“Shashibiya : staging Shakespeare in China” (Publication, 2003)

Zeng, Jize. Shi xi ri ji [ID D7904].
Er schreibt über die Aufführung von Hamlet von William Shakespeare in London : "On the seventh day (of the third month, the fifth year of Guangxu). The play was a story about the King of Denmark who murdered his brother and married his sister-in-law. Therefore his brother's son took his revenge. The play was over at the beginning of zi shi [eleven o'clock in the evening] and then we came home."

Lanmu, Cha'ersi [Lamb, Charles]. Yingguo shi ren yin bian yan yu [ID D10417].
Lin Shu's translation of Tales from Shakespeare contains twenty stories based on the Bard's plays, it was the second earliest introduction of Shakespearean works into China.
Lin Shu schreibt im Vorwort : "When the Europeans criticize our country, they usually say that China is becoming increasingly weak and ill-fated because she is narrow in her view of the world, outdated in her thinking, allowing her past to dominate her present, and too fond of gods, fairies, ghosts, and demons. The young and audacious in our country are going all out for reform and change. They embrace only the new, mocking the old tradition and practice and discarding past history and heritage.
There are certainly justifications in what these people are doing. But, if they think that all things Western are new to China, they are wrong, for it would be like glorifying somebody by exaggerating his merits or destroying somebody by magnifying his faults. Aren't Hardy and Shakespeare literary giants of the great civilized England ? Look at Hardy's books that I have translated ; there are taboo snakes and condemned ghosts all over the place. Shakespeare's poetry is quite comparable to that of our [great poet] Du Fu, but he often conjures up images of gods, fairies, ghosts, and demons. If the Westerners are so civilized, then maybe these works mentioned should be banned and burned so as not to interfere with scientific knowledge. As far as I know, however, Shakespeare's poetry is held in high esteem among the well bred [in the West]. There his works are not only read and recited in every household but also performed in theaters, where men and women are moved to tears as they hold each other's hands listening to every word, where no one is ever tempted to call him old-fashioned or accuse him of having a fetish about gods, fairies, ghosts, and demons. Why is this the case ? Certainly, many old things are useless today, for example, the cooking vessels and drinking cups from the Bronze Age, heavy and rust eaten. But no expense should be spared to obtain, preserve, and display, say, a distinguished suit of armor once worn by a great personage from an illustrious family. People who are affluent and not troubled by the material needs of everyday life turn their interest to the past in pursuit of new personal enrichment. This is just like what [Su] Dongpo said, that when one has had enough rich meats and fine grains he starts to miss the snails and clams [of the old days].
Running a country and educating its people are two important matters that do not depend on arts and literature. When all is well with the country and its people, good arts and literature can add more luster; but when good arts and literature is all a country has, they do not benefit either the governing or educating. That's why the Westerners make government and education their priorities, gathering wealth and building military strength. They are so rich and powerful that no outsiders dare to humiliate them. It is only then they begin to enjoy arts and literature in their leisure time. Maybe Mr. Hardy and Mr. Shakespeare are old-fashioned and using gods, fairies, ghosts, and demons too much, but the civilized Westerners are certainly not complaining.
I am old, and I do not use the same language as Hardy and Shakespeare, but I am particularly fond of these two gentlemen's works. My good friend Mr. Wei Chunshu, from Renhe [Hangzhou, Zhejiang] —young, erudite, and a master of Western languages—and I teamed up to do translations at the Translation Studio of the Jingshi Daxuetang (Capital University). After Mr. Wei orally translated the works to me, I put them into [Chinese] literary form. In about two years we translated about three or four works, of which the most massive one is the Biography of Napoleon. We are about to graduate from the studio early this coming autumn. When free one night, Mr. Wei picked up some Shakespeare by chance; I started scribbling away by the night lamp. Twenty days later we have a book of Shakespeare's poetic tales.
The British certainly embrace new ideas in running their country, but they do not discard Shakespeare's poetry. Now that I have translated the book of Shakespeare's poetic tales, won't those blievers in new things reject it ?
There are some different versions of Shakespeare's poetic tales coming into our country. There are similarities and differences in the selections of tales as well as in the contents of actual tales themselves. My book contains bwenty tales, each of which has a new title by me for the purpose of highlighting."

Tian Han schreibt : "The novels translated by Lin Qinnan [Lin Shu] were very popular then and they were also my favourite type of publication. I was really interested in Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare which was translated als 'English poet, reciting from afar on joyous occasions'. I've been unconsciously influenced by this book. I read The tempest, Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet in the originals when I grew up, but it seemed to me that Lin's way of telling these stories as fairy tales was more appealing."

Li Ruru : Lin Shu adapted his Tales into Chinese. Taking the extract quoted earlier as an example, his version, compared to the original account by the Lambs, is tinged with more personal feelings evoked through the use of dialogue. His style is influenced by traditional Chinese story telling, which alternates freely and frequently between firs-person expression and third-person narration and commentary.

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.

Die Zeitung Shen bao schreibt über Yuan hu = Bitterness = Much ado about nothing von William Shakespeare :
"In Britain there are theatres which specialize in putting on Shakespeare's plays. You can imagine how expensive the tickets are ! Contract of the flesh has won high acclaim. Today we present 'Bitterness' to you, in which men and women deceive each other from the beginning to the end. The bickering couple become happy foes, and this makes you laugh to death. Later, the bridegroom stirs up trouble in the wedding hall, and the bride screams for justice. This makes you cry your eyes out... Those who are curious hurry up to see this Shakespeare play."

Die Zeitung Min guo ri bao schreibt über Nü lü shi = The female lawyer = The merchant of Venice : "…one of Shakespeare's famous plays. It involves cutting off a piece of one's own flesh to borrow money, while the heroine, though a women, nevertheless becomes a lawyer. Ecxellent literary style ; a wonderful story full of fun. It is a masterpiece performed by Wang Youyou, Zha Tianying, Li Beishi and Xu Banmei."

Guo, Moruo. Wo de you nian. (Shanghai : Guang hua shu ju, 1929). 我的幼年
Er schreibt : "The novels translated by Lin Shu were very popular and I liked them very much. The Lambs' tales from Shakespeare, which Lin shu translated into Chinese especially interested me. I was unconsciously influenced by this book. I read The tempest, Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet in the original when I grew up, but it seemed to me that Lin Shu's way of telling these stories as fairy tales was more appealing. More than many other foreign wirter, Walter Scott influenced me tremendously ; it was almost a secret of mine."

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.

Mao, Dun. Shashibiya yu xian shi zhu yi [ID D23874].
Einführung der Beurteilung von Marx und Engels von Shakespeare in China durch Mao Dun, basierend auf Aussagen des russischen Kritikers S. Dianamov.
Er schreibt : "… They [Marx and Engels] once tried to persuade Lassalle to study Shakespeare. When they commented on Shakespeare, their focus was not on the external shape of Shakespeare’s works... Both Marx and Engels thought that on the basis of the themes, content and real nature of these plays, Shakespeare is a truly realistic writer... He [Shakespeare] was eager to look for a new foundation in life. By evaluating the whole experience and the history of the class that he belongs to, he attempts to seek the basis of the new, fresh, and free life. He created a gigantic encyclopaedia of morality and an upright life style."

Aufführung von = Weinishi shang ren [ID D14427] = The merchant of Venice von William Shakespeare in der Übersetzung von Liang Shiqiu durch die Guo li xi ju zhuan ke xue xiao (The National Drama School) unter der Regie von Yu Shangyuan in Nanjing.
Yu Shangyuan schreibt einen Artikel in Zhong yang ri bao ; June 18 (1937) : He explains why the first graduating class of his school would perform a public Shakespearean production. He held what it was of great significance to use Shakespeare's plays for drama training because they had been universally accepted as one of the most important theatrical activities in the world and even as the highest standard of stage representation.

Aufführung von Luomi'ou yu Zhuliye [ID D14237] = Romeo and Juliet von William Shakespeare in der Übersetzung von Tian Han durch die Shanghai ye yu shi yan ju tuan (Shanghai Amateur Experimental Drama Company) unter der Regie von Zhang Min. Zhao Dan spielt Romeo und Yu Peishan Juliet.
Tang, Wen. Luomiou yu Zhuliye : canguan cai pai. In : Da gong bao zeng kan ; 8 Juni (1937).
Er schreibt : "Everything on the stage is black, and immediately you feel the horror and the sadness of death. The set is made from a dozen platforms of different sizes in semi-circular shapes. Along both sides of the stage, there are a chancel, a platform for Juliet's body and hug staircases. Lighting is provided by candles. Accompanied by heartbreaking music, the hero and heroine – one dies and the other comes to life, and then one comes to life and the other dies. How sad ! How touching ! This play will make audiences shed countless tears !"

Li Ruru : The production was of importance in at least one sense : during its run, many reviews and critical analyses were carried in newspapers, journals and magazines. This production initiated a link between translation, performance and criticism in the history of the 'Shakespeare enterprise' in China
It was a production in which Chinese practitioners attempted to implement Constantin Stanislavski's methods in 'hua ju' acting. As a theatrical form based on the established Western theatre with influences taken from Japanese 'shingeki', it was keen to 'grab' anything from abroad, no matter if it was from 'xi yang' (Western – foreign – Europe and America) or from 'dong yang' (Eastern foreign – Japan).

Aufführung von Hei jiang jun = The black general = Othello = 黑殭菌von William Shakespeare in der Übersetzung von Liang Shiqiu durch die Guo li xi ju zhuan ke xue xiao, Sichuan unter der Regie von Yu Shangyuan in Chongqing.

Aufführung von Zhu qing = The tempering of love = Romeo and Juliet = 铸情 von William Shakespeare in der Adaptation von Xing Yunfei durch die Shanghai xin sheng hua ju yan jiu she (Shanghai New Life Spoken Drama Research Society) unter der Regie von Xing Yunfei.
Li Ruru : The adapted script was a mixture of Tian Han's translation, dialogue from the American film produced by MGM, and Xu Zhimo's verse translation of the balcony scene.

Aufführung von Hamuleite = Hamlet von William Shakespeare in der Übersetzung von Liang Shiqiu durch die Guo li xi ju zhuan ke xue xiao (National Drama School), unter der Regie von Jiao Juyin. Wen Xiying spielt Hamlet, Lu Shui Ophelia in einem konfuzianischen Tempel in Jiang'an.
Jiao Juyin hält eine Rede vor der Schauspieltruppe : "The character of Hamlet is like a mirror, a lesson to us people who are living the the period of the Anti-Japanese war... So, the conclusion we can draw from the tragedy of Hamlet is that victory in our Anti-Japanese war will depend on the joint action taken by the people all over the country, and also more on immediate actions taken by the people without any hesitation. Today this sounds more correct than ever as triumphant reports pour in from battlefields on the anti-Nazi front all over the world, and we can foresee our victory against the Japanese invaders as well. This is the significance underlying our introduction of Hamlet to Chinese audiences. As to the skills or techniques of the performance, this is less significant, and it is quite unnecessary to bother too much about where it succeeds or fails."
Yu Shangyuan, Leiter der National Drama School in 1942 sagt : "The social significance of Hamlet [to us] is Hamlet's progressive and revolutionary spirit, which is what the Chinese people need during the Anti-Japanese war. Prince Hamlet resisted the destiny arranged by fate, countered feudal oppressions, and sought liberation from an environment filled with licentious and corrupt individuals. Those countries that produce the most high-quality Shakespearean productions are the countries with the highest cultural prestige. Performing Shakespeare is a crucial step for our country to catch up and to join the countries with world-class cultural achievements".

Aufführung von San qian jin [ID D23533] = Three daughters = King Lear von William Shakespeare in der Übersetzung von Gu Zhongyi durch das Shanghai yi shu ju tuan (Shanghai Art Theatre) unter der Regie von Fei Mu.

Aufführung von Roumiou yu Youliye [ID D23516] = Romeo and Juliet von William Shakespeare in der Übersetzung von Cao Yu durch das Shen ying ju tuan (The Divine Eagle Theatre) mit Jin Yan als Romeo und Bai Yang als Juliet ; unter der Regie von Zhang Junxiang in Chongqing.
Cao Yu : "One of my favourite Western playwrights is Shakespeare, and my fondness of Shakespeare's plays started from reading Lin Shu's Tales when I was a little boy. As soon as I was able to read the original English, I was eager to get hold of a Shakespeare play because Lin’s translation of Shakespeare's fantasy world was so fresh in my own mind.”
Li Ruru : Cao Yu's translation, rendered in an elegant style of verse and prose, plays with the tones of Mandarin as well that the combination of rise and fall gives actors an excellent opportunity to deliver the poetry in the text. Cao Yu himself was undergoing an emotional turmoil during this period, and the feelings and passions Shakespeare wrote beautifully for Romeo and Juliet best expressed his own inner world.

Aufführung von Luan shi ying xiong = The hero of the turmoil = Macbeth = 乱世英雄von William Shakespeare in der Adaptation von Li Jianwu's Drama Wang Deming aus den Fünf Dynastien, durch die Ku gan xiu yan xue guan (Bitter Toilers Drama School) unter der Regie von Huang Zuolin in Shanghai.
Si Ming schreibt in der Zhongguo zhou bao : "Having experienced the turmoil and chaos of the war, The hero of the turmoil really shocked us ! What a sigh of emotion".
Li, Quan. "Luan shi ying xion" guan hou de ping jia. In : Hai bao ; May 2 (1945).
Er schreibt : "The whole play is penetrated with a power, so strong that it can shake the mountains. It gripped us audiences from the beginning to the end. We saw a violent, fierce and ambitious man, who assassinated the emperor, killed the innocent, and finally destroyed himself. He was battling all the time, fighting against external enemies and against his own conscience. We couldn't help following him to struggle and to combat. We were out of breath throughout the entire show".

[Shakespeare, William]. Shashibiya xi ju quan ji. Zhu Shenghao yi [ID D23377].
Zhu Shenghao ist der erste chinesische Übersetzer, der die Gesamtwerke von William Shakespeare übersetzen will.
Er schreibt im Vorwort : "I have always loved Shakespeare's plays and in some cases I went over whole plays a dozen times, studying the text closely and reciting it to myself. I feel that I have quite a good understanding of the spritit in the original plays. In the spring of 1935, encouraged by my colleagues and my predecessors, I began my attempt to translate the complete works of Shakespeare. The next year war broke out and all my books, more than one hundred items including different Shakespeare editions, annotations, research papers and reviews, were completely destroyed by fire in a bombing raid. In great haste, I was abel to rescue the complete edition published by the Oxford University Press and a few pieces of translation. After that I was compelled to move from place to place and hunt around for a living so that I did not have the leisure to carry on with what I wanted to do. Not until the spring of 1942, when I found the times really bad, did I sever myself from all other work and, confining myself to home, concentrate on my translation work. Though I was pressed on both sides by poverty and illness, I never stopped translating. Over a period of ten years, I finished all the manuscripts. Ten years is not a long time for a task as arduous as translating Shakespeare. However, I have put my whole life's effort into it."
"I do my best for conserving the flavor and features of the style of the original. In case I failed to reach this goal, I would try to communicate the ideas... clearly and faithfully in an elegant and comprehensive Chinese. I considered it indecent to translate word for word without expressing the ingenuity and vigor of the original. Whenever I felt unable to render an English sentence into Chinese adequately, I would work a long time on it, and strive to reveal the English poet's ideas clearly, risking a completely different rearrangement of the words of the original sentence. Every time I finished translating a paragraph, I used to read it carefully as the first reader... if there were any ambiguities, and at the same time I would consider myself an actor for examining if the tone of the version was harmonical and the rhythm was agreeable. If, for example, a word or a sentence were not used with good taste, I would mediate even for some days trying hard to find the right word."

[Shakespeare, William]. Hamuleite. Shashibiya zhu ; Tian Han yi. (Shanghai : Zhong hua shu ju, 1922). (Shao nian Zhongguo xue hui cong shu. Sha weng jie zuo ji ; 1). Übersetzung von Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. (London : Nicholas Ling and John Trundell, 1603). [Die ersten drei Szenen erscheinen in Shao nian Zhongguo ; vol. 2, no 12 (1921)].
哈姆雷特

Zhang, Qihong. Zai shi jian he tan suo zhong de ji dian ti hui shi tan 'Weinisi Shangren' de dao yan chu li. In : Shashibiya yan jiu ; vol. 1 (1983). [Ideas from practice and exploration-rehearsal of The merchant of Venice].

Song, Qingru. Guan yu Zhu Shenghao yi shu Shashibiya hui gu. In : Shanghai "Gu dao shi qi" hui yi lu. Zhongguo she hui ke xue yuan, Wen xue yan jiu suo. (Beijing : Ren min wen xue chu ban she, 1986). [Recollection on Zhu Shenghao's translation of Shakespeare].