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“Shakespeare in China” (Web, 2008)

Year

2008

Text

Sun, Yanna. Shakespeare in China. (Dresden : Technische Universität, 2008). Diss. Technische Univ. Dresden, 2008.
http://deposit.d-nb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?idn=990753824. (Shak)

Type

Web

Contributors (1)

Sun, Yanna  (China 1971-)

Mentioned People (1)

Shakespeare, William  (Stratford-upon-Avon 1564-1616 Stratford-upon-Avon) : Dramatiker, Dichter

Subjects

Literature : Occident : Great Britain / References / Sources

Chronology Entries (24)

# Year Text Linked Data
1 1856 Muirhead, William. Da Yingguo zhi [ID D2152].
Erwähnung von William Shakespeare unter dem Namen 'Shekesibi' = 舌克斯畢 in China. Muirhead erwähnt auch Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, Francis Bacon und Richard Hooker.
Er schreibt : "Shakespeare was a well-know public figure in the Elizabethan age. His brilliant works represent both beauty and virtue. No one has outshone him so far".
  • Document: Chu, Rudolph J. Shakespeare in China : translations and translators. In : Tamkang review ; vol. 1, no 2 (1970). (Shak25, Publication)
  • Document: Zhang, Xiao Yang. Shakepseare in China : a comparative study of two traditions and cultures. (Newark : University of Delaware Press, 1996). S. 99. (Shak16, Publication)
  • Person: Bacon, Francis
  • Person: Hooker, Richard
  • Person: Shakespeare, William
  • Person: Sidney, Philip Sir
  • Person: Spenser, Edmund
2 1891 Guo, Songtao. Lundun yu Bali ri ji [ID D7868].
Er schreibt : "Shakespeare was a contemporary dramatist of Bacon two hundred years ago and was equally famous as Homer from Greece."
3 1896 [Huxley, Thomas Henry]. Tian yan lun. Yan Fu yi. [ID D10307].
Yan Fu schreibt über William Shakespeare : "Shakespeare was an English poet and dramatist of the 16th-17th centuries. His works are so valuable that most of them have already been translated all over the worlds. As for the characters depicted by Shakespeare, people living today not only resemble them in their speech and laughter, but also in their conflicts, emotions and their inability to get on amicably with one another.
Shakespeare wrote a play recounting the murder of Caesar. When Antony delivers a speech to the citizens while showing the body of Caesar to the public, he uses logic to stir up the citizens cleverly because Brutus warned him that he would not be allowed to redress a grievance for Caesar and blame the murderers. The citizens are greatly agitated by the speech and their resentment against Brutus and his comrades is running high. We should attribute Antony's success to the function of logic !"
  • Document: Li, Ruru. Shakespeare translation in China. In : Leeds East Asia papers ; no 4 (1991). (Shak17, Publication)
  • Person: Huxley, Thomas Henry
  • Person: Shakespeare, William
  • Person: Yan, Fu
4 1905-1906 [Defoe, Daniel]. Lubinsun piao liu ji ; Lubinsun piao liu ji xu ji. Lin Shu yi. [ID D10426].
Lin Shu schreibt im Vorwort :
"The English man Robinson, because he is not willing to accept the golden mean as a doctrine for his conduct, travels overseas alone by boat. As a result, he is wrecked in a storm, and was caught in a hopeless situation on a desert island. There he walks and sits alone, lives like a primitive man. He does not go back to his native country until twenty years later. From ancient times to the present, no book has recorded this incident. His father originally wished for him to behave according to the doctrine of the golden mean, but Robinson goes against his will, and in consequence, becomes an outstanding pioneers. Thereupon, adventurous people in the world, who are nearly devoured by sharks and crocodiles, are all inspired by Robinson."

"As I read it, I saw all the more clearly how best to handle loneliness and deal with extremity. You handle loneliness with your will, extremity with your own effort. When you are first confronted with loneliness, you are overwhelmed by anxieties, worries, fears, and frustration, you know not where to turn for help. But it is not loneliness that leads your to such a state... When Crusoe is first stranded on the island, he too is troubled and tormented with worries, but when he is resigned to the fact that there is no help and he is entirely on his own, when he knows that worrying would not do him any good, he reins in his fear of death, and he seeks spiritual support in religion. Having attained a measure of peace, he could apply all his energies to survival. It is important to remember that a person will forget his worries if his mind is occupied. During the day, Crusoe focueses his mond on his work - growing crops, building shelters and the like ; at night, he focuses his mind on religion. Through such steadfast discipline, he finally attains equanimity, his thoughts are serene, his words generous and kind. Twenty-seven years later, Crusoe returns to England, disposes of his property and uses his wealth for the care of his relatives and friends ; as head of family, he acts generously and humanely. For having undergone the most trying of all human experiences, he knows how difficult it is for man to bear with difficult circumstances, and so in all his dealings, he keeps in mind the workins of human nature. In this, he truly abides by the Doctrine of the Mean."

"Translating is unlike writing. The writer can write about what he has seen or heard, either in vague expressions or in detailed descriptions, that is to say, he can write about whatever subject and in whatever manner he likes. However, when it comes to translating, the translator is confined to relating what has already been written about, how is it, then, possible for him to adulterate the translation with his own views? When religious inculcations are found in the original text, he must translate them ; how can he purge his translation of that discourse just for tabboo's sake ? Hence, translation must be done exactly like what has been written in the original."

Sekundärliteratur
John Kwan-Terry : It is in the context of a Confucian ethos that Lin Shu discusses Crusoe's appeal to him in his 'Preface'. As Lin sees him, the Confucian hero whose life exemplifies the true principle of the golden mean is a person who is firm and steady of character and who does not tend to extremes of behavious ; he is not fickle in his emotions and beliefs and, far from deviating from the path of truth when under the severest pressure, will be ready to fight and die for it. On the other hand, the vulgar concept of the golden mean projects a man whose idea of not living an excessive life is to spend countless hours in comfort and safety with his wife ; though such a man has not committed any bad deeds, he is but middling and one among the very common. Crusoe, according to Lin, is not of this middling sort. His life shows a man of dynamism, of an independent, adventurous spirit, who is defiant of death, who faces the raging elements with courage, and overcomes the most adverse circumstances with ingenuity and resourcefulness. Such vitality of temperament supports the realization of the ideal mean which lies, not in a mere avoidance of extremes, but in an orderly fulfilment of responsible actions within society, within the family, within the time of human life. In this last observation, Lin has not overlocked the fact that there is little family or society to speak of in Robinson Crusoe, at leas in the sense of extended, overt reference. By its very nature, Lin's Confucian outlook on life has a 'this-worldly' orientation, in which ethical definitions are directed primarily towards the creation of social harmony. This means that Lin takes for granted Crusoe's social context, whether such a context has been elaborately fashioned or merely implied ; without such a context, Crusoe's extraordinary life becomes ultimately meaningless. Lin would have noticed that such a context has been established on the very first page of the novel, where Crusoe supplies details of his date of birth, the history of his name, his family's immigration into and subsequent naturalization in England – genealogical and sociological details that people in the traditional Chinese world, whether in real life or in literature, seldom overlook.
A nameless Crusoe, however heroic, who lives and dies alone on an island, will be an image of little consequence to Lin. If Lin has emphasized Crusoe's existential image, it is because, having taken Crusoe's social context for granted, he finds that this image is highly attractive and meaningful fo Lin's world-picture. Thus he does not find it awkward, while discussing Crusoe's dynamic personality, to give as much space in his preface to discussing Crusoe's relationships with his father, his wife and friends even though they appear but briefly in the book. It is from the same Confucian standpoint that Lin interpreted Crusoe's religious experience, his family and social relationships and his mythic significance. In his preface, he makes it clear that although he has translated Crusoe's Christian cogitations and prayers faithfully, he does not accept them. The religious sense, however, that they occasionally, and Crusoe's attitude always, impart, he understands and associates with the Chinese consciousness of the tao.
Lin's subsequent description of Crusoe's development shows, he can tolerate Crusoe's invcoations to God and Christ as occasions illuminating the emotional and psychological states that accompany the hero's efforts to make sense of his condtion.
Crusoe began with a love of adventure, Lin explains. His first act, in disregarding his parents' advice and admonition, was an act of ignorance. But paradoxically, it was also an intuitive reaction of his 'tao' and, if not an act of wisdom in itself, it led to wisdom, to that process of self-discovery in which widom lies. Initially, however, it saved Crusoe from settling down to that kind of 'middling' life that his father had advocated and that exemplifies the 'vulgar concept of the golden mean'. Once on the island, away from men, Crusoe's religious consiciousness began to develop. At first, alone and confused, he suffered from severe psychological disorientation, as nay normal man would, and became successively passive and apathetic, and obsessed with fencing himself in to keep out predators, both real and imagined. Crusoe's isolation had been beneficial in another way. As he arrived at an understanding of his condition, he gave thanks that with all its hardships and miseries, it had not been worse, indeed that it probably was much better than what many people had to suffer. With this realization, self-pity gave way to a mind at peace and a heart in closer sympathy with other men. Thus, 'after reading Robinson', Lin maintains, "I understand how to fight loneliness and difficulties. Loneliness is fought through the heart, difficulties are fought through power".
Lin adds : "Crusoe's treatment of his father shows that not all Westerners are unfilial, that he who knows how to fulfil filial obligations knows how to be loyal and care for his country. In this way, filial piety can be extended beyond family bonds to serve the purpose of national wealth and harmony. Since not all Westerners are unfilial, we cannot commend China and deprecate foreign countries. The reason Western learning has not spread all over China lies precisely in the mistaken notion held by a few conservatives that Westerners know no fathers."
Lin regards Crusoe as a model of heroic endeavour for his readers. The political implications of an example what is Western in nature and conception are not lost on him. While enthusing over Crusoe as the embodiment of individual vitality, he is sufficiently convinced of its essentially predatory nature to feel apprhensive of what the type means in the historical context of his time. The arrival of Friday in the story is thus seen as a signal for the subjugation, however benevolent, of the inferior for the benefits of the superior.
The translation of Robinson Crusoe, in Lin Shu's hands, becomes not so much a problem of literal accuracy as a work of interpretation and cultural transplantation. Lin has not hesitated to delete and abridge, to add a few words of his own to make the meaning clearer or supply his own metaphor to heighten the effect of the original, or to intersperse in the translated text his own annotations or critical comments in order to bring out a point or draw some conclusion. All the liberties that Lin took with Defoe's text served to record his appreciation or explication of the original work, its theme and art. In Lin Shu's Chinese eyes, Crusoe represents an image of human achievement that is both inspiring and threatening, an image, at the same time, that is seen to evolve within the contextual framework, not from book-learning or philosophical speculations but from experience, from the actual efforts at making a life worth living.
  • Document: Translation and creation : readings of Western literature in early modern China, 1840-1918. Ed. by David E. Pollard. (Amsterdam : J. Benjamins, 1998). (Benjamins translation library ; vol. 25).
    [Enthält] :
    Cheung, Martha P.Y. The discourse of Occidentalism ? Wei Yi and Lin Shu's treatment of religious material in their translation of 'Uncle Tom's cabin' [by Harriet Beecher Stowe].
    Xia, Xiaohong. Ms Picha and Mrs Stowe. -140. (Pol4, Publication)
  • Document: Gao, Wanlong. Lin Shu's choice and response in translation from a cultural perspective. In : The journal of specialised translation ; issue 13 (Jan. 1010).
    http://www.jostrans.org/issue13/art_gao.pdf. (DefD17, Publication)
  • Person: Defoe, Daniel
  • Person: Lin, Shu
5 1913 Erste professionelle Aufführung von Rou quan = The merchant of Venice von William Shakespeare in der Übersetzung von Lin Shu und Wei Yi von Lamb, Charles. Tales from Shakespeare [ID D10417] durch die Xin min she (New People's Group) unter der Regie von Zheng Zhengqiu in Shanghai.
  • Document: Li, Ruru. Shashibiya : staging Shakespeare in China. (Hong Kong : Hong Kong University Press, 2003). S. 18. (Shak8, Publication)
  • Person: Lamb, Charles
  • Person: Lin, Shu
  • Person: Shakespeare, William
  • Person: Wei, Yi
  • Person: Zheng, Zhengqiu
6 1914 Aufführung Sha xiong duo sao = Killing elder brother and marring sister-in-law = Hamlet von William Shakespeare in der Übersetzung von Lin Shu durch die Sichuan Oper Ya’an Chuang Theatre Company unter der Regie von Wang Guoren.
7 1920 Xu Zhimo übersetzt die Balkonszene aus Romeo and Juliet von William Shakespeare in freie Verse.
"Ah soft ! what light shines bright from yonder windows ?
That is the east, Julieh is the eastern sun.
Arise, beautiful sun, and outshine quickly
That envious moon. Since you, being her maid,
Are far more beautiful than she, she is already completely pale with grief."
Shakespeare :
"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she."
8 1922 [Shakespeare, William]. Hamuleite. Tian Han yi. [ID D13674]. Es ist die erste vollständige chinesische Übersetzung aus dem englischen Original von Shakespeare.
Er schreibt : "Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most stirring and moving tragedies. Today we have a lot of young people of the Hamlet type. What will they think about their society after reading this great tragedy ?"
Li Ruru : Tian was motivated to translate Hamlet by the greatness of the play's reputation and by his strong personal empathy with the protagonist which enabled Tian to use the work of translation to vent his own emotions, although he admitted a few years later that he had made mistakes in his translation because he had been 'too young and too ambitious' to deal with such a profound piece of English literature. Spoken drama was thus dominated for a significant period by Western models of realistic and naturalistic theater. Tian Han used his translation of Hamlet as a reaction against this trend. Yet this translation was important both as marking the first publication of an entire Shakespeare in Chinese and as a personal landmark for Tian in entering Shakespeare's world, or rather the world of theater. Shakespeare made him a playwright and a poet, and Shakespeare's influence is evident in aspects of the characters, plots and language of Tian's own plays.
9 1929 Zhou, Yueran. Shashibiya [ID D23523].
Sun Yanna : Zhou Yueran was the first Chinese who introduced Western William Shakespeare criticism. He mentioned Lafcadio Hearn's opinion of Shakespeare. Hearn concluded that there were three major differences between Shakespearean and other dramas. To begin with, Shakespeare's plays are full of life, Shakespearean characters live more dynamically than those of other playwrights. Secondly, every single character in Shakespeare’s drama has his or her individuality. They not only live, but also have a different life from each other. Thirdly, it is impossible to find any two characters alike in his works. Everyone, whoever they are, is a special creation.
10 1930 [Shakespeare, William]. Weinisi shang ren. Gu Zhongyi yi ; Liang Shiqiu jiao. [ID D23505].
Liang Shiqiu schreibt im Vorwort : "Among all the evaluations of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, I thought the essay written by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) from Germany was of the greatest profundity. He was a poet and sympathizer of revolution and as well as a Jew; therefore, his viewpoint of the play is worth introducing."
11 1930 Erste vollständige Aufführung des Weinishi shang ren = The merchant of Venice von William Shakespeare in der Übersetzung von Gu Zhongyi [ID D23505] durch die Shanghai xi ju xie she (Shanghai Drama Association) unter der Regie von Ying Yunwei und Meng Junmou als Bühnenbildner.
Zhang Xiao Yang : It was the first time that the Chinese saw a real stage representation of a Shakespearean play given in a mature form of modern spoken drama and with Shakespeare’s original text.
Murray J. Lewitt : This production is considered the first original-text performance of Shakespeare in China. It featured 16th and 17th century period costumes and scenery suggested by Renaissance Italian paintings.
  • Document: Zhang, Xiao Yang. Shakepseare in China : a comparative study of two traditions and cultures. (Newark : University of Delaware Press, 1996). S. 111. (Shak16, Publication)
  • Document: Li, Ruru. Shashibiya : staging Shakespeare in China. (Hong Kong : Hong Kong University Press, 2003). S. 233. (Shak8, Publication)
  • Document: Levith, Murray J. Shakespeare in China. (London : Continuum, 2004). S. 17. (Shak12, Publication)
  • Person: Gu, Zhongyi
  • Person: Shakespeare, William
12 1930-2000 William Shakespeare's Dramen in China.
Yanna Sun : Chinese performances of William Shakespeare can be assigned to one of three categories : the first contains those stagings that preserve the original Shakespearean spirit ; the second are those that sinicize the plays by transplanting Shakespeare into the Chinese culture and society, adopting the traditional Chinese operatic styles ; the third group comprises those that synthesize both Chinese and Western elements in terms of textual interpretations and theatrical techniques, a hybrid of the Western and the Chinese style.
Lu Gusun : When seeing an actor wearing an ancient Chinese costume perform Shakespeare's plays some people feel that it looks like a square peg in a round hole. Actually, to wear different costumes is merely a matter of form. If English actors, when performing Shakespeare's plays, can wear Cossack uniforms and modern German steel helmets, if American players can wear Indian clothes and the Canadian performers Eskimo clothes, why can't Chinese performers put on ancient Chinese costumes ? There can be no doubt that so long as we preserve the Shakespearean spirit, the adaptation of Shakespeare's plays into traditional Chinese drama will further prove the universal appeal of Shakespeare and add extraordinary splendor to the Shakespearean theater of the world.
  • Document: Zhang, Xiao Yang. Shakepseare in China : a comparative study of two traditions and cultures. (Newark : University of Delaware Press, 1996). S. 134. (Shak16, Publication)
  • Person: Shakespeare, William
13 1933 Zhang, Yuanchang. Sha xue. In : Wen zhe xue ji kan (1933). 莎学
Zhang Yuanchang introduced the William Shakespearen criticism of the Romantics in England, such as Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which "changed Shakespeare's literal reputation and established him once and for all as the head of English drama or even as the leading dramatist of the world".
14 1935 Mao, Dun. "Shakespeare's Hamlet" Hamulaite Shashibiya zhu [ID D23876].
He introuced the Shakespeare's life, divided his writing periods, and mentioned the play's plot. At the same time, Mao pointed out that Shakespeare belonged to the aristocracy, for his works depiced the conflict between the old culture of aristocrat and the new of the bourgeois class.
15 1943-1963 Cao Weifeng was the first Chinese translator who tried rendering the complete plays of William Shakespeare's plays in poetic form.
16 1949-1978 William Shakespeare und Marxismus / Leninismus / Maoismus in China
Yanna Sun : The Soviet model of Shakespearean criticism exerted a great influence on Chinese scholars of Shakespearean Studies. In the Soviet Union, Shakespeare was regarded as an important Western writer for the Soviet critic and Soviet theatre ; accordingly, more and more Chinese academics were encouraged to study his works through translating Russian critical essays on him. As a result, these Chinese renditions developed into compulsory reference books for teaching foreign literature and Shakespearean plays at the Department of Foreign Languages and Chinese language. Basing their works on the theory of Soviet criticism, many Chinese scholars analysed Shakespeare’s plays from such aspects as the historical and social backgrounds for creating these plays, the class struggle and social conflicts in them, always leading to the conclusion that Shakespeare plays balonged to realism rather than romanticism.
Theatre companies, both hua ju and local genres, were organized under the leadership of the party and the government in each region at different administrative levels. State-run theatres quickly replaced most of the private companies.
Three plays were chosen by the Soviet experts : Much ado about nothing, Twelfth night and Romeo and Juliet. Following the Soviet experts' models, the majority of hua ju Shakespeare performances werde dominated by an intricately realistic but cumbersome scenography : grand scenery set in the Renaissance style with high pillars and broad arches, artificial make-up with prosthetic noses and wigs, and luxurious costumes. Stage presentation was guided by commentaries of Marx and Engels, and interpretation had to follow the same track.

Zhang Xiao Yang : As China's dominating ideology since 1949, Marxism has greatly influenced the social and cultural practices of the Chinese. The socialist revolution took place under the guidance of Marxism-Leninism because Chinese culture has elements in common with the principles of Marxism such as advocating active participation in state and local government and sharing similar moral and social values. While Marx himself tended to approach Shakespeare from a literary and artistic standpoint, his successors, especially in Russia, often interpret the playwright historically and politically to illustrate the Marxist theory of dialectical and historical materialism. The Chinese appreciation was mainly influenced by Russian Shakespearean studies, as can be easily discovered by persuing Shakespeare criticism in China from this period.
There had been a tendency in Chinese Shakespeare studies to link the plays with their Elizabethan and Jacobean historical contexts. Marxist theory states that people are the real motivating force of history. Influenced by Marxism, Chinese critics believed that all writers wrote for a particular social class, most likely their own.
Using the Marxist method of class analysis, some Chinese critics believed that in hist works Shakespeare described the conflict between the declining feudal system and the ascendant bourgeois force.
The studies of Shakespeare's philosophical ideas in China, ranging from his concept of nature to his views of history, are greatly affected by Marxist philosophy, especially its materialism and dialectics.
Engel's theory of literary typification has often been used by Chinese Shakespeare scholars to analyze Shakespeare's characters. Following this theory they tried to find how Shakespeare reproduced 'typical characters under typical circumstances', which was actually an endeavor to relate the qualities of Shakespeare's characters to the relevant social contexts shaping such qualities.
The universal appeal of Shakespeare helped him to easily adapt to the taste of the proletarian revolutionaries, even if he wrote mainly for the aristocracy and bourgeoisie. Marxism has contributed to the positive reception of Shakespeare by the Chinese. Marx's historically and socially analytical method was commonly employed. This continued Marxist influence on Shakespeare studies in China is partly due to the fact that the impact of Marxism on the Chinese is so deep that some of his principles, particularly dialectic and historic materialism, habe become ingrained in the thinking of the people.

Murray J. Levith : The Chinese have mostly appropriated and adapted the playwright for their own purposes. They have dressed the Bard in various Chinese opera styles, forced him to be an apologist for Marxism-Leninism, celebrated his clunkers, neglected several of his masterpieces, excised sex, religion and contrary politics from his texts, added to them, and at times simplified, corrupted, or misunderstood his characters and themes. Perhaps more than any other nation, China has used a great artist to forward its own ideology rather than meet him on his ground.

Shen Fan : The study and criticism of Shakespeare was based on a few simple Marxist-Maoist theories of art and culture : 1. All societies – feudal, capitalist, and socialist – are divided into classes save for the primitive communist society and the final communist society of the future. 2. Each writer writes from the point of view of his class, consciously or unconsciously using his writing to serve his class's goals while reflecting society from its point of view. 3. All literature and art should be analyzed from a class perspective as a product of class struggle.
The merchant of Venice, which has been produced more frequently in China than almost any other Shakespearen play, deals with merchants, trade, banking, and love – all major concerns of Marxist Chinese interpretation – and presents spectacle qhich requires peculiar adaptations to fit the concentions of traditional Chinese theatre.
  • Document: Shen, Fan. Shakespeare in China : The merchant of Venice. In : Asian theatre journal ; vol. 5, no 1 (1988). (Shak34, Publication)
  • Document: Zhang, Xiao Yang. Shakepseare in China : a comparative study of two traditions and cultures. (Newark : University of Delaware Press, 1996). S. 235-240. (Shak16, Publication)
  • Document: Levith, Murray J. The paradox of Shakespeare in China. In : The Shakespeare newsletter ; 48 (1998). (Shak35, Publication)
  • Document: Li, Ruru. Shashibiya : staging Shakespeare in China. (Hong Kong : Hong Kong University Press, 2003). S. 41, 43-44. (Shak8, Publication)
  • Person: Shakespeare, William
17 1958 Film : Wang zi fu chou ji = 王 子復仇記 = Hamlet von William Shakespeare, mit Laurence Olivier, synchronisiert von Sun Daolin nach der Übersetzung von Bian Zhilin [ID D23517].
18 1980 Lin Tongji nimmt als erster chinesischer Gelehrter an der Nineteenth International Shakespeare Conference am Shakespeare Institute der University of Birmingham in Stratford-upon-Avon teil.
19 1983 Cao Yu schreibt über William Shakespeare in Ren min ri bao : "Our studies of Shakespeare are conditioned differently from our Western counterparts. We have a long cultural tradition... We approach Sakespeare and admire the 'world giant' with Chinese eyes of a new historical phase."
20 1983 Gründung der Shakespeare studies = Shashibiya yan jiu [ID D23518].
Es ist die erste Zeitschrift in China, die einem Schriftsteller ausserhalb Chinas gewidmet ist.
Cao Yu schreibt in der Einführung : "The dual purpose is to publish critical essays on Shakespeare and also articles concerning the playwright on the Chinese stage. Our aim is to recognize Shakespeare as a great Elizebethan dramatist and poet whose plays require both literary and theatrical research and study. If literary scholars cooperate closely and harmoniously with those who act Shakespeare, I believe we can advance both critical studies and improve stage productions."
He Qixin : "In this journal scholars evaluated Shakespearean dramas from the aspect of humanism while maintaining a Chinese sensibility, that is, Shakespeare's works are interpreted by the Chinese from the perspective of human nature and human rights embedded in the plays, closely combined with the social and political issues in contemporary China. Instead of analyzing the theme of Shakespearean dramas, the Chinese tend to appreciate characters with passion, awakening self-consciousness, desire for freedom and competitive individualism, which inspires the spirit of emancipation from spiritual fetters and demands human rights and dignity. Some radical Chinese critics relate particular social issues in Shakespeare's dramas to those of contemporary China, for exemple, the power struggles in the playwright's plays are used to mock the political situation in China."
  • Document: Levith, Murray J. Shakespeare in China. (London : Continuum, 2004). S. 58. (Shak12, Publication)
  • Person: Cao, Yu
  • Person: Shakespeare, William
21 1984 Gründung der Zhongguo Shashibiya yan jiu hui = The Shakespeare Society of China = 中國莎士比亞 硏究會編. Cao Yu wird Präsident.
22 1989 Aufführung von Hamlet von William Shakespeare in der Übersetzung von Li Jianming durch das Beijing ren min yi shu ju yuan (Beijing People's Art Theatre) unter der Regie von Lin Zhaohua und Ren Ming.
Lin Zhaohua schreibt 1994 in seinen Program notes : "Hamlet is one of us. In the street, we may pass him without knowing who he is. The thoughts that torture him also torture us everyday. The choice he needs to make is also the one we face every day. 'To be or not to be' is a question of philosophy, but is also a concrete matter, big or small, in our everyday life. 'To be or not to be' : you can choose only one of these alternatives."
Er sagt in einem Interview 1997 : "I was always hoping to put Hamlet on the stage ; I liked the loneliness of Hamlet. Moreover, during that period, people lost their vitality completely. Everybody now wanted to make money or to win prizes or lotteries. Only those who can think feel lonely. The lonely Chinese Hamlet was neither a prince who seeks revenge for the sake of justice nor a hero of humanism. What we are facing is ourselves. To face oneself is the most active and braves attitude modern people can possibly assume."

Li Ruru : Deeply depressed by the consequences of the June 1989 student demonstration in Tiananmen Square, Lin Zhaohua channeled his reflections on those tragic events and the realities they exposed about contemporary China into an experimental production of Hamlet which he presented in Beijing later that year. Lin's Hamlet was not a Renaissance giant with the sublime mission of rescuing his country and his people from a feudal tyrant. There were no longer heroes or villains in the play, just ordinary Beijing people in the late-twentieth century.
23 1996 Sixth Congress of the International Shakespeare Association in Los Angeles. Zwölf chinesische Professoren und Gelehrte nehmen daran teil. Fang Ping wird Mitglied des Executive Committee.
24 1998 Die Shanghai Theatre Academy = Shanghai xi ju xue yuan, die Chinese Shakespeare Academy = Zhongguo Shashibiya yan jiu hui, die Hong Kong Shakespeare Society = Hong Kong Shashibiya xue hui und die Australian Shakespeare Society organisieren die International Shakespeare Conference in Shanghai.
  • Person: Shakespeare, William

Sources (2)

# Year Bibliographical Data Type / Abbreviation Linked Data
1 1903 [Shakespeare, William]. Hai wai qi tan. (Shanghai : Da wen she, 1903). Übersetzung von 10 Geschichten von Lamb, Charles ; Lamb, Mary. Tales from Shakespeare : designed for the use of young persons. Vol. 1-2. (London : Printed for Thomas Hodgkins at the Juvenile Library, 1807). [Erste Übersetzung ; Übersetzer ist unbekannt].
海外奇谈
Publication / Shak6
2 1935 Mao, Dun. "Shakespeare's Hamlet" Hamulaite Shashibiya zhu 哈姆莱特莎士比亚著 [ev. In : Mao, Dun. Han yi xi yang wen xue ming zhu. (Shanghai : Ya xi ya shu ju, 1935). (Ji ben zhi shi cong shu ; 1). 漢 譯西洋文學名著 Publication / Shak213