaptation-------------------------------------------------------------- 7
0.3 Literature Review-----------------------------------------------------------------------------13
0.4 Structure of the Dissertation---------------------------------------------------------------- 18
Chapter One Language and Culture Transfers: A Case Study of Sinicized Macbeths
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20
1.1 Language Transfer----------------------------------------------------------------------------22
1.2 Culture Transfer------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 34
1.2.1 Setting of the Time and Place--------------------------------------------------------- 35
1.2.2 Characterization------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37
1.3 Cultural Other--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40
Chapter Two Conflict with Music and Characterization: A Case Study of Hanju
Taming of the Shrew------------------------------------------------------------------------ 43

2.1 Conflict of the Prelude’s Libretto and Music---------------------------------------------46
2.2 Inequality Between Dramatis Personae and Codified Role-Type Performers-------50
2.3 Rewriting and Re-interpreting with Feedback Concerns------------------------------- 56
Chapter Three Jiqu or Wit and Fun in Shake-xiqu-------------------------------------------61

3.1 Jiqu in Adapting Language Nuances------------------------------------------------------ 64
3.2 Jiqu in Choreographic Adaptation--------------------------------------------------------- 68
3.3 Jiqu’s Conflict with Shakespeare---------------------------------------------------------- 71
Chapter Four Addition and Subtraction: From Adaptation to Evaluation------------- 75

4.1 Three Librettos of Lear’s Opening Speech----------------------------------------------- 75
4.1.1 Sixian Opera Version-------------------------------------------------------------------77
4.1.2 Peking Opera Version------------------------------------------------------------------ 82

4.1.3 Hanju Opera Version-------------------------------------------------------------------85
4.2 Characterization and Structure------------------------------------------------------------- 88
4.3 Shake-xiqu’s Deviation and Its Evaluation----------------------------------------------- 90
Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 94
Bibliography-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------97
Videos------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 102
Internet Sources-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------103
Glossary-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------104
攻博期间发表的科研成果目录-------------------------------------------------------------------114
鸣谢---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 115
Introduction
. . . How many ages hence

Shall this our lofted scene be acted over
In [States] unborn and accents yet unknown.
(Julius Caesar Ⅲ, ⅰ, 111b-113)
Since Shakespeare Survey published a Chinese scholarship of Shakespeare for the first
time in 1983,1 studies of the bard in the People’s Republic of China have yielded fruitful
results. There are quite a few Chinese scholars who, reading no English, publish extensively
in Chinese.2 These scholarships are accessible to the Chinese, leaving the West at the mercy
of some native English speakers who understand Chinese and overseas Chinese students who
write their dissertations at Western universities. Among them only a few are devoted to
staging Shakespeare in China for they are penned by scholars, in a study, who are inactively
involved in the stage.3 There are doubtless very few English scholarships for adapting
Shakespeare into traditional or indigenous Chinese theater (xiqu, literally “theatrical tunes or
melodies”), addressing the concern that when Shakespeare comes into traditional Chinese
theater the changes both of them undergo. This does not match the status quo of the
flourishing adaptation practice. Out of numerous genres of xiqu, why are some of them eager
and able to embrace the bard while many others shy away? And when Shakespeare is
globalized and localized, how big a chance is there for Shakespeare adaptations in traditional
Chinese theater or Shake-xiqu4 to be glocalized?5
1
Lu Gu-sun. Hamlet Across Space and Time, Shakespeare Survey Volume 36: Shakespeare in the Twentieth Century, ed.
Stanley Wells, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983: 53-56. Also anthologized in Shashibiya Yanjiu Shi Jiang (Ten
Lectures on Shakespearean Studies) by Lu Gu-sun. Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 2005: 136-148.
2
For example, Shashibiya Zai Zhongguo Wutai Shang (Shakespeare on the Chinese Stage), by Cao Shujun and Sun Fuliang,
Harbin: Harbin Publishing House, 1989; Zhongguo Shaxue Jianshi (A Concise History of Shakespeare in China) by Meng
Xianqiang, Changchun: Northeastern Normal University Press, 1994; Zhongguo Shashibiya Piping Shi (The History of
Shakespearean Studies in China), by Li Weimin, Beijing: China Drama Press, 2006.
3
Li Ruru. Shashibiya: Staging Shakespeare in China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2003.
Ching-Hsi Perng collaborated with Chen Fang, who wrote the libretto, and adapted The Merchant of Venice, Measure for
Measure and King Lear into Taiwan bangzi opera in 2009, 2012, and 2015 respectively.
4
A coinage from Shaxiqu Kuawenhua Gaibian De Wutou (Shake-xiqu: Essence of Transcultural Adaptation of Shakespeare),
by Chen Fang, Taipei: National Taiwan Normal University Publishing Center, 2012.
5
The concept of glocalization comes from the Japanese word dochakuka, meaning global localization. It now refers to the
“simultaneous occurrence of both universalizing and particularizing tendencies in contemporary social, political, and
economic systems”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glocalization, last accessed March 19, 2018.
1
China proudly boasts 348 genres of xiqu,1 each named in a two-or-three-character

coinage. The first one- or two-character word often indicates the geographical area that the
genre is associated with or simply its music style. The last character of the coinage used to be
xi (theater) or qu (melody or tune) but now ju (drama).2 Traditional Chinese theaters share a
lot of theatrical conventions and codifications in common but differ from each other mainly in
arias, which serve librettos. Such a musical spectrum evolves from the fact that Chinese is a
family of tone languages and different vernaculars are spoken in different parts of the country.
My province of Hubei in central China was said to house six genres in the capital city of
Wuhan where a Mandarin dialect is spoken and nine genres in other areas3 where vernaculars
may sound unintelligible to Mandarin speakers. The provincial figure has been proclaimed or
modified to twenty-six in less than ten years. Traditionally agriculture-based, some genres are
prospering with patrons of powerful officials and affluent merchants but more genres waning
and dying. Besides the nationwide Peking opera, those that still enjoy their popularity are
mostly associated with rural or backward areas where the only other entertainment is virtually
television and mahjong, a tile-based board game dating back to the Qing dynasty (1616-1911).
A xiqu performance is a more lavish showcase that can better engage the community. Most
indigenous genres of xiqu seldom travel or hardly take root outside because the associated
vernaculars confine them. Only a handful of lucky genres somehow break through or sprawl
out to serve a diaspora or new community. Metropolitan-seated xiqu companies fight for
survival on government funds. Under the influx of globalization, industrialization and
urbanization, the attendance is getting thinner and thinner to traditional Chinese theaters run
by state-owned or government-sponsored companies, all of which are obliged to set a good
example of following the Party policy that literature and art should serve the people and serve
socialism. Ageing faster and faster are theater patrons, most of whom pay nothing or
1
The figure remains heatedly debatable. While the Chinese Ministry of Culture announces that this is figure up to the date of
August 31, 2015, a noticeable increase from the last census, there are said to be newly formed or resurrected genres by the
local government. http://www.mcprc.gov.cn/whzx/whyw/201712/t20171226_830165.htm, last accessed March 19, 2018.
For a different voice, read Women daodi you duoshao “juzhong”: Dui gongjushu zhong youguan shuju de fenxi (How many
genres of xiqu we have anyway: A data analysis of reference books) by Hai Zhen, Journal of National Academy of Chinese
Theater Arts, 2014 (5): 13-16. He dismisses the neat figure of 360 and pessimistically suggests around 70 stage-active genres.
In reality there are only about 150 genres that are sung by two or more theater companies.
2
For example, kunqu refers to the genre associated with kun, short for Kunshan, coastal Jiangsu Province, and jingju is
Peking opera as jing is short for Beijing, pinyin of Peking.
3
These figures are again debatable. I was based on Hubei Xiqu Gailuan (An Introduction to Traditional Theaters in Hubei),
ed. Du Jianguo, Beijing: China Drama Press, 2007. For the new figure, visit the official website of the Chinese Ministry of
Culture, listed in a previous note.
2
equivalently a few US dollars for admission, and fewer and fewer young audience members
are attracted by traditional repertoire. For a quick remedy the theatricals turn to either modern
plays1 or Shakespeare, or both.
Since the year 1914 when Hamlet was presented in the style of chuanju (associated with
Sichuan province and the neighboring regions),2 twenty-one Chinese operas have mounted
seventeen Shakespearean plays in sixty different productions.3 Ten genres tried more than
once. The most popular genre, jingju or Peking opera or national opera in Taiwan, has
adapted thirteen plays. Yueju or Shaoxing opera (tunes originating in Shenxian, coastal
Zhejiang Province, and flourishing in Shanghai) and Cantonese yueju have done nine
respectively, claiming that high economic development seems to favor such syntheses or
certain Shakespearean plays are more cooperative with some genres than others. Taiwan
bangzi and its mainland mother/counterpart yuju have adapted four. Chuanju has adapted
three. Also a third timer is the time-honored kunqu, the first among the three Chinese
indigenous stage relics listed by the UNESCO, also the first one with a moderately
commercial success in touring Britain and some neighboring continental cities.
Twice-adapting indigenous theater styles include huju associated with Shanghai, chaoju
popular in Guangdong and Southeast Asia, hanju based in the city of Wuhan and somewhat
popular in Central and South China and newly-established jiju associated with northeastern
Jilin Province. Eleven other genres attempted only once, including sixianxi associated with
Northern China on King Lear, and nationwide popular huangmeixi, an opera originated in
Huangmei, a county of Hubei, and mature in neighboring province Anhui, on Much Ado
about Nothing. Geographically, the bard is more popular in Southern than Northern China,
and more productions have been offered in the East than the West of China. Despite the
equally-scaled popularity of jingju in Beijing and Tianjin, the troupes in the former have
adapted three and the latter none. Meanwhile, based in developed and westernized Taiwan,
1
From my own contacts, practitioners would find it a double-edged sword for the hefty funds nourish them but kill the art
with political wrappings.
2
Little is known about this very first adaptation. See Shashibiya Zai Zhongguo Wutai Shang (Shakespeare on the Chinese
Stage), by Cao Shujun and Sun Fuliang, Harbin: Harbin Publishing House, 1989: 189, 214-215. Wu Hui zeroes in at 1914,
under which year she may have read Cao and Sun listed the adaptation but they wrote again and again “early years of the
Repblic of China”. See Wu Hui. Yingxiang Shashibiya: Wenxue Mingzhu De Dianying Gaibian (Shakespeare in Images:
Film Adaptations of Great Literature). Beijing: Communication University of China Press, 2007: 36.
3
The bald account is technically impossible due to lack of recordings of some productions, and numerous adaptations of
Shakespearean scenes as well as amateur or student productions in even bigger numbers.
3
jingju has so far done five. With Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang taking
the lead in mainland China’s modernization drive, Shakespeare has thus won favor in these
regions, a cultural by-product of globalization and localization.
0.1 Canon of the Adaptation

The canon of adapting Shakespeare into traditional Chinese theater is expansive on
comedies and tragedies, few on romances and fewer on histories, which are staged by huaju,
spoken or straight drama, a genre not introduced into Chinese theater until around 1907.1
Foreign histories have been long noted for their disfavor in China. Few Chinese universities
would include Shakespeare’s history plays in their syllabus, or rather histories are often
dismissed as too British to be salvaged for the modernization drive of China. Thus we may
opine that traditional Chinese theaters know comedies and tragedies better and as a result
Shakespeare’s romances and histories, once adapted, simply turn into comedies and tragedies
respectively.
The popularity of the bard on the Chinese opera stage is shown below, play by play.
Needless to say there is a much wider spectrum from amateur to professional productions, and
for the sake of availability and feasibility most studies would bypass or ignore such
productions as jingju Othello in English (a scene in 1982), not performed scripts like Hebei
bangzi Youyu Wangzi (Melancholy Prince, first published in 2001, and then penned into
kunqu published in 2010) from Hamlet, and Shui Jia You Nv (Whose Daughter This Is
published in 2002) from The Taming of the Shrew, and also student productions inaccessible
to the general public such as jingju The Merry Wives of Windsor (2009), Romeo and Juliet
(2010), and A Usurper in Troubled Times (Luanshi Xiaoxiong 2011) from Richard the Third.2
1) Romeo and Juliet: Shanghai yueju Love’s Regret (Qing Tian Hen 1942), Shanghai
huju Tough Guy and Tender Babe (Tie Han Jiao Wa 1944), Beijing jingju The Tempering of
1
Based on the performing activities by the Chunliu Drama Club, this date is debatable. See Ershi Shiji Zhongguo Xijushi (A
History of Chinese Theater in the 20th Century), by Fu Jin. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 2017. Also see Zhongguo
Huaju Chengli Shi Yanjiu (A Study on the Formation of Chinese Spoken Drama), by Hiroshi Seto, tr. Chen Linghong.
Xiamen: Xiamen University Press, 2015. Despite the dispute, Chinese spoken drama began to frequently mount Shakespeare
in the following decade. Meng Xianqiang traces it between 1913-1915. (Brooks et al 134) And rivalling traditional Chinese
theater reluctantly followed suit.
2
For the scanty reviews of the above productions in Chinese, read Hong Zhonghuang. Shui Jia You Nv deshi tan (Whose
Daughter This Is: The good bad and ugly). Grand Stage, 2004 (2) and He Chang. Meigui kai zai chunfeng li: Shashibiya xiju
Wensha De Fengliu Niangmen de xiquhua gaibian (A Rose Blooms in the Spring Breeze: Adapting Shakespeare’s Merry
Wives of Winsor into Traditional Chinese Theater). Sichuan Theater, 2012 (4) respectively. For some more, read Cao Shujun.
4
Love (Zhu Qing Ji 1948), Shanghai yueju Eternal Love (Tian Chang Di Jiu 1985), Henan yuju
Romeo and Juliet (Luo Mi’ou Yu Zhu Liye 1987), errenzhuan (associated with Northeastern
China) Romeo and Juliet (Luo Mi’ou Yu Zhu Liye 1987), Yunnan huadengxi Zhuomei and
Aluo (Zhuomei Yu Aluo 1996, revived 2011), Taiwan Hok-loh gezaixi Flower on the Other
Bank (Bi’an Hua 2001),1 and jiju and Hunan Kunqu Romeo and Juliet (Luo Mi’ou Yu Zhu
Liye both 2016). There are ten productions up till now.
2) Macbeth: Shanghai kunqu Blood-Stained Hands (Xie Shou Ji 1986,2 revived 2008),
Hubei jingju Tyrant in Troubled Times (Luanshi Wang 19863), Taiwan jingju The Kingdom of
Desire (Yuwang Cheng Guo 1986), wuju (associated with Jinhua, a city in Zhejiang Province)
A Blood-Stained Sword (Xie Jian 1987), chuanju Lady Macbeth (Makebai Furen 1999), Hong
Kong Cantonese yueju The Hero’s Betrayal (Yingxiong Panguo 2001), Shaoxing yueju
General Ma Long (Ma Long Jiangjun 2001), huiju (associated with Anhui Province) Scared
Souls (Jinghun Ji 2013) and Shanghai kunqu Husbands’ Lady (Fu De Ren 2015). All together
there have been nine productions so far.
3) The Merchant of Venice: Shanghai jingju Settling the Debt with Flesh (Jiezhai Huan
Rou 1922), Cantonese yueju One Pound of Flesh (Yi Bang Rou 1933, revived? 1952), The
Merchant of Venice (Weinisi Shangren 1953-4), and Blessed and Affected Daughter (Tian Zhi
Jiaonv 1983), xiangju (associated with Central Chinese Hunan Province) Settling the Human
Flesh Case Smartly (Qiao Duan Renrou An 1987), luju (associated with Anhui Province) Odd
Debt and Romance (Qi Zhai Qingyuan 1989), Cantonese yueju A Wealthy Daughter (Haomen
Qianjin 2007), and Taiwan bangzi or yuju Bond (Yue/Shu 2009). Eight productions in total.
4) King Lear: Shanghai yueju The Heart of a Filial Daughter (Xiaonv Xin 1946), Hebei
sixianxi King Lear (Li’er Wang 1994), Shanghai jingju King Qi’s Dream (Qi Wang Meng
1995), Taiwan jingju Lear Is Here (Li’er Zai Ci 2001), Cantonese yueju King Li Guang
1
Read the first half of “Thou Orphans’ Father Art”: Shakespeare in Taiwanese and Yue Operas by Bi-qi Beatrice Lei.
(Brooks et al 199-232)
2
Wu Hui put it in 1985. As an inside cover note made by the artistic director to the managing director dated December 1,
1985, the rehearsal would take months and the play probably had its debut early in 1986. It entered for the First Chinese
Shakespeare Festival at Shanghai Children’s Arts Theater on April 10, 1986 (Cao and Sun 222-223) but The Chronicles of
Shanghai Kunqu put it in April 1987 (121).
3
Again Wu put it in 1985. According to Changjiang Ribao (Changjiang Daily), the play had its debut in Wuhan on
November 12, 1986. The newspaper interviewed the director Hu Dao and reported the event the next day. Dates of the
following productions are specified as accurately as possible by correlating different sources.
5
(2002), Hubei hanju King Lear (Li’er Wang 2014), and Taiwan bangzi or yuju Questioning
Heaven (Tian Wen 2015). They are seven productions in all.
5) Hamlet: Sichuan chuanju Killing the Elder Brother and Snatching His Wife (Sha
Xiong Duo Sao 1914), Shanghai huju Usurping the State and Stealing the Queen (Qie Guo
Dao Sao 1941), Taiwan jingju The Prince’s Revenge (Wangzi Fuchou Ji 1990), Shanghai
yueju The Prince’s Revenge (Wangzi Fuchou Ji 1994), Shanghai jingju The Tragedy of Prince
Zi Dan (Wangzi Fuchou Ji 2005). Five productions so far.
6) The Taming of the Shrew: Cantonese yueju Unruly Princess (Diaoman Gongzhu 1933)
and its modified Unruly Princess and Her Simple-Minded Husband (Diaoman Gongzhu Yu
Han Fuma 1984), Taiwan jingju Katherina and Petruchio (Yanzhihu Yu Shizigou 2002), and
Hubei hanju Taming of the Shrew (Xun Han Ji 2014). Four productions so far.
7) The Merry Wives of Windsor: Cantonese chaoju The Merry Wives of Windsor
(Wensha De Fengliu Niangmen, 1980s-1990s?), Cantonese dongjiangxi The Merry Wives of
Windsor (Wensha De Fengliu Niangmen 1987), and jiju The Merry Wives of Windsor
(Wensha De Fengliu Niangmen 2014). Three productions so far.
8) Othello: Shanghai yueju Princess and Prince (Gongzhu Yu Junzhu, early 1950s), and
Beijing jingju Othello (Aosailuo 1983, 1985). Two productions.
9) The Winter’s Tale: Cantonese chaoju Resurrected Queen (Zaishi Huanghou 1986),
and Zhejiang yueju The Winter’s Tale (Dongtian De Gushi 1986). Two productions.
10) Twelfth Night: Shanghai yueju Twelfth Night (Di Shi’er Ye 1986) and Cantonese
yueju A Heaven-Made Match (Tian Zuo Zhi He 1995, revived 2016). Two productions.
11) Measure for Measure: Shaoxing yueju A Case in a Case (An Zhong An Chuanqi
2001), and Taiwan bangzi or yuju Measure, Measure (Liang/Du 2012). Two productions.
12) Much Ado about Nothing: Anhui huangmeixi Much Ado about Nothing (Wu Shi
Sheng Fei 1986).
13) The Two Gentlemen of Verona: Guizhou chuanju The Two Gentlemen of Verona
(Weiluona Er Shenshi 1985).
14) A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Beijing jingju A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(Zhongxia Ye Zhi Meng 2004, revived 2012).
15) The Tempest: Taiwan jingju The Tempest (Baofengyu 2004).
6
16) Antony and Cleopatra: Taiwan jingju The Queen and Her Clowns (Yanhou He Ta De
Xiaochoumen 2012).
17) Richard the Third: Hubei chuju A Horse Wrangler’s Story (Yu Ma Ji 2017-2018).1
0.2 Three Phases of the Adaptation

The history of the above-mentioned Shakespeare adaptations into traditional Chinese
theater can also be conveniently viewed into three phases, namely, from the early 20th century
to the early 1950s, then the renaissance decade from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, and
finally the early 21st century. This periodization may somewhat overlap with Cao Shujun2 but
run into conflict with A Concise History of Shakespeare in China. In the latter case, Phase
One yielded almost no Shakespearean productions in Chinese theaters, and the bard’s
sinicization in the theater for the next two phase poses a hard issue for researchers because of
the lack of materials, especially few video, audial or even written records.3
1) The Silent Period (1914-1954)
Of all the Chinese opera adaptations of Shakespeare, at least ten plays were staged in the
first half of the last century, roughly before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in
1949. About these offerings not much remains known or could be retrieved, hence named the
Silent Period. Similar to the early huaju repertoire in China whereby actors acted extempore
on the synopsis of the play without a script or rehearsal, early opera appropriations were
inspired by Shakespeare’s name and plot into a hasty job.4 When possible, the Lambs’ Tales
from Shakespeare (tr. Lin Shu) was based for the promptbooks. If Lin is said to have
translated something about Shakespeare rather than of Shakespeare, then we may safely say
that Shake-xiqu productions in this period are mostly an adaptation about the bard rather than
of the bard. After all, the first translation of the complete Shakespeare did not get published
1
Not every listing is retrievable. While most early productions may have perished without trace, other productions may have
the script owned by the troupe, so very few found publishers. And the video recordings are even rare unless they were aired
on television or made into VCDs and DVDs for sale.
2
Politically influenced Cao divides it into Experimental Period (1912-1976), Mature Period (October 1976 to September
1994) and Deep-going Period (1995 till now). See Tong Shidai De Shashibiya: Yujing, Huwen, Duozhong Shiyu
(Shakespeare Our Contemporary: Contexts, Intertexts & Perspectives), ed. Zhang Chong. Shanghai: Fudan University Press,
2005: 344-359.
3
Meng Xianqiang divides the history of Shakespeare in China into six phases, namely, Beginning Period (1856-1920),
Probing Period (1921-1936), Struggling Period (1936-1948), Prospering Period (1949-1965), Rising Period (1978-1988) and
Transitional Period (1989-). See Zhongguo Shaxue Jianshi (A Concise History of Shakespeare in China) by Meng Xianqiang,
Changchun: Northeast Normal University Press, 1994.
4
For a case in point, see Chapter Two.
7
until 1957 in Taiwan or 1978 in the mainland. Still the play was traditional Chinese theater
with names or plots to shadow forth the bard. For example, the Chinese Merchant skipped the
Jewish queston and highlighted the romantic and the legal bond. And all the offerings made
before 1949 were given a new title, and characters new Chinese names, both a new tradition
for many adaptations of the following period. It usherd in an important period for traditional
Chinese theater to receive Western theater for the first time. Meanwhile huaju came into
emergence as the indigenous xiqu color gradually faded away from spoken drama productions.
In both cases, Shakespeare served as an eye opener for the Chinese to see the outside world. It
also foreshadowed a flourishing time to Sinicize Shakespeare.
Then came the Russian decades of the representational style, or Stanislavski system, of
theater. Western theater flourished for a time, but in this period only The Merchant of Venice
was staged in Cantonese yueju from 1952 to 1954, which may have come as the after-sound
of the last decade. The Russian influenced one generation of the Chinese dramaturges and
their impact can be felt in the next period when Shanghai jueju staged Twelfth Night. The
1950s witnessed the government-endorsed xigai, or opera reform, a favorite word on
household lips, which turned out to be a de-tradition campaign of re-educating the actors,
re-adapting the repertoire, and re-establishing the troupes. The chaotic opera stage was made
disastrously barren by a tumultuous decade of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) except for
a handful of model operas I grew up with. The bard was completely silenced in China, and
darkness fell on the stage of foreign drama as well.
2) The Renaissance Period (1983-1995)
Twenty-four Shake-xiqu offerings are recorded in a decade or more, from 1983 when
Beijing jingju adapted Othello to 1995 when Shanghai jingju adapted King Lear, with a flurry
of eight productions around 1986. This is the period praised by Philip Brockbank as “the
post-Mao flowering of Shakespearean theatre”. The initial efforts came from the experimental
jingju Othello starring Mao Yongan, also a lead actor in a model opera titled The Azalea
Mountain (Dujuan Shan).1 And the two Shakespeare festivals in 1986 and 1994 respectively
occasioned by a short-lived renaissance of drama after the fall of the Gang of Four fanned up
1
For more, read Faye Chunfang Fei, William Huizhu Sun. Othello and Beijing Opera: Two Cases of Appropriation in
Different Directions, ed. Zhang Chong 290-315; and Alexander C.Y. Huang. “Ocular Proof”: A Black Chinese General in
Beijing: 176-187.
8
the enthusiasm of appropriators, who were helped by some surviving senior Shakespearean
scholars who had been trained in English or in the West.1 Still Shakespeare was considered a
source for loose adaptations but the Chinese text less distant from the bard than ever.
For opera to adapt spoken drama, it is likely and necessary to streamline the play, cut or
combine minor roles and even subplots so as to leave room for arias, duets, choruses and
other theatrical conventions. In Shanghai jingju King Lear (retitled King Qi’s Dream), the
Gloucester family is reduced to his illegitimate son Edmund, who becomes the new king but
is wrangled to death by the dying and imprisoned Lear at the finale, without a mention that
the antagonist is a bastard. With subtraction from the original being the order of the day, one
can hardly imagine that there are always significant additions to the original as if the pent up
creative energy of the appropriators were released. Underlying these additions is the cultural
assimilation between Shakespearean and Chinese theatrical idioms. For instance, the show
starts with the celebration of King Qi’s 80th birthday, on which the manifestation of love is
mixed, for bidding, with a proposal for each of his daughters to govern the purposely divided
kingdom. Sure enough, his third daughter Snow (Xueying for Cordelia) is played up with a
heroic foresight to dissuade her father’s rash decision, sided by Kent who remains silent until
the king disowns her.2
Not all alterations can be legitimately condemned. In the 1994 Shanghai yueju version of
Hamlet (retitled The Prince’s Revenge), the eavesdropping of Polonius in Gertrude’s chamber
is prolonged, a typical feature of Chinese opera narration that does not pay attention to real
time progression. The groan betrays his own hiding place near the end of the scene when
Hamlet asks his mother not to bed with his uncle anymore and pledges to kill the usurper.
Polonius’s belated death, together with the immediate arrival of Claudius, is dovetailed to
help intensify the conflict, an understanding of the practitioners and their reading themselves
into Shakespeare.
1
For reviews, see Philip Brockbank, Shakespeare Renaissance in China. Shakespeare Quarterly, 1988 (Summer); Li Ruru.
Shakespeare on the Chinese Stage in the 1990s. Shakespeare Quarterly, 1999 (Autumn); Zha Peide, Tian Jia. Shakespeare in
Traditional Chinese Operas. Shakespeare Quarterly, 1988 (Summer); and Stanley, Audrey. The 1994 Shanghai International
Shakespeare Festival. Shakespeare Quarterly, 1996 (Spring).
2
For more discussions, see Chapter Four, based on my essay titled Addition and Subtraction in Operatic Adaptation of
Shakespeare: A Case Study of Lear’s Opening Lines, which appeared in Theatre Arts, 2014 (2).
9
Nor can one justifiably assert that any metamorphosis of Shakespeare is an intentional
insult to the bard, or to the theatergoers. In 2006, the American musical Lion King, an English
spin-off from Hamlet, had a 100-day run in Shanghai, in which the encaged Zazu has to
entertain the usurper by singing. One of his songs is subbed by the then Chinese pop song
Laoshu ai dami (Mice love rice). A few bars of it almost brought down the house.
Theatergoers, actors and the production team behind them contribute themselves to the
commercial success of the performance, so as to elicit tears, laughter and applause from the
audience, which is also a serious concern. In addition to singing and music, traditional
Chinese theater features choreographic and acrobatic skills, and jiqu or wit and fun to
entertain the patrons. This may lead to a further deviation of the adaptation from Shakespeare.
When Shakespeare meets Chinese operas on stage, conflict of domestication and
foreignization (borrowing two translation terms) always looms large. In Shanghai yueju
Hamlet, the grave diggers are eliminated to sacrifice the comic effect but the mourning aria on
the river bank displays the opera’s beautiful conventionalization of metaphors and melodies in
overtures. With gains and losses, the side effect is to have the motif of love and revenge
amplified and other motifs downplayed, thus the title changed. In the nunnery scene Chinese
Polonius does not hide himself with the royal couple, the opera script purifies the foul source
text, also a feature of many indigenous operas, and Hamlet’s yueju aria has the coloring of
Shaoxing daban opera, supposedly helping to stage his feigned madness. Different styles
crisscross here.
The cross-cultural drama production of Shakespeare has to tackle with many obstacles;
even the seemingly simplest way to Sinicize the bard will not be an easy job. A Shakespeare
play features round and deep characters with a big and male-dominated cast, but Chinese
operas, with a small but typified cast, often stereotype them. As the earliest Shake-xiqu of this
productive decade, the 1983 jingju Othello had to codify a typical Shakespearean role but not
so typified role type in Chinese opera—Iago. The way out seemed to amalgamate the
codification of chou (clown) and laoshen (old male) character types. And the title hero
amalgamated more. The rearrangement gave the actors a hard time because opera actors are
traditionally trained from childhood in the canon of one stock codification only. Even if the
characters happen to favor the cast, the actor oftentimes has to combine different stock
10
stereotypes of singing and acting to show the character’s unique personality, as is the case of
Malvolio in Twelfth Night (1985) and afore-mentioned title hero Hamlet, both in Shanghai
yueju as well as Shylock in Taiwan bangzi Bond (2009). In fact, cross-role-type performing is
exactly how Chinese opera masters survive the challenge and manage to set up their new set
patterns (conventionalization), schools and virtuosities.
3) The Diversity Period (1996 to present)
Since 1996, Chinese theaters have further ebbed down but the economy has kept flowing
up. The Shakespeare Association of China was disbanded in 2003,1 and there are no more
national or large-scale Shakespeare Festivals. Still twenty-five Shakespeare offerings have
been made in various opera styles to display a more diversified spectrum than ever.
Huadengxi opera localized the love tragedy of Romeo and Juliet in the genre’s associated
remote province of Yunnan in 1996. Then small-scale theaters flourished with Lady Macbeth
(1999), Lear Is Here (2001) and Hamlet (2005). The most recent adaptations to my
knowledge are jiju Romeo and Juliet (2016) in the Western style, and Hubei chuju A Horse
Wrangler’s Story (2017-2018), the genre’s first attempt to mount Shakespeare in a
domesticated style and also the first Chinese opera version of Richard the Third. This period
also hailed two verse publications of complete Shakespeare,2 supposedly designed for stage.
So far, the translations have received mixed reviews. Some bilingual critics are uncomfortable
for the renditions seem to have lost the original’s poetic flavor and funny overtone.3 Nor does
it seem to help the traditional Chinese stage much for the adaptors mainly follow their own
idioms. To rewrite libretto for the opera stage, a prose translation serves a good enough
source. In other words, the diversity of the bard in traditional Chinese theater is brought about
by the diversity of theater genres rather than by the diversity of translations.
The 2001 Macbeth, retitled General Ma Long, stuck to the tradition of Shaoxing yueju
by using a small female cast with doublings of the Witches switched to Doctor, Porter, Seyton
and some other walking roles. To do a small-scale theater, the chuanju monodrama Lady
1
It was resurrected, in April 2013, under the umbrella of the Chinese Society of Foreign Literature Studies, but much less
active and influential than in the last century.
2
Xin Shashibiya Quanji (New Complete Shakespeare), ed. Fang Ping, Shijiazhuang: Hebei Education Press, 2000 and
Shashibiya Quanji: Ying Han Shuangyu Ben (William Shakespeare: Bilingual Complete Works), eds. Jonathan Bate, Eric
Rasmussen & Gu Zhengkun, Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2016.
3
Shaju de fanyi: Cong sanwenti dao shiti yiben (On the Translation of Shakespeare: From Prose to Verse) by Lan Renzhe.
Chinese Translators Journal, 2003 (3), and Hamuleite zai Zhongguo de bainian yijie shuping (Chinese Translations of
Hamlet over the Past Hundred Years) by Jin Jing & Zhu Jianping. Chinese Translators Journal, 2016 (5).
11
Macbeth starring Tian Mansha was staged in 1999, and Shanghai kunqu Husbands’ Lady
(2015) was cast into one Lady as well as three Macbeths whose actors doubled witches,
soldiers and eunuchs! Less attention is paid to the original text when adaptations spin off. But
indigenous Chinese operas refuse to change with the times, or change slowly if they have to,
fearing that modernization would mean the loss of tradition, e.g. modernized costumes would
mean the choreographic disappearance of a handkerchief dance, fan dance, and shuixiu dance
(literally water-sleeve, an extended silk piece conventionally attached to the end of the regular
sleeve).
Most deplorable in General Ma Long was perhaps the absence of the hallucination and
knocking scenes, which kunqu and wuju adapted respectively. The cross-dressed title general
featured the star-actress’s virtuosity of a wooden sword dance at the banquet scene and
heavier doubling roles of the Witches, one of whom walked in aizi bu (antic-dwarf-like gait),
a traditional technique first borrowed into kunqu Blood-stained Hands and then copied by
some other Macbeths. The kunqu version has received favorable reviews at home and abroad.1
The femininity of the Shaoxing yueju production seemed weakened to make way for
masculinity in the 2013 adaptation titled Scared Souls starring a shen (male) but almost the
same script of the yueju was borrowed by huiju, the genre of which, together with Hubei
hanju, is proclaimed to be a forerunner of Peking opera. It is unexceptionally unique for two
different genres to adapt the same play with the same libretto, but in this case the director and
librettist are the identical practitioners and also related father-and-son. Of course alterations
have been made to tailor the libretto for the aria of either genre.
In the eyes of the Shakespeare student and opera audience alike, the appreciation of the
appropriation is the encounter with the cultural other. For one who does not speak the other’s
language, his understanding of the text in the new context may well be supplied by
intertextuality more than visualization, or by visualization more than vocalization. For
example, few English-speaking spectators of Chinese opera Shakespeare would sit
uncomfortably through the foreign verbal text, with which they are familiar in its original
counterpart, no matter what the actors utter. In this transcultural activity, either side has his
1
Shanghai Kunju Zhi (The Chronicles of Shanghai Kunqu). Shanghai: Shanghai Culture Press, 1998.
Zha Peide, Tian Jia. Shakespeare in Traditional Chinese Operas. Shakespeare Quarterly, 1988 (Summer).
12
own bird to kill—either for the Chinese to rejuvenate the tradition or for the Westerners to
impress power configuration. Still, it is a fascinating process, always something old will lose
and something new will gain. With better trained and more open-minded theatricals who are
able to handle less easily transferable matters across cultural lines, future adaptations with a
fine polish will massage both sides better.
Remember China is a populous country with diversified stage performances. When we
put aside for the moment the three radio plays of Macbeth, As You Like It and A Midsummer
Night’s Dream (all aired in the 1994 Shanghai festival), but put together the 1994
Western-styled opera Troilus and Cressida, the ballets of Romeo and Juliet (Shanghai 1984
and Beijing 1990), a puppet show of Twelfth Night or Twin Brother and Sister (Luansheng
Xiongmei Shanghai 1986), and all the opera productions with more huaju versions, none of
the above has attracted enough theatergoers to outnumber the cinemagoers of the 2006 buster
The Banquet (faked Hamlet), the first and one of the two Chinese Shakespeare adaptations on
the voiced screen, the other The Himalayan Prince (an inspiration from Hamlet). The comic
idol Ge You starring King Li (Claudius) generates rounds of laughter from the movie house
no matter what he utters. And the visual sensuality of Gertrude in the chain affairs (as a
step-mother in love with the prince/son) permeates the screen. The play is crucified. But the
bard gains popularity and diversity.
0.3 Literature Review

Shakespeare adapts. Most of his plays are either adapted from historical chronicles,
legendary accounts or somebody else’s plays. This is not our concern. Nor is it our concern
that even since the 17th century his plays have been adapted at home to suit, supposedly, the
stage, or rather, to cater for the changing taste of the English audience with times. Here is a
play’s ending changed, script cut or rewritten, or plot altered, heavily so from the Restoration
to the end of the eighteenth century.1
1
For the canon of the English adaptation, see Fischlin, Daniel, Mark Fortier, eds. Adaptations of Shakespeare: A Critical
Anthology of Plays from the Seventeenth Century to the Present. London: Routledge, 2008. And for a fine scholarship of such
adaptations, see Kilbourne, Frederick Wilkinson. Alterations and Adaptations of Shakespeare. Boston: The Poet Lore
Company, 1906.
13
Shakespeare is adapted. Our understanding of the adaptation of Shakespeare into

traditional Chinese theater is, first of all, a language transfer. But Shakespeare staged with
translated subtitles into another language or with another tongue synchronically put into the
mouth of his characters is not our concern either. Secondly, our adaptation is also a culture
transfer. This assumes the move from globalization to localization in indigenous theater. In
the 1830s and 1850s Shakespeare repeatedly knocked on the Chinese gate, introduced by
open-minded Chinese nationals and then by Western missionaries, almost in vain. In the early
20th century he began to prosper on the Chinese stage, first in English by touring troupes and
by Chinese students of English, and then in Chinese by Chinese actors of spoken drama and
traditional Chinese theater. None of these productions except the very last category fall into
our concern. This does not mean that other offerings in China do not encounter any culture
transfer for most of the bard’s audience here, an essential element of drama, is linguistically
and culturally different from his own. In other words, the localization of Shakespeare in China
may take two forms, in spoken drama which tries to follow the original text in English or in
Chinese, and more bravely in indigenous or traditional Chinese theater which sticks to the
theatrical conventions and codifications, and cultural traditions of their own. Only the latter
form is our concern. For the convenience of discussion, we also exclude a hybrid production
like Shaoxing yuejue Kou Liulan Yu Du Liniang (Coriolanus and Du Liniang 2016) starring
Mao Weitao, as Coriolanus and Du’s lover/husband, who traveled abroad with it. Du is the
diva of The Peony Pavilion. Like that in biology, adaptation of this kind, we understand, is a
dynamic evolutionary or even revolutionary process that fits the English bard to the
traditional side of the Chinese environment.
Henceforth, I shall define the adaptation of Shakespeare into traditional Chinese theater,
or Shake-xiqu for short, as a language and culture rewrite of Shakespeare into Chinese
theatrical codifications, conventions and traditions.
Three reasons listed by Dennis Kennedy and Yong Li Lan for adapting Shakespeare in
Asia include nationalist appropriation, colonial instigation and intercultural revision. (7-11)
Adaptations may generally involve changes, translations, alterations, appropriations,
salvaging, parodies etc. of the original, out of reinterpretation, recreation and intertextuality.
All of these may be realized in English and Chinese texts alike but new changes take place
14
when the bard is chained to an entirely different context. The adaptation of Shakespeare into
traditional Chinese theater rewrites the original English text into the culture and language of
the target text, and also into the operatic idioms of the target text.
Since Shakespeare had his initial encounter with Chinese opera, Shakespearian scholars
and opera theorists have made their observations and contributions. Among them Cao Shujun
and Li Weimin have published extensively in Chinese, the former exclusively on stage
especially on the two Shakespeare Festivals, and latter a modern or post-modern perspective
into Shake-xiqu, inter alia. Besides, there are numerous monographs narrating the history of
adapting Shakespeare in China, some of them bearing the identical title Shakespeare in China,
such as the ones penned by Zhang Xiao Yang (1986), the Shakespeare Association of China
(1987), Murray Levith (2004), and Sun Yanna (2010), and more bearing similar book titles.
One of the initial fruits is their discerning three approaches of sinicization1, according to the
ways that traditional Chinese theater receives them.
1) Adaptation in a traditional Chinese style, which is the order of the day, a style that
has been used to adapt most of the Shakespearean plays. It is to replace the original’s time,
venue, characters, custom etc. with the indigenous ones. Certain genres may find themselves
close to certain plays of Shakespeare, for example, Peking opera good for royal plays,
Shaoxing yueju for love stories, etc.
2) Adaptation in an Occidental style, which is styled experimental to keep as much
flavor of the original as possible. There are a few productions including jingju Othello (1983),
Shanghai yueju Twelfth Night (1986), Henan yuju Romeo and Juliet (1987), jiju The Merry
Wives of Windsor (2014) and Romeo and Juliet (2016), and hanju King Lear (2014). There
seems to be a perennial problem of incongruity with the theatrical idioms and dislocation with
the indigenous audience, who are afraid that the opera genre might be huaju-stylized or
corrupted in the Western way.
3) An English-to-English adaptation in the form of Chinese opera. This is to rewrite
English in English instead of Chinese and force the English words into the Chinese music.
1
See Cao Shujun and also Tong Shidai De Shashibiya: Yujing, Huwen, Duozhong Shiyu (Shakespeare Our Contemporary:
Contexts, Intertexts and Perspectives). ed. Zhang Chong. Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 2005: 344-359; Zhongguoban yu
Zhongguohua: qiantan Zhongguo xiqu gaibian waiguo mingzhu de liangzhong moshi (Chinese Edition and Sinicization: Two
Approaches to Xiqu Adaptation of Foreign Literature Classics) by Gong Xiaoxiong, Play Monthly, 2008 (10): 73-74.
15
Such a kind of production, the example of which is rare except one scene from Othello by
jingju actress/painted face Qi Xiaoyun, is supposedly favored by the English speaking
audience but loathed by the local theatergoer for the incommensurability with Chinese arias,
which are language-specific and must abide by the vocal idiom of the theater.
This theory of adaptation based on the Chinese reception has generated voices of
opposition in the academics as well. Chen Fang dismisses the English-to-English style as
mediocre with only one scene thus adapted, and a few adaptations in the Occidental style as
embarrassingly incommensurable with the opera. (17-19) One may decry the theory for they
are all Chinese-styled and the last one robs the adaptation of theatrical conventions coded into
the target context. If Italian opera is sung in Chinese, how much aria is gone?
While dismissing terms of “Chinese operatic flavor” and “Shakespearean flavor” as too
uncertain and inexplicit, and two categories of “Sinicized Shakespeare” and “Westernized
Shakespeare” as too problematic, Li Xiaolin is ready to embrace West-centered terminology
of “Western perspective” and “non-Western perspective” and modifies the three styles above
into “the imitated” (emphasizing the foreignness of the adaptation), “the re-interpreted” for
Sinicized adaptations, and “the re-constructed” (emphasizing deconstruction in the
adaptation)1 to echo John Gillies’s globalized, localized and post-modern respectively. There
is some progress in hers but the problem remains.
Whereas there is a theoretical inadequacy or oblivion in China, Western theorems
emerge. In A Theory of Adaptation, Linda Hutcheon advocates treating an adaptation as an
adaptation. As she sympathetically puts it, “an adaptation is a derivation that is not derivative,
a work that is second without being secondary,” (9) or inferior. In an adaptation, deviation is
an inevitable departure from the adapted but not necessarily a violation. She also writes:
To interpret an adaptation as an adaptation is, in a sense, to treat it as what Roland
Barthes called, not a “work,” but a “text,” a plural “stereophony of echoes, citations,
references.” (6)
With Shakespeare as the norm, the theory is still a Western-centered one.
That adaptation has its own life and value independent on the original drives fidelity
criticism out of the market. The source text is used as raw material for (re-)interpretation and
1
See Li Xiaolin. Bianxing De Shashibiya: Dangdai Zhongguo Xiquban Shaju Yanjiu. (Metamorphosed Shakespeare: A
Study of Chinese Operatic Versions of Shakespeare in Contemporary China) [Unpublished PhD dissertation]. Beijing
Normal University, 2010.
16
(re-)creation but not literal translation. And as a process of creation, she argues, adaptation
can be called appropriation and salvaging, depending on the perspective. (8) And this
appropriation, if transcultural, can happen both ways, either acculturation of elements from a
minority/low culture by a dominant/high culture or assimilation of elements from a dominant
culture into a minority culture.
Quoting Gérard Genette who described the act of writing a text hypertextually, in
another genre, with other texts in mind, Julie Sanders tries to distinguish adaptation, “a
relationship with an informing sourcetext or original,” (26) from appropriation, “a decisive
journey away from the informing source into a wholly new cultural product and domain.”
(ibid.) Obviously most Shake-xiqu productions are accordingly both adaptation and
appropriation.
While the target text further distances away from the source text, expropriation,
inspiration and spin-off emerge according to these theories.
All these universalities sound absolutely true but it is feasibly hard to apply them to
practice in China. As Hutcheon admits that “‘to adapt’ is to adjust, to alter, to make suitable”,
(7) Shakespeare has to face an entirely different culture, numerous subcultures, and hundreds
of theatrical idioms to metamorphose into Shake-xiqu. In comparison with fruitful film
adaptation studies of Shakespeare, or insightful studies from text to screen, adapting
Shakespeare into traditional Chinese theater is still a less lucky realm despite the fact that
there is a fine list of contributors.1 Although there are fine interpretations for the Western
theater-goers to understand a different theater genre, none have been able to guide or help the
practitioners in the process, for their failure to address the issues of principles, strategies and
methods governing a particular genre or in general, to say nothing of the fact that traditional
Chinese theater varies from genre to genre. Or as Garry Wills put it in his Verdi’s
Shakespeare, “[m]ost of the many operas made from Shakespeare’s plays are failures. Loose
adaptations have been more successful.” (2) When the zero-in fidelity criticism is out of place
1
Shashibiya: Staging Shakespeare in China, by Li Ruru, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2003; Shakespeare in
China, by Murray Levith, London: Continuum, 2004; Chinese Shakespeares: Two Centuries of Cultural Exchange, by
Alexander C. Y. Huang, New York: Columbia University Press, 2009; Shakespeare in Culture, eds. Bi-qi Beatrice Lei and
Ching-Hsi Perng, Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 2012.
17
with appropriation, expropriation, inspiration and spin-off rampant, then one might echo Lord
Byron and ask, is it still Shakespeare?1
To some extent it is not. And to some extent it is. To what extent it is not or it is depends
on how much or little the adaptation deviates Shakespeare while it is still a traditional Chinese
theater piece.
This is our major concern.
0.4 Structure of the Dissertation

Having briefly evaluated some fine scholarships above I venture to present my own.
Based on numerous predecessors and ultimately the above-mentioned adaptation canon, I will
devote myself to the Renaissance and Diversity periods, emphasizing the last period, as
scanty information about the Silent period is available and there have been quite a few fine
studies for the second period that I can base on.
Chapter One will be devoted to two concerns with the example of Macbeth, one of the
two most frequently adapted pieces in the canon, namely, language and culture transfers, and
discuss, besides their negative and positive interferences and the cultural other, how they
influence the libretto and choreographic text.
The next chapter will address the concern that when Shakespeare’s text is rewritten into
librettos, what kind of conflict it may arise on setting it to the music of aria, idioms of
choreography, and casting dramatis personae into codified players. Shakespeare’s round and
deep characters with a big and male-dominated cast will conflict with flat and stereotyped
characters with a small but typified cast, namely hangdang in Chinese operas. Further
concerns of rewrite and reinterpretation will be played up by a feedback from the audience
and experts. Hanju Taming of the Shrew serves as an example in this chapter.
1
This question is derived from Lord Byron’s comment on Gioacchino Rossini’s Otello. Byron’s letters and journals
recorded, in part, by Leslie A. Marchand read as follows, “They have been crucifying Othello into an opera . . . Music good
but lugubrious – but as for the words!” (qtd. Levith 68) With the question resonates Byron’s British power supremacy.
Levith’s long list of producions in question also includes Otto Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Verdi’s Macbeth,
Otello, and Falstaff, the musicals Kiss Me Kate, and West Side Story, Tom Stoppard’s absurdist play Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead, the films Throne of Blood, Ran, My Own Private Idaho, and Ten Things I Hate About You,
Prokofiev’s and Tschaikovsky’s Romoe and Juliet ballets. (ibid.) It is echoed in China known as Shawei yu xiwei zhi zheng
(Shakespearean flavor vs. Chinese operatic flavor). It is heatedly debated that in some productions traditional Chinese theater
seems to have devoured Shakespeare and vice versa in other productions. See Shanghai Xiju (Shanghai Theater Monthly)
1986 (3) and 1987 (4), also Cao and Sun 186-213.
18
Admittedly Shakespeare is a master of the English language with heavy double cross,
irony, word play, equivoque, cross-reference of the texts. All these would increase the
difficulty of adapting him into Chinese opera that speaks a different jargon, like the traditional
concept of jiqu or wit and fun, without which Shake-xiqu would hardly be entertainable. This
is our concern addressed in Chapter Three.
Since traditional criticism has its limitations or may run into conflict with Western
criticism, Chapter Four will move on to King Lear to illustrate my adaptation strategy of
addition and subtraction distilled from the three Chinese versions of Lear’s opening speech,
structures of various Shake-xiqu productions and role characterization. The strategy then
applies to evaluating the deviation of the adaptation from Shakespeare and indigenous theater.
Coda
Having briefed all the Shakespearean adaptations into traditional Chinese theater and
relevant theories concerning such sinicization, I have my ultimate concern that is to try to
answer the Byronic question whether adaptation of Shakespeare into traditional Chinese
theater is still Shakespeare. And I will further my discussion of all the governing factors
mentioned above aiming to understand the deviation of the adaptation from Shakespearean
context in Chinese operatic context, and further the deviation from xiqu. And an adaptation
strategy will be distilled from practice and in return it will help practitioners in their practice.
Various methodologies may follow in the future studies after this so that the adaptation of
Shakespeare into traditional Chinese theater or Shake-xiqu will continue to shake the Chinese
scene and eventually shake the world stage.
19
Chapter One Language and Culture Transfers:

A Case Study of Sinicized Macbeths
When a new language is learned, the learner’s mother tongue works with his
internalization of the target language, consciously or unconsciously. According to the
contrastive analysis made by Robert Lado and his Linguistic Across Cultures published in
1957, the learner attempts to transfer the features of his mother tongue to the second language.
When the structures of the two languages are close or similar, positive transfer or facilitation
occurs; when the structures of the two are different, negative transfer or interference happens
to him. (Hu Zhuanglin et al 333)
Similarly, when a transcultural play is staged, the theatricals and audience alike may feel
their mother tongue and culture working with the production and reception. When there are
linguistic and cultural similarities between the source and the target texts in structure, positive
transfer facilitates their process so that the adaptation is likely to be judged a success. When
there are differences between the two, negative transfer or interference tends to bring the
adaptation into a disastrous production and reception. Before we move on to discuss the
theatrical idioms in adapting Shakespeare into traditional Chinese theater, we shall discuss
language and culture transfers in this chapter.
As listed in the Introduction, Macbeth has been one of the most frequently Sinicized
Shakespearean titles up till now, second to Romeo and Juliet. The plays may have been
favored at random but there are obvious reasons to smooth over the adaptation. Romeo and
Juliet enjoys the intertextuality of a similar Chinese love story titled Liang Shabo Yu Zhu
Yingtai (The Butterfly Lovers). For Macbeth, its short-length script and tightly-knit single plot,
both mesh well with the idioms of traditional Chinese theater, and a usurper as the title hero is
somewhat close to a traditional piece titled Fa Zi Dou (A Punitive Expedition Against General
Zi Du). They both feature a banquet scene where the ghost of the murdered appears only to
frighten the host/murderer for real or just his imagination. Supernatural elements, like a ghost
causing the hero’s death or witches deceiving the hero’s will, permeate both plays. Of course
there are challenges. First, Macbeth is a dark tragedy but traditional Chinese theater features a
20
brightly-lit stage. Secondly, traditional Chinese repertoire has no such psychological piece in
stock. Thirdly, there would be thorny concerns, for example, when adapting the Weird Sisters
and sleepwalking scene, which are totally foreign to the Chinese stage. Last but not least,
Macbeth is considered one of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies and kunqu is proclaimed one
of the Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO in 2001.
As a result of nationalist appropriation, such an adaptation, if successful, could serve as a
showcase to boost the national pride of the Chinese.
For a technical reason that all Macbeths were made in the Renaissance and Diversity
periods while three productions of Romeo and Juliet were made in the 1940’s now
unavailable to the public, we choose Macbeth for our case study.
Shanghai Kunju Opera Troupe ushers in the first Macbeth among the nine adaptations
and has been a moderately commercial success,1 rare of Shake-xiqu, since the early 1980s.
Premiering early in 1986 and stunning the First Chinese Shakespeare Festival that April, Xie
Shou Ji (Blood-Stained Hands) toured the UK and part of Europe immediately after the
Edinburg and Belfast Festivals in 1987, which must have stimulated dramaturges of other
genres to follow the crowd as traditional Chinese theaters traditionally adapt or yizhi
(transplant) each other. Thus when adapting Macbeth, the huiju version transplants the
Shaoxing yueju version, the only known transplantation within the Shake-xiqu canon so far.
When Huang Zuolin, artistic director of the kunqu version, boasted of being able to
detect much in common between Shakespearean drama and traditional Chinese theater, he
perhaps meant the latter’s unique expressions to enrich the world stage,2 or perhaps once
again an effort to frame Western learning into traditional Chinese core values, an act of
cultural appropriation. He is thoroughly echoed by Zha and Tian in such details:
[T]here exist many similarities between Shakespeare’s plays and traditional Chinese
operas as far as their concepts of theatre are concerned. Both are based upon the concept
of “supposition” rather than upon that of “verisimilitude.” They do not attempt to create
an illusion of reality but rather admit that they try to affect the audience with fictitious
roles and events. This theatrical concept leads to great freedom in handling stage space
and time . . . In the use of sets and props, both Shakespeare’s plays and Chinese operas
tend to be allusive—simple stage properties and sets can signify many “real” occasions
1
It gave 24 performances, together with 36 other short-scene performances and four performances of The Peony Pavilion,
netted a profit of 23,517 British pounds. See Shanghai Kunju Zhi (The Chronicles of Shanghai Kunqu). Shanghai: Shanghai
Culture Press, 1998: 278.
2
Qtd. Macbeth: New Critical Essays, ed. Nick Moschovakis. New York and London: Routledge, 2008: 280.
21
Conclusion
Culture travels. So does transcultural theater. Nearly two hundred years ago,
Shakespeare arrived in China by name. For the last one hundred years he has managed to
flourish with his plays, globalized and localized, on English and Chinese stages.
So far we have mostly focused on and examined the latter half, that is, adaptation of
Shakespeare into traditional Chinese theater or Shake-xiqu with examples from kunqu, huiju,
jingju, yueju, huangmeixi, yuju and hanju theatrical tunes. In a technical comparison, there are
many similarities between Shakespeare and xiqu but more discrepancies in the aspects of
language, culture, and theatrical idioms. Therefore, the source text in English has to undergo a
journey of metamorphoses to become the target text in Chinese. First it is a language transfer
but unlike translation, the target text will have to be a much more distorted version, to survive
a culture transfer whatever the adaptation style is, which inevitably happens when meeting the
culture other. Secondly the text has to conform to the idioms of indigenous theater. The
traditional concept of jiqu is applied to the adaptation of Shakespeare’s nuances into vocally
and visually operatic performance. It is clear that Shakespeare’s blank verse will be travelling
into literary librettos, lyrical arias, histrionic dancing and kinetic movements to a satisfactory
level if jiqu is added to such a total theater.
Once domesticated, Shake-xiqu will have to Sinicize the names, find a suitable time and
venue for the story, and accommendate the characters for the new environment, etc. that is to
say, relocate the bard in an entirely different culture and theatrical genre. On the other hand, if
keeping to the original culture of the source text, Shake-xiqu still has to meet with the
requirement of indigenous theater. An aria from kunqu Macbeth shows that once adapted, the
melody will help to express some of the blank verse and intensify the plot. A huiju scene
shows that Chinese Lady Macbeth sleepwalks aesthetically while her English counterpart may
sleepwalk mimetically.
As a total theater, Shake-xiqu has its libretto served by aria and choreography but they
may run into mutual conflicts, exemplified by hanju Taming of the Shrew. Negotiable
alterations may have to be made on both sides. Further, indigenous theater features codified
94
role types which may run into conflict with Shakespeare’s round characters. And
cross-hangdang performance has proved to be the way out.
Finally, the strategy of addition and subtraction is proposed to the adaptation.
Subtraction applies to the source text which must be cut or trimmed to make room for singing,
chanting, dancing and acrobatics, all of which are required by traditional Chinese theater. On
the other hand, addition applies when a new role or new verbal and non-verbal texts appear,
or even the structure of the play alters in order to satisfy the cultural or theatrical requirement
of the target text. Three versions of Lear’s opening speech are compared for different styles of
theater may have different paradigms. And examples of more plays are used to further
discussions in the aspects of characterization and structure in terms of addition and
subtraction. The strategy of addition and subtraction also helps to understand the deviation of
Shake-xiqu from both Shakespeare and traditional Chinese theater.
Shakespeare has lived in China for nearly two centuries, with at least seventeen of his
plays Sinicized into xiqu so far. Sixty different productions may enable us to answer the
Byronic question posed in the Introduction. When Shakespeare resurrects in traditional
Chinese theater, is the adaptation still Shakespeare?
In the perspective of addition and subtraction the answer to the question lies as follows:
When the addition of xiqu elements occurs to Shakespeare, the adaptation will deviate
from Shakespeare and stay close to traditional Chinese theater. And when the subtraction of
Shakespeare occurs to the adaptation, Shake-xiqu will further deviate. The more subtracted,
the less Shakespeare it will be. Usually addition and subtraction will happen at the same time.
The more elements of the Chinese, the fewer elements of the English there are in theory. So
the other side of the question is: When the adaptation is still Shakespeare, is it xiqu yet?
Hence the adaptation is not just a one-side story of putting two different kinds of clay together,
rather molding it into a new figurine. It is important for the figurine to stay healthy and fare
well. After all, Shake-xiqu is one of Shakespeare’s afterlives or one of his numerous offspring
instead of a younger clone. Wedded to Chinese, he has mixed-blood babies, carrying the
genes of the English playwright and the Chinese adaptors.
In Julius Caesar (1599), Shakespeare anticipated his afterlife elsewhere, and he may not
have overlooked the tones and accents of this country in the Far East, for besides china for the
95
exotic and high quality porcelain,1 he wrote down Cataian2 or Cathayan, for the
untrustworthiness or perhaps for the deviation from him.
1
“. . . they are not china dishes, but very good dishes.” Riverside, Measure for Measure II, i, 94.
2
“My lady’s a Cataian, we are politicians. . .” Riverside, Twelfth Night II, iii, 75. “I will not believe such a Cataian . . .”
Riverside, The Merry Wives of Windsor II, i, 144.
96
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Arts Company, 2016.
Zhang Guoying, Sun Xiaomei, Hu Yongjun. Luju The Merchant of Venice (Qizhai Qingyuan). Hefei:
Hehui Luju Opera Company, 1989.
102
Internet Sources
http://compaign.tudou.com/v/507940626.html?f=41077655, Shanghai yueju The Prince’s Revenge
(Wangzi Fuchou Ji), last accessed March 18, 2018.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glocalization, last accessed March 19, 2018.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin-off_(media), last accessed April 10, 2018.
http://new-play.tudou.com/v/489567367.html?, Shanghai yueju Romeo and Juliet (Tian Chang Di Jiu),

last accessed March 10, 2018.
http://new-play.tudou.com/v/497267948.html?, Taiwan Hok-loh gezaixi Flower on the Other Bank

(Bi’an Hua), last accessed April 10, 2018.
http://new-play.tudou.com/v/522219457.html, huangmeixi Much Ado about Nothing (Wu Shi Sheng Fei)
last accessed March 28, 2018.
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNzQyNTE2MDA=.html, sixianxia King Lear (Li’er Wang, 1995

production), last accessed April 18, 2014.
http://www. iqiyi.com/w_19rrrmy5nd.html, Cantonese yueju Unruly Princess and Her Simple-Minded

Husband (Diaoman Gongzhu Han Fuma) last accessed April 11, 2018.
http://www.ikoo8.com/video_play/XMzQ2Mjc1ODI0OA==.html, Taiwan bangzi King Lear (Tian Wen,

2017 production) last accessed April 7, 2018.
http://www.mcprc.gov.cn/whzx/whyw/201712/t20171226_830165.htm, last accessed March 19, 2018.
103
Glossary
aizi bu 矮子步
Anhui 安徽（省）
An Zhong An Chuanqi 《案中案传奇》
Aosailuo 《奥赛罗》
ba 八
Bai Lidi 白立狄
Ba Lilan 巴丽兰
Ba Liya 巴丽雅
ban 板
bangzi 梆子
banqiang 板腔
Baofengyu 《暴风雨》
Ba Puren 巴普仁
Ba Wuji 巴無忌
Bi’an Hua 《彼岸花》
Bian Zhilin 卞之琳
Bozi 拨子
bu 不
bu xiao 不孝
Cai Shanshan 蔡珊珊
cang tou shi 藏头诗
Canjun 参军（戏）
Cao Shujun 曹树钧
cha ke da hun 插科打诨
Changchun 长春（市）
Changjiang Ribao 《长江日报》
Changsha 长沙（市）
Changsheng Dian 《长生殿》
chaoju 潮剧
Chen Fang 陈芳
Chen Fei 陈飞
Chenhu 沉湖（镇）
Chen Jianyi 陈建一
Chen Linghong 陈凌虹
Chen Qiuyue 陈秋月
chou 丑
chouqian 抽签
Chuang Tzu 庄子
1
For names that are popular in mainland China, pinyin and simplified Chinese characters are used, and for names
that are popular in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau or elsewhere, the Wade-Giles system and traditional Chinese characters
may be used.
104
chuanju 川剧
chuanqi 传奇
chuju 楚剧
Chunliu 春柳（社）
Chunying 春婴
ci （诗）词
cuobu 磋步
daban 大班（戏）
dan 旦
daoban 导板
daojiangshi 倒僵尸
daozi 倒字
de 地
de 的
de 得
Diaoman Gongzhu 《刁蛮公主》
Diaoman Gongzhu Yu Han Fuma 《刁蛮公主与憨驸马》
Di Shi’er Ye 《第十二夜》
dongjiangxi 东江戏
Dongtian De Gushi 《冬天的故事》
Dong Weisong 董维松
Dongyang 东阳（市）
Du Bairui 杜百瑞
Du Jianguo 杜建国
Dujuan Shan 《杜鹃山》
dun 顿
dupi 肚皮
erhu 二胡
Erhuang 二黄
Erliu 二流
erliu 二六
errenzhuan 二人转
Fang Ping 方平
Fang Yuefang 方月仿
Fei Chunfang 费春放
fu 夫
Fu De Ren 《夫的人》
Fu Jin 傅谨
Fu Quanxiang 傅全香
Fuxing 福星（村）
Fu Xiru 傅希如
Ge You 葛优
gezaixi 歌仔戏
Gong Xiaoxiong 龚孝雄
105
Gongzhu Yu Junzhu 《公主与郡主》

gu 鼓
Guangdong 广东（省）
Guangxi 广西（自治区）
Guizhou 贵州（省）
Guoyu 國语
Gu Zhengkun 辜正坤
Hai Zhen 海震
Hanchuan 汉川（市）
hangdang 行当
Hangzhou 杭州（市）
hanju 汉剧
Haomen Qianjin 《豪门千金》
Harbin 哈尔滨（市）
He Chang 何畅
Hebei 河北（省）
Hefei 合肥（市）
Hok-loh 河洛
Hong Zhonghuang 洪忠煌
huadan 花旦
huadengxi 花灯戏
huai-lai 怀来
huaju 话剧
huaju jia chang 话剧加唱
huang 皇（帝）
Huang Chengyuan 黄承元（诗芸）
huangmeixi 黄梅戏
Huang Zuolin 黄佐临
huashan 花衫
Hubei 湖北（省）
Hu Dao 胡导
huiju 徽剧
huilong 回龙
huju 沪剧
Hunan 湖南（省）
Hu Yongjun 胡拥军
Hu Yue 胡悦
Hu Zhuanglin 胡壮麟
Jianchang 检场
Jianghan 江汉
Jiangling 江陵（县）
Jiang Qing 江青
Jiangsu 江苏（省）
Jiang Xingyu 蒋星煜
106
Jia Xilin 加西林

Jiezhai Huan Rou 《借债还肉》
jiju 吉剧
Jilin 吉林（省）
Jinan 济南（市）
jing 净
jinghu 京胡
Jinghun Ji 《惊魂记》
jingju 京剧
Jinhua 金华（市）
Jin Jing 金静
Jin Jinliang 金锦良
jinluandian 金銮殿
Jin Peirong 金培荣
jiqu 机趣
Jixianbin 《集贤宾》
Ji Zhenhua 计镇华
ju 剧
jue 角
Kaifeng 开封（市）
kaikoutiao 开口跳
Kaohsiung 高雄（市）
kehun 科浑
Kou Liulan Yu Du Liniang 《寇流兰与杜丽娘》
Kunju 昆剧
Kunqu 昆曲
Kunshan 昆山（市）
Kuomintang 国民党
Lan hua mei 《懒画眉》
Lan Renzhe 蓝仁哲
laosheng 老生
Laoshu ai dami 《老鼠爱大米》
Law, Kar Ying 羅家英
Lei, Bi-qi 雷碧琦
Li 厉（帝）
Liang/Du 《量/度》
Liang Shanbo Yu Zhu Yingtai 《梁山伯与祝英台》
Liang Shiqiu 梁实秋
Liao Zhai Zhi Yi 《聊斋志异》
Li Bicui 李碧翠
Li’er Wang 《李尔王》
Li’er Zai Ci 《李尔在此》
Li Guang 李广
Li Hongli 李红立
107
Li Jianwu 李健吾
Li Jiayao 李家耀
Li Jinzhao 李金钊
lingzi 翎子
Lin Shu 林纾
Li Pan 李盼
Li Ruru 李如茹
Liu Jin 柳金
Liu Mingtai 刘鸣泰
liupai 流派
Liu Qing 柳青
Liu Xun 刘埙
Li Weimin 李伟民
Li Xiaolin 李小林
Li Xinyi 李欣怡
Li Xue 李雪
Li Yanmei 李艳梅
Li Yu 李渔
Li-yuan 梨園
longquan 龙泉（剑）
longtao 龙套
Lou Ashu 娄阿鼠
Luansheng Xiongmei 《孪生兄妹》
Luanshi Wang 《乱世王》
Luanshi Xiaoxiong 《乱世枭雄》
Lu Gu-sun 陆谷孙
luju 庐剧
Luo Mi’ou Yu Zhu Liye 《罗密欧与朱丽叶》
Lu Qiao 鲁乔
Lu Senxiu 路森修
Lu Xiao’er 鲁小二
mahjong 麻将
Ma Jiefu 《马介甫》
Makebai Furen 《马克白夫人》
Ma Lan 马兰
Ma Long Jiangjun 《马龙将军》
Mao Weitao 茅威涛
Mao Yongan 马永安
Ma Shizeng 马师曾
Mei Baojiu 梅葆玖
Mei Lanfang 梅兰芳
Meng Xianqiang 孟宪强
mianpi 面皮
Mianyang 沔阳（县）
108
Ming 明（朝）
Minguo Ribao 《民国日报》
Minming 民鸣（社）
mo 末
Mo Qing 沫青
mubiao 幕表（戏）
Mudan Ting 《牡丹亭》
Murong Tian 慕容天
Nanjing 南京（市）
Nanlv Gong 南吕宫（调）
Nanning 南宁（市）
nv 女
Ong Keng Sen 王景生
Perng, Ching-Hsi 彭鏡禧
ping 平（声）
pinyin 拼音
pipa 琵琶
Pi Quju 披屈菊
Putonghua 普通话
qi 七
Qi 齐（国）
Qi 歧（国）
Qian Mingyuan 钱鸣远
Qiao Duan Renrou An 《巧断人肉案》
Qie Guo Dao Sao 《窃国盗嫂》
Qie Guo Zei 《窃国贼》
Qi Jiang 齐姜
Qi Lingjiao 齐灵姣
Qing 清（朝）
Qing Tian Hen 《情天恨》
qingyi 青衣
Qin Si 秦似
Qi Senhua 齐森华
qitang 起堂
Qiu Ke’an 裘克安
Qi Wang Meng 《歧王梦》
Qi Xiaoyun 齐啸云
Qi Yang 歧羊
Qi Zhai Qingyuan 《奇债情缘》
qu 曲
qu 去（声）
qupai 曲牌
ren-chen 人辰
ru 入（声）
109
Ruan Dongying 阮东英

runqiang 润腔
sanban 散板
saotou 扫头
Shaanxi 陕西（省）
shan 衫（角）
shang 上（声）
Shang Changrong 尚长荣
Shaoxing 绍兴（市）
Shashibiya 莎士比亚
Sha Xiong Duo Sao 《杀兄夺嫂》
sheng 生
Shengxian 嵊县
Shi Fan 史璠
Shijiazhuang 石家庄（市）
Shouchun 寿春
shua bazi 耍把子
shua suanpan 耍算盘
shuban 数板
Shui Jia You Nv 《谁家有女》
shuixiu 水袖
Shun Pao 《申报》
Sichuan 四川（省）
Siping 四平（市）
sixianxi 丝弦戏
Song 宋（朝）
suibu 碎步
Sun Dayu 孙大雨
Sun Fuliang 孙福良
Sun Huizhu 孙惠柱
Sun Qiang 孙强
Sun Xiaomei 孙小妹
Sun Yanna 孙艳娜
ta 他
ta 她
tabu 踏步
Taipei 台北（市）
Taiping 太平
Tang 唐（朝）
Tang Xianzu 汤显祖
taobu 掏步
Taohua Shan 《桃花扇》
Tian Chang Di Jiu 《天长地久》
Tian Jia 田佳
110
Tianjin 天津（市）
Tian Mansha 田曼莎
Tian Wen 《天问》
Tian Zhi Jiaonv 《天之娇女》
Tian Zuo Zhi He 《天作之合》
tie 贴
Tie Han Jiao Wa 《铁汉娇娃》
wai 外
wang （国）王
Wang Deming 《王德明》
Wang Guowei 王国维
Wang Hailing 王海玲
Wang Jianhao 王建浩
Wang Li 王荔
Wang Yiling 王颐玲
Wang Yonghua 王庸华
Wang Yushu 汪育殊
Wangzi Fuchou Ji 《王子复仇记》
Wei Haimin 魏海敏
Weiluona Er Shenshi 《维洛那二绅士》
Weinisi Shangren 《威尼斯商人》
Wensha De Fengliu Niangmen 《温莎的风流娘们》
Wu Fenghua 吴凤花
Wuhan 武汉（市）
Wu Hsing-Kuo 吳興國
Wu Hui 吴辉
wuju 婺剧
Wu Shi Sheng Fei 《无事生非》
Wu Shuang 吴双
Wu Wozun 吴我尊
xi 戏
Xiamen 厦门（市）
xiande 贤德
Xiang 湘
Xiangchun 湘春
xiangju 湘剧
xiansuo 弦索
Xiantao 仙桃（市）
xianzi 弦子
xiao 小
Xiaonv Xin 《孝女心》
Xiaoping 小萍
xiaosheng 小生
xiaoshun 孝顺
111
xiaoxin 孝心
Xiaying 夏婴
Xie Jian 《血剑》
Xie Shou Ji 《血手记》
xieyi 写意
xigai 戏改
xiju 戏剧
xin 心
Xingyun 行雲
Xinmin 新民（社）
Xiong Jieping 熊杰平
Xipi 西皮
xiqu 戏曲
Xi Zhigan 习志淦
Xueying 雪婴
Xun Han Ji 《驯悍记》
Xu Qinna 徐勤纳
Yan 燕（国）
Yanhou He Ta De Xiaochoumen 《艳后和她的小丑们》
Yanzhihu Yu Shizigou 《胭脂虎与狮子狗》
yaoban 摇板
yaodan 窑旦
yi 一
Yi Bang Rou 《一磅肉》
Yi Chao 易超
Yingxiong Panguo 《英雄叛国》
yizhi 移植
Yong Li Lan 杨丽兰
Youyu Wangzi 《忧郁王子》
Yuan 元（朝）
Yuan Shikai 袁世凯
Yu Bin 余彬
yueju 越剧
yueju 粤剧
Yuelao 月老
Yu Huiyong 于会泳
yuju 豫剧
Yu Ma Ji 《驭马记》
yunbu 云步
Yunnan 云南（省）
Yu Qiuyu 余秋雨
Yu/Shu 《约/束》
Yuwang Cheng Guo 《欲望城国》
Yuxi 玉溪（市）
112
Zaishi Huanghou 《再世皇后》

zaju 杂剧
ze 仄（声）
Zhang Chong 张冲
Zhang Guoying 张国英
Zhang Jingxian 张静娴
Zhang Xiao Yang 张晓阳
Zhao Ji 赵骥
Zhao Qiumian 赵秋棉
Zhao Shanlin 赵山林
Zhao Zhigang 赵志刚
Zha Peide 查培德
Zhejiang 浙江（省）
Zheng 郑（国）
Zheng Zhengqiu 郑正秋
Zhongguo Shashibiya Yanjiuhui 中国莎士比亚研究会
Zhongguo Xiju 《中国戏剧》
Zhongxia Ye Zhi Meng 《仲夏夜之梦》
Zhongyuan Yinyun 《中原音韵》
Zhou Deqing 周德清
Zhuang Chuang 庄闯
Zhu Jianping 朱健平
Zhuomei Yu Aluo 《卓梅与阿罗》
Zhu Qing Ji 《铸情记》
Zhu Shenghao 朱生豪
Zi Dan 子丹
Zi Dou 子都
zifu 字腹
zitou 字头
ziwei 字尾
Zou Yuanjiang 邹元江
zuozi 坐子
113
攻博期间发表的科研成果目录
一、论文
熊杰平. 戏曲改编莎剧中的加减法—从李尔的开场白说开去. 《戏
剧艺术》. 2014（2），97-104.
---. 融合传统，重释经典——汉剧《驯悍记》的创作体验与反响
（日语）. [日本]《演剧学论集》. 2017（1），22-35.
二、译著
熊杰平. 《莎士比亚全集·驯悍记》，辜正坤主编. 北京：外语教
学与研究出版社，2016 年。
---. 徽剧《惊魂记》（字幕汉译英）. 安徽省徽京剧院，2013 年。
三、舞台实践（合作）
武汉大学《理查三世》（片段）入围第十届中国大学莎士比亚戏剧
比赛决赛，获最有创意演出奖，2014 年。
汉剧《驯悍记》。武汉汉剧院，2013 年。
汉剧《李尔王》。武汉汉剧院，2014 年。
楚剧《驭马记》。武汉市新洲区楚剧团，2017-2018 年。
114
鸣谢
张冲复旦大学（校外特聘导师）
曹树钧上海戏剧学院
李伟民四川外国语大学
罗家英香港演员
彭镜禧台湾大学
徐勤纳浙江婺剧团
武汉汉剧院
湖北省戏曲艺术剧院汉剧团
安徽省徽京剧院
武汉市新洲区楚剧团
115

莎士比亚汉化研究

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分类号 密 级

Taming of the Shrew------------------------------------------------------------------------ 43

Chapter Three Jiqu or Wit and Fun in Shake-xiqu-------------------------------------------61

Chapter Four Addition and Subtraction: From Adaptation to Evaluation------------- 75

4.1.2 Peking Opera Version------------------------------------------------------------------ 82

. . . How many ages hence

China proudly boasts 348 genres of xiqu,1 each named in a two-or-three-character

0.1 Canon of the Adaptation

0.2 Three Phases of the Adaptation

0.3 Literature Review

Shakespeare is adapted. Our understanding of the adaptation of Shakespeare into

0.4 Structure of the Dissertation

Chapter One Language and Culture Transfers:

Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1964.

Brockbank, Philip. Shakespeare Renaissance in China. Shakespeare Quarterly, 1988 (Summer).

Hutcheon, Linda. A Theory of Adaptation. New York: Routledge, 2006.

Levith, Murray. Shakespeare in China. London: Continuum, 2004.

Li Xiaolin. Bianxing De Shashibiya: Dandai Zhongguo Xiquban Shaju Yanjiu. (Metamorphosed

Riverside Shakespeare, the. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974.

Sanders, Julie. Adaptation and Appropriation. London: Routledge, 2006.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glocalization, last accessed March 19, 2018.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin-off_(media), last accessed April 10, 2018.

http://new-play.tudou.com/v/489567367.html?, Shanghai yueju Romeo and Juliet (Tian Chang Di Jiu),

http://new-play.tudou.com/v/497267948.html?, Taiwan Hok-loh gezaixi Flower on the Other Bank

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNzQyNTE2MDA=.html, sixianxia King Lear (Li’er Wang, 1995

http://www. iqiyi.com/w_19rrrmy5nd.html, Cantonese yueju Unruly Princess and Her Simple-Minded

http://www.ikoo8.com/video_play/XMzQ2Mjc1ODI0OA==.html, Taiwan bangzi King Lear (Tian Wen,

http://www.mcprc.gov.cn/whzx/whyw/201712/t20171226_830165.htm, last accessed March 19, 2018.

Gongzhu Yu Junzhu 《公主与郡主》

Jia Xilin 加西林

Ruan Dongying 阮东英

Zaishi Huanghou 《再世皇后》

---. 徽剧《惊魂记》（字幕汉译英 ）. 安徽省徽京剧院，2013 年。

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分类号密级

---. 徽剧《惊魂记》（字幕汉译英）. 安徽省徽京剧院，2013 年。