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西厢记 Romance of the West Chamber – Love conquers all in dramatic fashion
March 3, 2013, Sunday
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IN the history of Chinese literature, the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) is renowned for its dramatic works, which have always been deemed on a par with the poetry of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and the ci poetry of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
These three famed literary periods gave rise to the Chinese term Tangshi-Songci-Yuanqu (Tang Poetry-Song Ci Poetry-Yuan Dramas).
Many of the dramatic works of the Yuan Dynasty are still very popular in China today. Among them, "Xixiang Ji" or "Romance of the West Chamber" is widely regarded as one of the best.
Known by many as a "Lovers' Bible," "Romance of the West Chamber" was written by Wang Shifu (1260-1316), a famous Yuan Dynasty playwright.
Little is known about Wang's life, but 14 plays are traditionally attributed to him. Only three of these, including "Romance of the West Chamber," are extant.
With 21 acts in five parts, the play describes a love affair between Zhang Sheng, an impoverished young scholar, and Cui Yingying, the only daughter of a minister in the Imperial Court of the Tang Dynasty.
Zhang and Cui meet accidently in a Buddhist monastery where Cui and her mother stop off while escorting her father's coffin to their home town, after he died in the capital.
Cui is a beautiful, educated 19-year-old, and Zhang falls in love with her at first sight.
Although Zhang was also born into a high-ranking official's family, his parents died when he was young and he grows up as a poor scholar with no social status.
In China's feudal society, young people's marriages were all arranged, usually by their parents. Finding your own partner was deemed indecent and immoral.
Under such circumstances, Zhang sees little hope in seeking Cui's mother's approval for him to marry her daughter. So, one evening, the young scholar sneaks into a backyard garden where Cui burns incense and prays every night.
In an attempt to win her attention, Zhang reads aloud a poem depicting the moonlit scene of the garden and his feelings of loneliness. In response, Cui also reads out a poem.
After a few nights of such encounters, and thanks to the help of Cui's shrewd maid, Hong Niang, the two young people begin a secret love affair.
But by this time, a rebel general known as "Flying Tiger Sun" has learned that Cui is exceptionally beautiful and decides to take her away and make her his consort.
One day, the rebel general has the monastery surrounded by more than 5,000 troops and gives Cui's mother a three-day deadline to surrender her daughter.
However, Cui is a strong-willed young woman and threatens to commit suicide if she is forced to go with the Flying Tiger.
In desperation, Cui's mother tells everyone in the monastery that whoever can solve the crisis will have the hand of her daughter in marriage.
It happens that Zhang Sheng has a sworn brother who is now a Tang general stationed nearby. Zhang immediately sends for help from his friend.
But after the Tang general helps drive away the rebels, Cui's mother takes back her words and refuses Zhang's request to marry her daughter.
The two young people are left dejected by this and become increasingly lovelorn and depressed.
Eventually, under the persuasion of Hong, Cui's mother promises that she will let her daughter marry Zhang if the young scholar can pass the imperial civil service examination - the only way at that time to become an official.
Zhang is up to the challenge and passes the examination with flying colors.
In the end, Zhang and Cui are happily married.
On one hand, the play has been widely praised for centuries for spreading the deeply ingrained Chinese aspiration: "May that all lovers in the world could end up in wedlock."
But on the other, it has been criticized in the past as being indecent, immoral and even pornographic. As a consequence, "Romance of the West Chamber" was listed as a prohibited book for hundreds of years.
These three famed literary periods gave rise to the Chinese term Tangshi-Songci-Yuanqu (Tang Poetry-Song Ci Poetry-Yuan Dramas).
Many of the dramatic works of the Yuan Dynasty are still very popular in China today. Among them, "Xixiang Ji" or "Romance of the West Chamber" is widely regarded as one of the best.
Known by many as a "Lovers' Bible," "Romance of the West Chamber" was written by Wang Shifu (1260-1316), a famous Yuan Dynasty playwright.
Little is known about Wang's life, but 14 plays are traditionally attributed to him. Only three of these, including "Romance of the West Chamber," are extant.
With 21 acts in five parts, the play describes a love affair between Zhang Sheng, an impoverished young scholar, and Cui Yingying, the only daughter of a minister in the Imperial Court of the Tang Dynasty.
Zhang and Cui meet accidently in a Buddhist monastery where Cui and her mother stop off while escorting her father's coffin to their home town, after he died in the capital.
Cui is a beautiful, educated 19-year-old, and Zhang falls in love with her at first sight.
Although Zhang was also born into a high-ranking official's family, his parents died when he was young and he grows up as a poor scholar with no social status.
In China's feudal society, young people's marriages were all arranged, usually by their parents. Finding your own partner was deemed indecent and immoral.
Under such circumstances, Zhang sees little hope in seeking Cui's mother's approval for him to marry her daughter. So, one evening, the young scholar sneaks into a backyard garden where Cui burns incense and prays every night.
In an attempt to win her attention, Zhang reads aloud a poem depicting the moonlit scene of the garden and his feelings of loneliness. In response, Cui also reads out a poem.
After a few nights of such encounters, and thanks to the help of Cui's shrewd maid, Hong Niang, the two young people begin a secret love affair.
But by this time, a rebel general known as "Flying Tiger Sun" has learned that Cui is exceptionally beautiful and decides to take her away and make her his consort.
One day, the rebel general has the monastery surrounded by more than 5,000 troops and gives Cui's mother a three-day deadline to surrender her daughter.
However, Cui is a strong-willed young woman and threatens to commit suicide if she is forced to go with the Flying Tiger.
In desperation, Cui's mother tells everyone in the monastery that whoever can solve the crisis will have the hand of her daughter in marriage.
It happens that Zhang Sheng has a sworn brother who is now a Tang general stationed nearby. Zhang immediately sends for help from his friend.
But after the Tang general helps drive away the rebels, Cui's mother takes back her words and refuses Zhang's request to marry her daughter.
The two young people are left dejected by this and become increasingly lovelorn and depressed.
Eventually, under the persuasion of Hong, Cui's mother promises that she will let her daughter marry Zhang if the young scholar can pass the imperial civil service examination - the only way at that time to become an official.
Zhang is up to the challenge and passes the examination with flying colors.
In the end, Zhang and Cui are happily married.
On one hand, the play has been widely praised for centuries for spreading the deeply ingrained Chinese aspiration: "May that all lovers in the world could end up in wedlock."
But on the other, it has been criticized in the past as being indecent, immoral and even pornographic. As a consequence, "Romance of the West Chamber" was listed as a prohibited book for hundreds of years.
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