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Top Graduate: The Arbitrariness of Social Roles

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Top Graduate Zhang Xie
张协状元（2017）

Recording of a Live Performance
Troupe: Yongjia Kunju Troupe 永嘉昆剧团

LINK TO RECORDING

A video of the performance with Mandarin Chinese subtitles.

INFORMATION

Title: Top Graduate Zhang Xie 张协状元
Year: 2017
Style: Yongjia-Style Kunqu Opera 永嘉昆曲
Troupe: Yongjia Kunju Troupe 永嘉昆剧团
Cast: Lin Meimei 林媚媚 (as Zhang Xie), You Tengteng 由腾腾 (as Poorlass, Shenghua)
Director: Sun Jianghai 孙江海
Language: Chinese Mandarin
Duration: 120 minutes

INTRODUCTION

Top Graduate Zhang Xie (Zhang Xie zhuangyuan 张协状元), the earliest extant nanxi 南戏 play (see HTRCD, chap. 7), is famous for its many forms of raucous and farcical humor. It has been adopted into many traditional theatrical styles, that is, Peking opera (Jingju 京剧, Beijing), Puxian opera (Puxian xi 莆仙戏, Fujian), and Yongjia-style Kunqu (Yongjia Kunju 永嘉昆剧, Wenzhou). Among these, the Yongjia version is arguably the most influential.

Yongjia-style Kunqu (hereafter Yongkun 永昆) fuses the singing style of Kunqu with a local theatrical tradition with roots in the early nanxi form in the region of modern-day Wenzhou (温州, Zhejiang Province) (see HTRCD, “Introduction”). After a decade of decline during the Japanese occupation of China (1931-1945), in 1951, the Wenzhou Giant Wheel Kunqu Troupe (Wenzhou Julun Kunju tuan 温州巨轮昆剧团) was founded to enable the continued transmission and performance of the Yongkun style. Signature plays included The Lute (Pipa ji 琵琶记), The Thorn Hairpin (Jingzhai ji 荆钗记) and The Embroidered Jacket (Xiuru ji 绣襦记), leading acclaimed director Yu Zhenfei 余振飞 (1902-1993) to comment that “Southern and Northern Kunqu do not rival Yongjia Kunqu” (南昆北昆，不如永昆). In 1957, the troupe assumed its current name, the Yongjia Kunju Troupe (Yongjia Kunju tuan, 永嘉昆剧团) named for the city of Yongjia 永嘉 , an alternate name to designate Wenzhou in dynastic times. Due to the adverse impact of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when many traditional forms of theater came under fire, the future of Yongkun performance was increasingly in peril in the 1980s. In 1999, recognizing the historical significance and value of Yongkun, the Yongjia County Government set out to revitalize the tradition. To that end, the Yongjia-Style Kunqu Transmission Institute (Yongjia Kunju Chuanxi suo 永嘉昆剧传习所) was founded with government support to begin research, script work, and actor training.

In 2000, the Yongjia-Style Kunqu Transmission Institute commissioned Zhang Lie 张烈 (1941- ) to create a modern adaptation of Top Graduate Zhang Xie with a view toward participating in the Inaugural National Chinese Kunqu Arts Festival (Shoujie Zhongguo Kunju yishujie首届中国昆剧艺术节). The new adaptation featured veteran performer Lin Meimei 林媚媚 (b. 1941) in the title role. Having studied Chinese musical theater since she was a child, she had followed in the footsteps of Yang Yongtang 杨永棠 (1903-1975) and Yang Yinyou 杨银友 (1910-1993), two famous Yongkun artists in the 1950s, specializing in the “secondary young male” role (xiaosheng 小生). In 2000, Lin performed Student Zhang Xie opposite of Yang Juan 杨娟 (b. 1974) in the role of Poorlass. The new version won prizes at the Kunqu Arts Festival and secured a firm place for the play within the Yongkun repertoire.

In his adaptation, Zhang Lie considerably streamlined the original version of Top Graduate Zhang Xie. To condense the original 53 scene (chu 出) play, he removed some minor characters and modified the plotline. For example, Zhang omitted some of the spirit roles such as the Earth God (tudi 土地) and the Deity of the Temple (miaoshen 庙神), retaining only two supernatural characters, namely the Divine Judge (miaopan 庙判, played by a comic jing 净) and Little Demon (miaogui 庙鬼 played by a clown chou 丑), both of whom reside in the temple where much of the action of the play takes place. While modifying the original dialogue, Zhang Lie nevertheless aimed to make the verbal interchanges funny. Moreover, Zhang also capitalized on another special practice in Yongkun to amuse the audience, that is, the use of human actors to impersonate stage props (e.g., doors, tables, etc).

PLOT SUMMARY

Zhang Xie 张协 (in the role of young male, xiaosheng), an aspiring scholar, is traversing the Five Rooster Mountains 五鸡山 on his way to the capital to attend the civil service examinations when he is robbed by bandits. When seeking refuge in a dilapidated temple, he meets an impoverished orphan girl, Poorlass, (Pinnü 贫女, in the role of the young female, dan 旦), who lives there. Grandfather Li (in the role of the intermediary additional male role, mo 末) and his son Xiao’er (in the role of the clown, chou 丑 ) live near the temple. Being a respectful elder, Grandfather Li considers Poorlass as his daughter. He wants to find Poorlass a husband, and Zhang Xie becomes an option. Zhang Xie refuses this proposal in the beginning because he doesn’t think Poorlass is qualified to be his wife after he succeeds in the civil examination. Xiao’er takes Zhang Xie’s clothes by force, reminding him that by refusing this marital offer he will have nothing to eat or wear, but accepting it will bring him travel funds for his trip to the capital city.

Faced with life-threatening hunger and cold, Zhang Xie agrees to marry Poorlass. After two months together at the temple, Zhang Xie departs for the examination where he secures the top rank. Minister He (He Wang 赫王, in the role of clown, chou 丑) by the name of Wang Deyong 王德用 wants to marry his daughter Shenghua 胜花 (in the role of dan) to Zhang Xie. After having been refused by Zhang Xie in a face-to-face encounter on the street, Shenghua dies of melancholy. After learning that Zhang Xie has won the title of Top Graduate, Poorlass sets out for the capital to look for her husband. Zhang Xie refuses to see her or recognize her as his wife. To scrape together enough travel funds to return home, Poorlass begs by singing chantefable songs (zhu gongdiao 诸宫调) about how Top Graduate Zhang Xie cheated on her. When Zhang Xie passes through the Five Rooster Mountains en route to a new position, he nearly kills Poorlass with his sword. At this juncture, Poorlass is rescued by Wang Deyong, who later recognizes her as his adoptive daughter. Eventually, Wang Deyong arranges a marriage for Poorlass and Zhang Xie.

THEME: Humorous Techniques

In the opening scene of Top Graduate Zhang Xie, the comic roles jing and chou serve as the two opening characters, setting a humorous tone for the entire performance. In contrast to typical Kunqu plays where the “young male” (sheng 生) and the “young female" (dan 旦) are characterized as serious roles, in Top Graduate Zhang Xie, they also contribute to the comic amusement. In what follows, we will offer examples of various humorous techniques, namely physical humor, physical exaggeration, farcical mimicry, jokes, puns, inappropriate use of informal language, situational irony, dramatic irony, and metatheater.

**Physical Humor (zhiti youmo 肢体幽默)**

Comic roles of the “comic” and the “clown” use a wide range of vivid and specialized body movements to create humorous effects.

The Liberated Deities (02:00-03:26)
In the opening scene, Divine Judge (cast as the comic, jing 净) and Little Demon (cast as the clown, chou 丑) perform a routine of dynamic actions, showing that they are delighted to no longer be confined to their statues in the temple and instead being able to move around freely. Acrobatic movements such as somersaults and the like underscore the comic nature of what should be “awe-inspiring deities.”

Physical Exaggeration (kuazhang biaoyan 夸张表演)

Comic roles use exaggerated facial expressions, body postures, and bodily movements to create humorous effects.

Innuendo (08:27-08:45)
Divine Judge explains why he refuses to let Poorlass into the temple. He has some concerns about the potential risk of letting Poorlass and Zhang Xie meet each other there, since they are both single, and he fears that "it would be a disaster if they did any inappropriate thing" 万一作出不该做的事来，可就坏了. When Little Demon hears what Divine Judge says, his facial expression and body movements are both very exaggerated to insinuate potential sexual impropriety.