“Ibsen in China : reception and influence” (Publication, 1984)
Year
1984
Text
Tam, Kwok-kan. Ibsen in China : reception and influence. (Urbana, Ill. : University of Illinois, Graduate College, 1984). Diss. Univ. of Illinois, 1984. (Ibs115)
Type
Publication
Chronology Entries (26)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1908 |
Lu, Xun. Wen hua pian zhi lun [ID D18283]. Lu Xun schreibt über Friedrich Nietzsche : "Was den Materialismus und Massenbegriff betrifft, so könnte man damit wohl auf eine Seite der Zivilisation des ausgehenden 19. Jahrhunderts hindeuten. Allerdings halte ich diese Auffassung nicht für angebracht. Denn alle Erfolge von heute sind in vergangener Zeit spürbar. Auch Zivilisation entwickelt sich in der Art und Weise Tag für Tag. Es gab in ihrer Entwicklung sogar auch Strömungen gegen die Vergangenheit. Dass Zivilisation einseigite Kultur mit sich bringen wird, kann deswegen unvermeidlich sein. Wenn man wirklich Konzepte für die heutige Zeit entwerfen will, so ist es notwendig, die Vergangenheit zu betrachten, die Zukunft zu bedenken, gegen den Materialismus zu polemisieren, Geist zu entfalten, den Einzelnen hochzuschätzen, die Masse zu beseitigen. Da man seit langer Zeit die Gunst der materiellen Zivilisation erlangte, wurde der Glaube des Menschen an den Materialismus immer fester. Dieser wurde allmählich als eine Norm respektiert und eine existentielle Grundlage für alle Dinge angesehen. Man war sogar der Ansicht, dass alle Erscheinungen auf geistigem Gebiet durch den Materialismus eingeschränkt seien. Der Materialismus stehe in engem Zusammenhang mit dem realen Leben. Er solle nur respektiert und verehrt werden, anstatt ihn zu berühren. Neue Ideen entwickelten sich in gewaltigen Strömungen. Der Geist von Ideen war bereichert durch Protest und Veränderung. Man setzte Hoffnung auf die Gewinnung neuen Lebens, indem man speziell die gegebene Kultur kritisierte und sie aus dem Weg räumte. Der Deutsche F. Nietzsche verlieh der Gestalt des Zarathustra seine eigenen Worte : "Zu weit hinein flog ich in die Zukunft. Und als ich um mich sah, siehe : da war die Zeit mein einziger Zeitgenosse. Da floh ich rückwärts, heimwärts : so kam ich zu euch, Ihr Gegenwärtigen, und ins Land der Bildung. Aber Heimat fand ich nirgends ; und vertrieben bin ich aus Vater- und Mutterländern. An meinen Kindern will ich es gut machen". Was Nietzsche erwartete, ist beispiellose Willenskraft, die Ausdruck vom Übermenschen ist. Er ist fast wie ein Gott, einer der ausgeprägtesten Individualisten. Nietzsche setzte seine Hoffnungen auf grosse Persönlichkeiten und Genies, aber er war dagegen, dass die dumme Masse eine zentrale Rolle spielte. Nietzsche sagte, wenn ein Land von der Masse regiert werde, so werde die Vitalität eines Landes zugrunde gehen. Es wäre besser, wenn man die Volksmassen als Opfer ausnutzte, um ein oder zwei Genies erscheinen zu lassen. Sobald ein Genie zum Vorschein komme, werde die Gesellschaft dynamisch sein. Dies war die sogenannte Übermensch-Lehre, die den Intellektuellenkreis in Europa einmal erschüttert hat. Nachdem manche Intellektuelle etwas von neuen Gedanken gehört haben, schämen sie sich zutiefst. Sie wollen deshalb gleich eine Reform durchführen. Sie halten daran fest, nie davon zu sprechen, was den westlichen Grundsätzen nicht entspricht. Sie halten auch daran fest, dass sie nie tun, was der westlichen Art und Weise zuwiderläuft." Lu Xun schreibt über Henrik Ibsen : "[Byron's ideas] are close to those of the Norwegian writer Ibsen. Ibsen was born in the modern world, and he was anguished at seeing that the world was full of follies, whereas truth was discarded. In An enemy of the people, he presents his ideas through the protagonist Dr. Stockmann, who in upholding truth against the prejudices of society is attacked by the people. Dr. Stockmann is expelled from his house by the landlady and his son is rejected by the school, but he is not frightened and continues in his fight. At the end, he says that he has made a discovgery : the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone. This is Ibsen's own view of the world. Henrik Ibsen was well know in the literary world for his talent and as an interpreter of Kierkegaard. His works were full of ideas opposing conventions in society, beliefs or morals, so long as they were biased and narrow-minded, Ibsen would attack them. He saw that in the modern world there were many people who did evil things in the name of equality. Mediocrity and superficiality grew day after day. Follies and hypocrisy became more and more widespread in people's behaviour. Thos who had high ideals and did not compromise their integrity for the favour of others were rejected in society. The dignity of the individual and the value of mankind were going to be lost. All these conditions gave Ibsen more anguish. For example, in his play An enemy of the people, he portrays a person who upholds truth and does not give in to popular beliefs. The person is totally isolated from the other people. But the cunning and evil persons become leaders of the fools. These people use the majority to bully the minority. They form parties as a means to achieve their selfish transactions. Thus a series of struggles arise and Ibsen's work comes to an end. The reality in society is fully depicted here." Yu Longfa : Die nach Japan geflohenen Reformatoren unter der Führung von Kang Youwei und Liang Qichao plädieren für eine Umformung der Staatsverfassung in eine konstitutionelle Monarchie. Innerhalb der Gruppe gibt es Meinungsverschiedenheiten, einige vertreten die Ansicht, dass ein parlamentarisches System nicht in China eingeführt werden sollte, weil das Wahlsystem, das nur zur Machtergreifung der herrschenden Klasse dient, für das chinesische Volk nicht geeignet sei. Lu Xun unterscheidet sich sowohl von den revolutionären als auch den konservativen Auffassungen und schenkt dem Individualismus im Sinne Nietzsches Aufmerksamkeit. Was die Einseitigkeit westlicher Kultur des 19. Jahrhunderts betrifft, so hat Lu Xun Hinweise auf zwei in Frage zu stellende Begriffe gegeben : den der 'Materie' und den der 'Masse'. Nachdem Lu Xun die historische Entwicklung der Persönlichkeiten, deren Geist voll zur Geltung gebracht worden ist, dargestellt hat, führt er als anschauliches Beispiel Nietzsche u.a. an, die ‚nach ihrem eigenen Willen mit ganzer Kraft gegen Sitten und Gebräuche ihrer Zeit kämpfen. Von Nietzsche spricht er als ein Zerstörer alter Kultur und Konventionen. Nach seiner Auffassung ist eine gründliche soziale Umgestaltung nichts wert, wenn die Menschen geistig noch nicht aufgeklärt sind. Er appelliert an die ‚Entfaltung des Individualismus’ vor der neuen Kulturbewegung und für ihn ist der 'Übermensch-Gedanke' der Ausdruck einer bereits von Konventionen befreite Individualität. Zhang Yushu : Für Lu Xun ist ‚der tiefsinnige und weitsichtige Nietzsche, der das Falsche und das Bornierte der modernen Zivilisation durchschaut hat’ deshalb bewundernswert, weil er unerschrockenen Kampfesmut und unversöhnlichen Rebellengeist ausweist, einen offenen Krieg an die westliche Welt, also an die kapitalistische Gesellschaft erklärt, und den deutschen Staat mit seiner herrschenden Moral und seiner kriecherischen Kultur schonungslos und treffend kritisiert. Nietzsche hat die verbreiteten Übel des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts vorausgesehen : die Überbetonung des Materiellen und der Massen. Die Ideen von Nietzsche dienten Lu Xun als Waffe, mit der er sein Vaterland aus Not und Elend retten wollte. Lu Xun erklärt dem Drachen den Krieg. Tausend Jahre lang litt das chinesische Volk unter dem Drachen, der den Willen des Volkes vergewaltigte und ihm seinen Willen aufzwang. Jetzt sollte der Löwe seinen eigenen Willen ausdrücken : Ich will auf Erden glücklich sein und nicht mehr darben, ich will so handeln, wie es mir recht ist, ich will lieben und hassen, wie mein Herz mir befiehlt, ich will nicht mehr Sklave sein mit allen sklavischen Tugenden, Zeichen der Schwachheit, die nur billiges Mitleid erregen und nie dazu beitragen können, meine Lage zu verändern. Ich will mich selbst überwinden und mit übermenschlichen Fähigkeiten und Eigenschaften übermenschliche Leistungen vollbringen, ich will den Drachen besiegen und Herr meines eigenen Schicksals sein. Daher kritisiert Lu Xun auch alles, was mit dem Drachen verbunden ist, und alle, die versuchen den Drachen mit Theorie und Taten auf seinem Thron zu belassen. Nur wenn man seine Liebe und seinen Hass, seine Hoffnung und seine Enttäuschung kennt, kann man verstehen, warum Lu Xun von Nietzsches Übermensch-Philosophie beeindruckt werden konnte. Es war eine tragische Zeit, die Helden brauchte und Helden hervorbrachte. Es ist uns völlig klar, dass es, um die Volksmassen wachzurütteln, einiger hervorragender Persönlichkeiten bedarf, die als Avantgarde den Massen vorangehen sollten. Für Nietzsche waren sie anfangs hervorragende Philosophen und Künstler wie Schopenhauer und Wagner, und später Halbgötter und Übermenschen. Auch Lu Xun war für die Genies und die Philosophen. Er fragt : "Ist es nicht ratsamer, die Massen zu ignorieren, umd die Genies und Philosophen zu feiern, als umgekehrt, die Philosophen und die Genies zu hindern, um die Massen zu fördern ?" Raoul David Findeisen : In Nietzsches Ideal des Übermenschen sieht Lu Xun den Höhepunkt einer solchen ethischen Evolution : "Erst wenn der Übermensch erscheint, herrscht Frieden auf Erden". |
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| 2 | 1914 |
Lu, Jingruo. Yibusheng zhi ju [ID D26226]. Henrik Ibsen is considered by Lu Jingruo as a 'great writer', 'a rival of Shakespeare', and 'a significant fighter in drama reform' ; and 'the vitality expressed in his works was so forceful that it became motal'. Lu also gives a summary of the plays written by Ibsen after he was fifty years old. |
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| 3 | 1918 |
Hu, Shi. Yibusheng zhu yi [ID D26214]. Hu Shi schreibt : "Ibsenism ! This is a difficult ropic. I am not a specialist on Ibsen, how can I be qualified to write such an essay ? However, since we have to produce an Ibsen issue, and to introduce Ibsen in a spectacular manner to China, it is necessary to provide an essay on Ibsenism. Anyway, I will offer the Ibsenism I have in mind as an introduction to the special issue." "In Ibsen's drama, there is a prominent theme which states that society and the individual are in opposition and mutually harmful to each other. Society is aristocratic and will destroy individuality by force. It suppresses the individual's free will and independence. When individuality is lost, the spirit of freedom and independence are gone ; society will lose its vitality and will not progress. Ibsen reveals the real nature of the family and society. His purpose is to shock the readers and let them know that there are darker sides in the family and society so as to induce them to reform and revolt - this is Ibsenism. On the surface, it is destructive, but in reality, it is constructive, but in reality, it is constructive. It is like what a doctor does in his diagnosis of an illness : can we say that this is destructive ? Although Ibsen diagnoses many diseases, he is not willing to give prescriptions. He knows that human society is a very complex organization made up of inumerable small parts. Its diseases are of many types and there is no cure-all prescription. Therefore, he only diagnoses the symptoms and let the patien find the prescription that will suit his case." "Ibsen tells us a good way to protect the health of society. He seems to say : 'The health of the human body depends on the large number of white blood corpuscles which are always fighting with the different kinds of diseases. The health of society and the state in the same way relies on the numerous white blood corpuscles which are never satisfied and are always fighting against the evildoers. If we want to defend the health of society we need to have the white blood corpuscles like Dr. Stockman. When society has obtained the spirit of these white blood corpuscles, there is no way that it will not reform and progress." "Nora in A doll's house suddenly discovers that the family is a stage for monkey performances and she herself is one of the monkeys. She has the courage, and does not want to wear a mask, therefore she says goodby to the stage manager and jumps down from the stage to live her own life." "Mrs. Alving in Ghosts is a coward, thus she is persuaded by the pastor to return home and resume her role as a wife." Elisabeth Eide : Hu Shi's version of Ibsenism as a coherent doctrine consisted of three major elements : an attack on the traditional family system, a defence of individualism, a demand for acceptance of the position of a persecuted and reviled minorty. This was needed for a China that wanted to grow strong. Chinese critics from the 1930s have generally agreed that Ibsenism was an essential part of Hu Shi's philosophy of life. The basic premise of Hu's Ibsenism was his assertion, that Ibsen pitted the individual against society in an extreme and forceful manner. According to Hu, Ibsen attributed to society evil intentions that might not be deliberate, but were unavoidable. Hu claimed that society could not progress if it did not contain the yeast of the strong individual. His exposure, in plays like Ghosts and The wild duck, of the evil forces within society. His protest against all that was moribund in the old society was set in an artistically acceptable framework that made his exposition very forceful. His creation of strong individuals serving as fresh streams in a backwater and scapegoats for society's anger. His offer of a remedy that was sufficiently loose to be applicable also in China. Tam Kwok-kan : Hu Shi attacks the Confucian moral order as a dying institution in China. He cites Ibsen's revolutionary ideas in denouncing traditional Chinese institution of law, religion, and morality which are all based on the Confucian concept of role-self, and he regards them as social evils culminating in selfishness, slavishness, falsehood, and cowardice. The individual is seen as always being repressed by society, and Hu Shi thinks that only when traditional society collapses will the individual be freed from the repression of all traditional bondage. Hu Shi believed that the events described in Ibsen's plays have correspondence in the real world. Realism is not treated as a technique with the purpose of creating illusions. Realism was regarded by many Chinese dramatists shallowly as a reflection on stage of an event that could be found in real life. In terms of acting, this kind of external realism has the advantage of breaking away from the traditional Chinese theatre, which is symbolic and impressionistic in style. Hu Shi's interpretation of Nora's decision to leave home was influenced by George Bernard Shaw. He interpreted Nora as a feminist work and argued that Nora suddenly discovered that the family was a stage for monkey performances and that she herself was simply one of the performers. Hu Shi further said that Nora had 'the courage to tear off the mask, say goodby to the stage manager and jump down from the stage to live her own life, but on the other hand Mrs. Alving in Ghosts was a coward and thus she was persuaded by the pastor to return home and resume her role as a housewife'. He Chengzhou : That he applauds Ibsen, says Hu, is because "he tells us the truth, describing the various evil situations of society so that we can have a close look at them". Hu Shi summarizes the subjects Ibsen has discussed in his plays, namely family, the social power factors (law, religon and morals) and the relationship between individual and society. At almost every point, his summary ends with an uncontrollable angry abuse of the related Chinese reality. In the last section of his essay, Hu Shi explains explicitly what he thinks Ibsenism means. "We are moved by Ibsen's descriptions of family and society and realize that our family and society are in facto so currupted that reform becomes really indispensable. And this is Ibsenism." |
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| 4 | 1918 |
Yuan, Zhenying. Kui lei jia ting [ID D26170]. Er schreibt : "In 1879, the play Nora was published. The play is sometimes also calles A doll's house or The model family and is the most famous of Ibsen's best works. The purpose of the play is to expose hypocrisy in society as well as in the family. In this play, a woman's place in the family is compared to that of a bird in a golden cage. In this way, the evils of the family are revealed. A woman has her own duties, which are not in taking care of the hunsband and the children, but in her own education, independence and freedom as a real human being." Tam Kwok-kan : As for Ghosts, Yuan regards it as a sequel to A doll's house and he thinks that the tragedy of Mrs. Alving lies precisely in her cowardice, whereas Nora's leaving homs "shows to women a hopeful future. She is an angel of revolution and a ringing bell to society". Comparing the two plays, Yuan affirms that while Ghosts is a tragedy of heredity, A doll's house is one of marriage. An enemy of the people, Yuan furthermore asserts, is a sequel to A doll's house and Ghosts. While Mars. Alving succumbs to social expectation, Dr. Stockmann revolts against it. Concerning the theme of An enemy of the people, Yuan hold the same conviction as Hu Shi that "the minority are necessarily correct, and the majority not". Yuan's study of Ibsen's plays provided the Chinese some basic ideas of the dramatist. |
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| 5 | 1919 |
Luo, Shui. Jiao xi [ID D26351]. [Nora von Henrik Ibsen]. Luo Shui schreibt : "As for the idea presented in this play two levels can be discerned. First, women usually have their own opinion and behaviour. People should understand the difficulties they have and help them, but should not demand from them the viewpoint of a husband and blame them for not having it. Second, the relationship between husband and wife is difficult to maintain. Both husband and wife should tolerate each other and compromise for their common interest, and mut not act contrary to it. But husbands seldom try to determine this common interest and whenever they are dissatisfied, they act according to their natural inclinations. Women are often short-sighted and shallow in knowledge. Once separated from the husband, they will be disillusioned and become pessimistic. They will behave in the most foolish way. This is reality what everyone should be prticularly careful about." |
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| 6 | 1919 |
Danton, G[eorge] H. Henrik Ibsen [ID D26352]. Danton schreibt : "In reading Ibsen chronologically, it is of great importance to understand what was the final and accomplished by him and through what stages he reached it. Eugene Scribe's plays are all outer action, all mere juxtaposition. Ibsen, at the very outset, went deeper than that ; not only ethically but dramatically. Ibsen stoutley denied that his play was a woman's rights play or that it should be used to aid women-suffrage ; he claimed for it only the portrayal of the rights of the individual to live as he or she will, and that the fundamental note was that the great crime is the crime against personaliy. Nora leaves home, husband, and above all, children, because she realizes that she has no chance to live her life with them and that her own ego had been sullied by her husband's selfishness." Tam Kwok-kan : Originally presented as a speech to students at Tsing Hua University, the article differs from other similar writings in that it concentrates on the artistic aspect of Ibsen's drama. As a foreigner, Danton was detached from the social problems in China and, therefore, able to look at Ibsen from a different perspective. |
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| 7 | 1920 |
Chen, Gu. Bulanduisi [ID D26354]. Chen schreibt : "Most English, German and French critics come to know Ibsen after he published his major plays. Their criticism is based on the speculation they can make about Ibsen. But Georg Brandes had the same mother tongue as Ibsen and as a contemporary of him, Brandes was able to follow the actual course of Ibsen's development and would not be blinded by his fame." |
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| 8 | 1922 |
Yu, Shangyuan. Guo qu er shi er xi ju ming jia ji qi dai biao zuo [ID D26242]. Yu schreibt : "In the seventeen popular Ibsen plays, there are three categories : first, historico-mythical plays ; second, verse plays ; third social plays. There are six plays in the first category, three in the second and eight in the third. The most famous of course are the eight social plays, but the one most typical of Ibsen's spirit and his technique is A doll's house. Firstly, it is a tragedy of marriage and also a spiritual pillar of the modern women's movement. We have said before that the central idea of Ibsen's tragedies lies in heredity - for example Ghosts - and Ghosts is a sequel to A doll's house. Helmer is representative of 'the pillars of society', whereas Nora is of the spirit as exhibited by Selina, Mrs. Alving, and Rebecca. Secondly, the play has establised a model for the form of modern drama." Tam Kwok-kan : Yu Shangyuan puts Ibsen's plays into three categories : the historico-mythical, verse, and social. He thinks that Nora is the most representative of the eight social plays, because the play shows every aspect of the techniques of modern playwriting. The play is treasured first of all for its feminist theme : "It is a tragedy of marriage and also a spiritual pillar of the modern women's movement. The central idea of Ibsen's tragedies lies in heredity – for example, Ghosts – and Ghosts is a sequel to Nora. Helmer is typical of the falsehood described in The pillars of society, whereas Nora is of the rebellious spirit portrayed in Selina, Mrs. Alving and Rebecca". Yu also introduces the play as a structural model for modern Chinese drama. |
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| 9 | 1923 |
Aufführung von Nala = Nora von Henrik Ibsen durch das Beijing nü zi gao den shi fan xue xiao (Peking Normal College for Women). Ren Tuo schreibt : "I believe that what China needs most is 'art for life's sake'. With regard to drama, 'problem plays' are especially needed. I wish, for instance, that Ibsen's A doll's house could be performed every day. On the fifth of this month, A doll's house was finally presented by the Beijing Normal College for Women. I was eager to see it. My conclusion is that it was a successful performance. The actors were faithful to the play. I brought along Pan Jiaxun's translation to check the performance. I found that on the whole it was highly faithful. This is why I was satisfied. My words seem rather strange. However, I always have the feeling that our art standards are sill immature. Even in our own works, we still have to take Ibsen as a model. When we perform his play, we of course have to be faithful to the original. It is inadvisable to make changes, otherwise we will only 'turn gold into iron'. Among the actresses, the one who played Nora was the best in recapturing the atmosphere of the play. Her expressions and movements were able to show the resolute character of Nora. For example, in the second half of the third act, which is the most important scene of the play, her acting was marvellous." |
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| 10 | 1925 | Aufführung von Nora von Henrik Ibsen durch die Shanghai xi ju xie hui (Drama Society) in Shanghai unter der Regie von Hong Shen, in der Übersetzung von Ouyang Yuqian mit Wang Youqing als Nora.. | |
| 11 | 1926 |
Wen, Yiduo. Xi zhu di qi tu. In : Chen bao fu kan ; 26. Juni (1926). [Artikel über Drama]. Wen schreibt : "It was by accident that modern drama came to China with Ibsen introduced as a social reformer. It was also by accident that Ibsen used drama as a medium for preaching his ideas. Since we had to introduce Ibsen, we could not avoid his 'problem plays' A doll's house, Ghosts, The pillard of society etc. Our first knowledge of drama started with the treatment of problems, and since the first impression is the most authoritative, it stays deep in our mind that the problem presented in a play is its sou. From then on we seem to consider the problem as the foremost element in drama." |
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| 12 | 1927 |
[Lavrin, Janko]. Yi shu jia de Yibusheng. Jiao Juyin yi. [ID D26219]. Lavrin schreibt : "Ibsen is also one of those who look upon the creation of art as a means to the creation of life. He hated mere aestheticism with its dogmatic l'art pour l'art, considering it as dangerous to ture art as dogmatic theology is to true religion. In the first half of his literary activity, Ibsen was considerably under the influence of the French drama of mere plot and situations. But as soon as he came to regard the intrigue, as well as the character, subspecie of some 'idea' or other, he was led gradually by corresponding changes in technique, to the so-called Ibsenian play. Intrigue for the sake of intrigue lost its former importance for him, and in transferring the centre of gravity to the 'philosophy' and psychology of the characters, he naturally emphsized the inner at the expense of the external drama. The consequence was that the external dramatic action and movement were reduced to a minimum, to be replaced by the inner dramatic tension. With this object Ibsen (in his later works) put the tragic quilt of his heroes into the past, i.e. outside the acted drama. By partial confessions, by mysterious hints and allusions to previous quilt he creates from the very beginning of the play that peculiar 'Ibsenian' atmosphere which draws our attention so strongly to the inner working of the characters. The external catastrophe itself is for Ibsen only a pretext and symbol of an inner transformation." |
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| 13 | 1928 |
Jiao, Juyin. Lun Yibusheng [ID D26218]. Jiao schreibt : "Ibsen was a thinker, a satirist, and last but not least an artist. If you study carefully his ideas, you may find that in many places Ibsen deviated from modern ideology, yet his greatness lies in his art. Even he himself admitted that he as a poet and not a sociologist. In recent years there have been many discussions of Ibsen in China. Many people have taken Ibsen primarily as a thinker. Of course we need thoughts, but we also need art. Our choice of art works surely may take on Soviet Russia's politcy towards foreign films, but we cannot deny a person's art because we deny his thought. By the person's thought because of his art. Whether or not Ibsen's philosophy is suitable for China, I cannot tell. At least I can conclude that present-day China does not need egotism - nevertheless, the kind of individualism Ibsen believed in is beneficial to our society because it means exactly the spiritual liberation and purification of the self. In China, there are many people who have lost their souls. Without a spirit, there cannot be a liberation, a purification of the self." Tam Kwok-kan : Jiao's essay covers Ibsen's Scandinavian background, biography, plays, and ideological inclinations. Jiao affirms that Ibsen is greater than his Norwegian contemporaries and that his success and popularity all over the world are due to the universal significance of his plays. Jiao stresses the philosophical, artistic, and satiric aspects of Ibsen’s drama. He regards Ibsen as a master who contributes to the perfection of realism as a dramatic technique in his problem plays, in which there is an effort to present the social issues rather than to provide a solution for them. According to Jiao, Ibsen as a thinker wrote his plays as an emotional relief of his own personal obsessions. Jiao recapitualtes the social evils rooted in the family, law, religion, traditional morals, and society. |
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| 14 | 1928 |
[Roberts, R. Ellis] Yibusheng. Mei Chuan yi. [ID D26235]. Roberts schreibt : "[Ibsen's] prose plays shocked Europe because here once more were live people on the stage. This is certain, and yet all the time the theatres of Europe were all familiar to live people of Shakespeare, and their intense problems. Why did the situation in Ghosts seem so much more terrible than the situation in Measure for measure ? Why did Rosmer stun and shame audiences which could smile and yawn at the agony of Hamlet ? Why should Hedda Gabler appear heartless to a generation familiar with Iago, or Rebecca West ruthless to people who knew Macbeth, or Mrs. Allmers indecently sensual to playgoers who admired Cleopatra ? First, most people cannot listen intelligently to poetry, even when it is intelligently spoken ; secondly, the whole presentation of Shakespeare's plays under the Lyceum tradition tended to make actors and audiences alike treat them as belonging to some remote and long-dead past. Ibsen is too hard, too certain, too religious for an age which is soft, and vague and frivolous. Also he is, except for those who like the east wind and the mountain top, a bleak author." |
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| 15 | 1928 |
Liu, Dajie. Yibusheng yan jiu [ID D12433]. Liu schreibt : "Disappointed by the illusions of life, Ibsen gabe up his dreams and regretted his failures at love. The difficulties in life brought him close to society and nature. He began to turn to the ordinary people immediately before him. Be they pastors, merchants, soldiers, beautiful girls, or young poets, he put all of them in his works. His purpose was to reflect faithfully the sorrows of life and wickedness of society. Thus he gave up verse and took up the prose form in his play. Tam Kowk-kan : In discussing Ibsen's plays, Liu Dajie follows the usual tripartite scheme in grouping the works into the romantic, realistic, and symbolist. |
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| 16 | 1928 |
Lu, Xun. Pian jiao hou ji [ID D26359]. Lu Xun schreibt : "Why did we specially choose Ibsen ? Because we had to build up a kind of Western-style new drama, to elevate our drama to use the vernacular to promote prose drama. And furthermore, because it was a task to urgent, we could only use practical examples to stimulate the senses of our intellectuals. These reason are all correct. But I still think that it was also because Ibsen dared to attack society and to fight against the majority. Probably, at thet time, people who introduced Ibsen also had the feeling that they were an isolated army surrounded in an old fortress. When we now look at their tombstones, we still feel the solitude, yet its spirit was great." |
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| 17 | 1929 |
Xiong, Foxi. Lun Qun gui [ID D26238]. Xiong schreibt : "Ibsen thinks that all those people opposing Nora are ghosts. The corrupt ideas and false morals are also ghosts. Although Mrs. Alving has fulfilled her duties as a good wife and mother, she ruins her life. For fear that the hypocritical and corrupt power will spread, Ibsen advocates a thorough clearance and thus brings out the problem of heredity in Ghosts. By the heredity of syphilis Ibsen implies that social corruption and hypocrisy can also pass to the next generation. Ghosts is a great tragedy of world significance, but it is not a Greek tragedy. Nor is it a Shakespearean tragedy. It is a modern tragedy. The classical tr4agedies are not free from the tricks of fighting and killing, just as in the works of the Greeks and Shakespeare. Only in a modern tragedy is this changed. There is no fighting or death. To the modern dramatists, death is not miserable. Real tragedy lies in the state of 'being neither able to die, nor able to live'. Therefore on the modern stage there is seldom 'death'. We find only inner conflicts, psychological wars, and spiritual battles and miseries that make people 'being neither able to laugh nor able to cry'. Psychological depiction is an essential element in modern tragedy. Ghosts is the first one of this kind. Ibsen likes to criticize and argue, but he talks in a reasonable way and never says anything redundant. Every sentence has a meaning and every word is necessary. There is plenty of dialogue in Ghosts, but none of it is nonsense. Here lies both the weakness and strength of Ibsen. Yet on the modern stage too much dialogue is really boring, discusting and makes people sleep. Especially in China, people do not like plays with too much dialogue. Our audience need to think and need patience when they watch Ghosts. He Chengzhou : On the occasion of the production of Ghosts Xiong published the essay Lun Qun gui. One central idea in that essay is that Ghosts is one of the greatest tragedies in the world, and a pioneering work of its kind in modern Drama. Tam Kwok-kan : Xiong Foxi thinks that Ibsen used 'ghosts' as a metaphor for those people opposing Nora, as well as for corrupt ideas and false morals. Althought Mrs. Alving has fulfilled her duties as a good wife and mother, she ruins her life. For fear that the hypocritical and corrupt power will spread, Ibsen proposes a thorough clearance and thus brings ou the problem of heredity in Ghosts. |
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| 18 | 1930 |
Chen, Zhice. Yibusheng de Qun gui [ID D26207]. Chen schreibt : "It is comparatively easy to discuss Ibsenism, or Ibsen's ideas and causes, for what one has to do is to read one of Ibens's plays and pick out a few key sentences, then one can write a full essay. As for me, I would like to talk about his dramatic techniques - those used in Ghosts. This is a difficult task for me, but since Ibsen is a dramatist, we should focus on his dramatic accomplishments, and only in this way will we not insult the artist. Ibsen's method differs from that of other playwriths in that, first, an ending becomes a beginning in his plays ; second, instead of chronological presentation, Ibsen uses retrospective exposition ; third, Ibsen gives up the conventional pattern of development ; all the three acts are expositions and the final unravelling comes at the end of the plays." Kam Kwok-kan : Chen Zhice states that it is comparatively easier to discuss Ibsenism, or Ibsen's ideas, for in so doing all one has to do is to read one of Ibsen's plays and pick out a few key sentences, than to talk about his dramatic techniques, especially those used in Ghosts. Chen believes that any study should focus on Ibsen's dramatic accomplishments, for only in this way can one do justice to the artist. Chen's statement is a critique of the popular view that Ibsen is a social revolutionist rather than a dramatist. Chen points out, Ibsen's success lies foremost in his technical innovations. |
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| 19 | 1931 |
[Lavrin, Janko]. Yibusheng yu Xiao Bona. Zhang Menglin yi [ID D26220]. Lavrin schreibt : "Shaw, being an active 'extrovert', is directed towards external life problems ; the brooding 'introvert' Ibsen, on the other hand, concentrates first of all upon that internal problems of life which can perhaps be solved only upon a supra-logical or religious plane. The whole inner tragedy of Ibsen was due to the fact that, endowed with a profound moral instinct. Devoid of religious consciousness, he was bound to have recourse to purely intellectual solutions, to various philosophical and sociological creed, which led him to scepticism and proved eventually mere illusions, mere 'ghosts' ; for however plausible they be on the plane of logic and reasoning, they were helpless on that plane which is beyond reasoning ; consequently they could not save him from his impasse. Ibsen needed religion as the ultimate justification of his own moral sense, which was strong enough to keep him spell-bound to the end by the uncompromising 'all-or-nothing', and to weigh him down by his continuous feeling of guilt - the feeling of individual responsibility for the evils of all life. It is interesting to compare in this respect the creative methods of Shaw and Ibsen. For apart from the difference which exists between a comedy and a 'serious' drama, there are certain similarities in the inner constitution of Ibsen and Shaw. Both of them are nonconformist in character, which means that they are stimulated by protest and by fighting against the tide ; both are reformers, both are intellectuals, and both write 'plays of ideas' ; that is, they start with some problems or other, which could not be said in plain philosophic terms, and they prefer to solve my means of their art. Kam Kwok-kan : Lavrin gives an illuminating study of Ibsen by constrasting him with Shaw. The latter is often treated as a disciple of the former. But with regard to their temperament, artistic concerns, and psychology, Lavrin shows that there are a number of fundamental differences. Ibsen is a moral idealist and his works are in one sense a representation of the conflicts between his ideals and the reality in which he lived. Lavrin affirms that Ibsen writes from an inner inevitability, which is the chief incentive of his works. His own spiritual fighting and experience, which he tries to embody in his plays, are the real cause. For Lavrin, what makes Ibsen different from his contemporaries, is that he does not have religion as a last resort in his moral struggle. Without such a belief, all evils of life become the responsibility of the individual. Ibsen's uncompromising principle of 'all-or-nothing' is an attempt at seeking the support of religion as 'the ultimate justification of his own moral sense'. Lavrin's remarks were especially useful to Chinese critics and readers alike in the 1930s, who were experiencing a new form of drama different from their own tradition. |
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| 20 | 1932 |
[Plechanov, Georgij Valentinovic]. Yibusheng. Chu Qiubai yi. [ID D26356]. Plechanov schreibt : "Ibsen's view and ideals were developed in a country which had no revolutionary proletariat, and where the backward masses could not become the vanguard of the progressive ideal. That is why every forward step of necessity seemed to Ibsen to be a movement of the 'minority', that is, of a small group of thinking individuals. It was quite different in countries of developed capitalist condition. There every progressive movement obviously had to be a movement of the exploited majority, or rather, it had to attempt to be that. Ibsen's bitter, sincere attacks against the 'majority' were greeted with applause by inumerable people who believed this majority to be the proletariat fighting for its emancipation. Ibsen attacked that 'majority' which was alien to all progressive strivings, but he received the approbation of thouse people who feared the progressive strivings of the 'majority'." |
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| 21 | 1939 |
Aufführung von Nü xing de jie fang = Nora von Henrik Ibsen durch die Ying nian hui (YMCA) in Shanghai unter der Regie von Yi Qiao, in der Adaptation von Yi Qiao mit Ping Gu als Ye Anna. The setting of the play is placed in Shanghai in 1938, a year after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war. The names of the caracters are all changed to Chinese ones. The performance was highly successful. Yi Qiao makes the following apology for the changes : "Today China has already entered a period of national defense and liberation ; numerous people have sacrificed their own happiness and freedom for the sake of their fellow countrymen. The present performance of A doll's houe can no longer take on the attitude of provinding 'a memorandum' for the Chinese women, but must serve as a compass for future actions. For this reason, we have to meet the needs of our age and make our performance a part of our cause in liberating China. Our revision of A doll's house was based on the idea of making it more suitable for presentation in China. Although this is not an advisable decision and may even bring harm to Ibsen's original, we have no way to avoid it. There must be some people who will curs us : 'You such a nobody. It is completely wrong for you to make any change to a world masterpiece'." |
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| 22 | 1940 |
Pan, Jiaxun. Jin dai xi yang wen di zhu ben [ID D26355]. Pan schreibt : "Strictly speaking, it is not just society but also the individual that Ibsen wanted to deal with in his problem plays. Furthermore, we can say that in his plays individualism is not only a central theme, but also a point of departure as well as conclusion. Individualism recognizes the individual as part of the people. The self cannot be separated from others ; therefore there is no isolated existence of the self. True individualism is not selfishness ; the indivudial also cares for the benefits of others because one knows that he is inseparable from the other people and if the other people are not saved, he also cannot save himself. The mose precious and meaningful thing in the world is truth. Only when the individual is allowed an opportunity to develop himself freely will truth be found. The reason for Ibsen to emphasize individualism is that he sees it as most important to the development of a person. All institutions, whether law, government, family and religion, should not become a hindrance to personal development and the pursuit of truth." |
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| 23 | 1944 |
Xiao, Qian. The dragon beards versus the blueprints [ID D26358]. Xiao Qian schreibt : "In China, Ibsen is looked upon as a social surgeon rather than as a playwright. In those days, China was so hopelessly ill that she needed a daring doctor capable of prescribing the most desperate remedies. In the midst of the revolt, young Chinese, especialy those who had studies abroad, found sympathizers in Europe. Foremost of these was the Norwegian dramatist Ibsen. His works seemed to express their own resentment against existing society and their passion for revolt. Too excited to bother about the details of his theatrical art, they call to him from their desperate loneliness, 'Beloved teacher, at last we have found you !' He was hailed by coung China as a comrade rebel, a champion of individual rights. Thus an Oriental shrine was built for the Sage from Scandinavia." "Ibsen's popularity in China between 1917 to 1921 cannot be exaggerated. For a time the theme of a play was crudely interpreted as 'the social problem it dealt with'. Obviously it was also held by our critics as a convenient criterion. Some have accused our moralizing critics of counting the number of fashionable terms like 'hunger' and 'exploitation' amployed by the author before they passed their final verdict as to whether a work was 'solid'. But playwrights themselves also formed a habit of describing their works in terms of 'problems' dealt with." |
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| 24 | 1949 |
Xiao, Qian. Pei'er Jinte : yi bu qing suan ge ren zhu yi de shi ju [ID D26256]. Xiao schreibt : "Ibsen is no longer suitable for us, not only because he belonged to far away Northern Europe. Yet as a forerunner of our profession [writers], we cannot deny that he had observed the organization of society with critical eyes and pointed out its rotten parts. His weakness lay in the fact that he just attacked the corruptions of society but did not analyse the economic causes. Therefore he recongnized only the existence of the individual, but did not see that there were the masses. He advocated the improvement of the individual, but neber that of the environment. Ibsen was spiritually an anarchist. Today China has stepped into socialism, in which everything is put under organization and becomes part of a larger syste, from the anarchism of thirty years ago, which produced a spirit of rebellion in favour of individualism.. We have inherited from Ibsen the poisonous idea of perfecting oneself without much care for the others. As for our self-reform, can Ibsen contribute something to compensate the losses he has caused us ? Yes, Ibsen can. He gives us Peer Gynt which has a grander atmosphere, profounder significance and higher artistic accomplishment than A doll's hous and An enemy of the people. Tam Kwok-kan : Xiao believes that Ibsenism is no longer needed in China, not only because Ibsen was a writer of the last century, but also because he belongs to the faraway Northern Europe, where the society is essentially different from that in China. As a forerunner of literary realism, Ibsen, Xiao said, examined the organization of society with critical eyes and pointed out the roots of its evilness. Xiao believed that Ibsen's weakness lay in the fact that he attacked only the surface corruptions of society and did not analyze their economic causes. He therefore attacked Ibsen for his advocacy of individualism. He thought that Ibsen recognized only the importance of the individual and not of the masses, because Ibsen failed to relate the victimization of the individual to the injustice hidden in the social structure. Xiao claimed that Ibsen's play Peer Gynt should be read as a critique of individualism. According to Xiao Qian, the play is a caricature of selfishness as exemplified in the self-centered Peer Gynt. Xiao asserted that the object of attack throughout Peer Gynt was the idea of individualism. |
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| 25 | 1956 |
A, Ying. Yibusheng di zuo pin zai Zhongguo [ID D26357]. A Ying schreibt : "For the purpose of commemorating Ibsen, a grand memorial ceremony was held in Beijing jointly by the Chinese People's Association for Foreign Cultural Exchanges, the Federation of Chinese Writers and Chinese Dramatists. A conference was also organized by the National Libraryof Beijing the the Peijing People's Cultural Centre. Meanwhile, there was an exhibition at the Nationa Library displaying pictures and books on Ibsen in different languages of the world. The People's Literature Publishing House reprinted the two-volume translation of Ibsen's works by Pan Jiaxun. Essays devoted to the memory of Ibsen appeared in many newspapers and journals. Such activities had never taken plac in China before. Ibsen lived in the time when capitalism was developing. In his works a picture of the development of capitalism was provided. He was dissatisfied with the social phenomena of his time, and he, therefore, incisively exposed the dark sides of capitalist society. This was especially prominent in the third period of his works, which not only heightened Ibsen's reputation, but also exerted a great influence upon European literature. For instance, in The pilars of society, he unmasked the so-called pillars who were hypocrites and selfish. Ibsen purposedly mocked the socially superior and reputable classes which were expliting the masses. In A doll's hous, he again induced women to become independent persons, and not dolls. This play had a certain influence on the women who were fighting for their rights in Europe. In his plays, a glimpse of the rebellious spirit against the society he lived in can be obtained. On the one hand, he coldly unravelled the ugliness of capitalist society. On the other, he also discovered that the labour movement and socialist movement in Scandinavia were about to develop. Hence, reflected in his later works is the idea that 'redemption of the world can only come from the labour classes'. From this idea sprang the six symbolist plays, among which were The lady from the sea and When we dead awaken. Today the Chinese people begin to have a thorough understanding of Ibsen. We are no longer satisfied with the bourgeois viewpoints, prevalent in the May fourth period when Ibsen was introduced. Nor can we accept the anti-historical-materialistic view that Ibsen is greater than Shakespeare. Among those bourgeois critics, some have made much progress since and have obtained a new understanding of Ibsen ; yet there are sill some - for exemple Hu Shi, Lin Yutang and Luo Jialun - who have betrayed the Chinese people and Ibsen, and became the slaves of imperialism and counter-revolutionaires. Actually, even in the May fourth period, it had never occurred to them that the lasting brilliance of Ibsen as a great master of art lies chiefly in the fact that he was a patriot, in his unfailing effort in promoting world peace and welfare, and in his love of the cultural heritage of his home country. Through his works, he revealed without reservation the defects of capitalism and the corruption of the capitalists. It is for this reason that Ibsen will remain forever in the heart of the Chinese people." |
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| 26 | 2011 |
Chen, Shouzhu. Yibusheng "Wan’ou zhi jia" yan jiu [ID D26206]. Chen schreibt : "Henrik ibsen was not only a great Norwegian dramatist, but also the founder of modern European drama. Treating the stage as his speech forum, he honestly and courageously pointed out to his fellow countrymen and the whole of Europe the verious problems in their society. From the aspects of politics, law, religion and morality, love and marriage, he sharply and passionately criticized the hypocritical and selfish bourgeoisie and the corruption of the social system. Although he only raised questions and nover gave scientific answers, his works were enough to show that the bourgeois society was a wretched world." |
Sources (7)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1919 |
Luo, Shui. Jiao xi. In : Xiao shuo yue bao ; vol. 6, no 6 (Juni 1919). [Betr. Nora von Henrik Ibsen]. 角戏 |
Publication / Ibs116 | |
| 2 | 1919 | Danton, G[eorge] H. Henrik Ibsen. In : Tsing hua journal ; vol. 4, no 5 (April 1919). [Vortrag Qinghua-Universität 1919]. | Publication / Ibs117 | |
| 3 | 1920 |
Chen, Gu. Bulanduisi. In : Dong fang za zhi ; (Jan. 1920). In : Wen xue pi ping yu pi ping jia. (Shanghai : Shang wu yin shu guan, 1923). (Dong fang wen ku ; 60). [Georg Brandes]. 文學批評與批評家 |
Publication / Ibs118 | |
| 4 | 1928 | Lu, Xun. Pian jiao hou ji. In : Ben liu ; vol. 1, no 3 (20. Aug. 1928). [Editor's note ; enthält Henrik Ibsen]. | Publication / Ibs123 | |
| 5 | 1932 |
[Plechanov, Georgij Valentinovic]. Yibusheng. Chu Qiubai yi. In : Chu Qiubai wen ji. (Beijing : Ren min wen xue chu ban she. 1953). [Artikel über Henrik Ibsen]. 易卜生 |
Publication / Ibs120 | |
| 6 | 1940 |
Pan, Jiaxun. Jin dai xi yang wen di zhu ben. In : Xi yang wen xue ; no 1 (1940). [The modern western problem play ; Henrik Ibsen]. 近代西洋文第注本 |
Publication / Ibs119 | |
| 7 | 1956 |
A, Ying. Yibusheng di zuo pin zai Zhongguo. In : Wen xue cong bao ; no 17 (1956). [Ibsens Werke in China]. 易卜生 迪作品 在中國 |
Publication / Ibs121 |