Chinese Theater Collaborative

The Orphan of Zhao
赵氏孤儿 (2003)

Recording of Live Performance


LINKS TO THE RECORDING

INFORMATION

INTRODUCTION

The star of the Beijing Opera rendition of the Orphan discussed in this module is a young Wang Peiyu 王珮瑜 (1978-present), a female performer who specializes in the “old male role” (laosheng 老生) in the famed Yu school lineage named for Yu Shuyan (余叔岩, 1890-1943) (Fig. 1). She has so distinguished herself that her nickname is the homophonous “Yu Laoban” 瑜老板 (“Boss Yu”), a name that she has also adopted as her Weibo handle. Almost as soon as she began theatrical training, she studied the Yu-style version of the four-scene Searching For The Orphan and Saving the Orphan (Sougu jiugu 搜孤救孤), a play known for the demands it makes on the performer’s vocal and speaking abilities. Somewhat later, she began learning the Ma [Lianliang]-style The Orphan of Zhao (Zhaoshi gu’er 赵氏孤儿), a play that stressed plot details and acting. Over a period of twenty years, she fine-tuned her role as Cheng Ying in the Orphan (Fig. 3). Eventually, she blended the two plays into her own signature version entitled The Ink and Vermillion Edition of The Orphan of Zhao (Moben danqing ban Zhao shi gu’er 墨本丹青版赵氏孤儿), a style of Beijing opera performance that incorporates traditional Chinese painting into its mise-en-scène (see CTC "Zhao shi gu'er," Module #3). In 2011, this new interpretation earned her the prestigious “Plum Prize” (Zhongguo xiju Meihuajiang 中国戏剧梅花奖), the People’s Republic of China’s equivalent of a Tony Award for traditional Chinese opera (Wang, 2019).


In her career as a performer, Wang also paid tribute to her female predecessor of senior male roles in the Yu school, Meng Xiaodong 孟小冬 (1908-1977). In 1947, as part of disaster relief efforts, Meng, who had been born into a family of Beijing opera performers and had become one of Yu Shuyan’s major disciples, had come out of retirement to play the role of Cheng Ying in Shanghai to sellout crowds. If previously only some minor papers had dubbed Meng the “Queen Dong of Beijing Opera” (Jingju Dong huang 京剧冬皇), now Shenbao 申报, Shanghai's leading newspaper, championed her in this manner. Moreover, many of the leading actors of the day were present, including Ma Lianliang 马连良, who not only went to great lengths to procure a ticket for Meng's show, but continuously commended her performance with appreciative calls of “great” (hao 好) (Xu, Jingju Dong Huang, 246-49). Recordings of her performance survive. When Chen Kaige  陈凯歌 (1952-) shot the biopic Forever Enthralled (Mei Lanfang 梅兰芳, 2008) about famed opera star Mei Lanfang 梅兰芳 (1894-1961) and the women in his life, Wang supplied vocals for Zhang Ziyi 章子怡 (1979-), who performed the character of Meng Xiaodong, one of Mei Lanfang’s stage partners and his erstwhile common-law wife (Fig. 2).

PLOT SUMMARY

The despotic Duke Ling of Jin 晋灵公 (played by Xiao Runnian 萧润年) favors a military general Tu’an Gu 屠岸贾 (played by Gao Mingbo 高明博), who builds a luxury garden with a tower for the duke. To celebrate the completion of the garden and to please Duke Ling, Tu’an suggests a slingshot game that targets people within their view. Whoever hits the head of a person wins; if they miss, they have to drink liquor as a penalty. Zhao Dun 赵盾 (played by Fan Yongliang 范永亮), a prime minister with a reputation for integrity and incorruptibility, criticizes Tu’an's cruel plan and persuades Duke Ling not to proceed in order not to lose his subjects' support. Tu’an has borne a grudge against Zhao for a long time, so he takes this opportunity to assassinate Zhao Dun and his family. All of Zhao's family members and their servants are killed, 300 people in all. Only Zhao Shuo’s 赵朔 wife and sister of Duke Ling, Princess Zhuangji 庄姬 (played by Zhao Qun 赵群), is spared. She escapes into the palace and gives birth to a son, who is rescued by Zhao’s retainer Cheng Ying 程婴 (Wang Peiyu 王佩瑜, cast in the role of the senior male 老生) thanks to general Han Jue’s 韩厥 (played by Bo Xiru 博希如) magnanimity. 


Tu’an learns that the orphan of Zhao has been smuggled out of the palace. He orders that all babies in town will be killed if the orphan is not found within ten days. Cheng Ying negotiates with Gongsun Chujiu 公孙杵臼 (played by Cao Jin 曹晋), an old friend of Zhao, and they figure out a solution. Cheng Ying decides to give up his own baby son, while Gongsun will sacrifice himself to rescue the orphan. To protect the orphan, Cheng does not tell anyone about the true identity of the orphan, his mother included. Cheng Ying raises the orphan of Zhao as his own son and then proceeds to ask Tu’an to adopt his son, thus making Tu’an unwittingly impart all of his military knowledge to his arch nemesis. Fifteen years later, the orphan of Zhao (played by Jin Xiquan 金喜全) has grown up to be a young man with great martial skills. Having been stationed at the frontier for all these years, the general Wei Jiang 魏绛 (played by An Ping 安平) returns to court. After he finds out that the orphan of Zhao is still alive, Wei Jiang makes plans with Cheng Ying to make the orphan aware of his true identity. Eventually the orphan of Zhao takes revenge on Tu’an Gu by killing him, and mother and her son are reunited.

THEME: Dramaturgical Techniques to Turn A Commoner Into a Hero

Post-1949 theatrical renditions of the story unpack the compact dramaturgy of the original zaju. Rather than honing in on a key moment with a singular lyrical focus, the plot builds step by step, giving minor characters more of a voice, while also amplifying their agency. This minute attention to plot construction is most evident with regard to the character of Cheng Ying.

In the original zaju versions, in the prologue ("wedge" 楔子) at the beginning of the play, Zhao Shuo commits suicide by ducal decree. Before his death, he provides a name for the orphan and charges the unborn child with a mission of seeking revenge for the entire clan. Then, at the beginning of the first act, after the Princess sends for Cheng Ying, it is she who first proposes to Cheng Ying that he should smuggle the baby out in his capacity as a loyal retainer for the Zhao family. Cheng is appalled by this suggestion, since he is keenly aware that the palace is heavily guarded and that his whole family will be put to death in the event that the escape plot is discovered. In an inversion of social hierarchies, the Princess kneels to plead with Cheng Ying through a proverb, “Think of your kin in face of crisis, Seek out an old friend when danger arises” (遇急思親戚，臨危託孤人，Zang, Yuanqu xuan, 4: 1478; Huang and Li, tr. The Zhao Orphan, 24). In response, Cheng outlines a scenario where the Princess is forced to confess who her accomplice was, endangering both Cheng’s family and the orphan. Faced with that prospect, the Princess hangs herself to take her secret with her. Only at this point does Cheng Ying embrace the mission that his social superior has assigned to him. By contrast, in the new Orphan, it is Cheng Ying who appoints himself to inform the Zhao family of the impending massacre; moreover, it is he who identifies the notion of “righteousness” (yi 义) as the basis for his actions; and it is he who comes up with the plan to save the child when his social superiors seem to be at their wits’ end. Moreover, he does not see himself as an extraordinary individual, but rather as a representative of a collective norm of good ordinary people, or as he puts it, “everybody hates corrupt officials and villains.”

Cheng Ying’s Creation of an Escape Plan for the Imperial Son-in-Law and the Princess [38:08-47:16]

In the scene “Massacre” (“Chaojia” 抄家), Cheng Ying is the messenger tipping off Zhao Shuo that Tu’an Gu is on his way to kill the Zhao family. Then, Cheng comes up with a plan to safely transfer the newborn baby out of the palace.
Click to expand/collapse Translation Notes
Chinese SubtitlesCTC Translation
Cheng Ying starts to sing before he enters the stage from the left.
程婴：昏王他把(入场)旨传下，要把赵氏满门杀。急急告知赵驸马。 Cheng Ying: The muddle-headed Duke… (enters the stage from the left) has disseminated a decree to kill the entire Zhao clan. I need to inform the Princess’s husband, Ducal Son-in-Law Zhao, in a hurry.
[A eunuch is about to greet him but is stopped by Cheng Ying.]
程婴：此时无暇把话答。(念白)快请驸马出来 。Cheng Ying: There is no time for formalities. Speaks: Please inform your master, the Ducal Son-in-Law, of my presence.
太监：有请驸马。 Eunuch: His Highness, the Ducal Son-in-Law.
[Zhao Shuo enters the stage from the left.]
程婴：驸马，大事不好了。 Cheng Ying: Ducal Son-in-Law, things are getting out of hand.
赵朔：何事惊慌？ Zhao Shuo: Why are you in a panic?
程婴：老丞相不知为了何故，被屠岸贾奸贼一剑劈死。如今抄杀你满门来了。 Cheng Ying: For reasons unknown, the Prime Minister was stabbed to death with a sword by the treacherous villain Tu’an Gu, and Tu’an is now coming to massacre your whole family.
赵朔：闻言好似霹雷震，为何抄杀我满门？回头我把公主请（哭）。 Zhao Shuo: Hearing this news is a thunderbolt out of the blue. Why would he massacre our entire family? Let me ask the princess to come out (cries).
庄姬 : 驸马痛哭为何情？ Zhuangji: Ducal Son-in-Law, why are you crying?
赵朔：可恨那屠岸贾，剑劈我父一死，如今又奉旨抄杀我全家来了. Zhao Shuo: That odious Tu’an Gu stabbed my father to death, and he bears a ducal decree authorizing him to massacre our whole family.
庄姬：啊（昏倒） Zhuangji: Ah… (faints).
女仆：公主醒来。 Maid: Princess, please wake up!
庄姬：闻凶报只觉得神魂不定，塌天大祸要临身。兄王不该宠奸佞，反来杀害忠良臣。去与兄长把理论。 Zhuangji: I am deeply perturbed after hearing this terrible news as this earthshattering disaster is approaching. My brother, the duke, should not have favored treacherous courtiers, who in turn murder the loyal and upright courtiers. I am going to reason with my brother.
赵朔：且慢。他昏庸无能，你去也是无用啊。 Zhao Shuo: Hold on. He is muddle-headed and incompetent. You going there will be of no use.
程婴：着啊。 Cheng Ying: That’s right.
庄姬：纵然有理也难辩清，驸马速去逃活命。 Zhuangji: If it’s impossible to resolve this, then Ducal Son-in-law, please quickly leave to save your life.
赵朔：公主，我怎能独自去逃生？ Zhao Shuo: Princess, how could I run away and just save myself?
庄姬：若不然，夫妻们同归于尽。 Zhuangji: If not, let me die along with you.
赵朔：你身怀六甲要临盆。公主啊，我死之后，公主若生一男取名赵武，日后也好与我全家报仇雪恨。 Zhao Shuo; You are with child and about to give birth. My princess, if the baby is a boy, he should be called Zhao Wu. One day he can avenge our whole family.
庄姬：那奸贼知我有孕，焉能放过？ Zhuangji: The treacherous villain knows I am pregnant. How could he possibly let us go?
赵朔：这…… Zhao Shuo: Ugh…
女仆：公主乃是金枝玉叶，量他不敢加害。只是这产下的婴儿，恐怕难逃毒手吧。 Maid: Princess, you’re a descendant of the ducal family. He would not dare to harm you, but I fear that it would be hard for the newborn to evade the murderer.
庄姬：夫君…… Zhuangji: My husband…
程婴：驸马，我程婴虽是个草泽医生，颇知大义，如今你一家被贼陷害，我岂能袖手旁观？我有意待等公主分娩之后，将婴儿抱至我家抚养，将来也好与你赵家，报仇雪恨。 Cheng Ying: Ducal Son-in-Law, even though I, Cheng Ying, am just a commoner physician, I know a thing or two about righteousness. Since now your family is being framed by the villain, how can I be an idle bystander? I am prepared to take the baby to my house after the conclusion of the Princess’s labors and rear the child with great care so that one day the child can seek revenge for your Zhao family.
赵朔：程先生如此大义，你上受我夫妻一拜。 Zhao Shuo: Master Cheng, you’re such a righteous person! Please accept our bows. [(Zhao Shuo and Zhuangji kneel and bow to Cheng Ying).]
程婴：这就不敢（示意赵朔和庄姬起来）。乱臣贼子人人恨，可惜我无力杀贼身。公主哇,只是宫门太严紧。 Cheng Ying: Please don’t! (This means Zhao Shuo and Zhuangji should rise). Everybody hates corrupt officials and villains. Unfortunately, I do not have the ability to kill the villain. Princess, ah, it is, however, the case that the palace gates are strictly guarded.
庄姬：是啊，我此番进得宫去，门禁森严，你又不能进宫，怎能将婴儿盗走？ Zhuangji: Yes indeed! When I entered the palace this time, security was very tight. You are not even allowed to enter the palace. How could you possibly abscond with the baby?
程婴：这……（拍手表无奈） Cheng Ying: It is… (claps his hands to indicate his helplessness).
赵朔：哎呀…… Zhao Shuo: Sigh…
庄姬：夫啊…… Zhuangji: My husband…
程婴：有了啊!公主不必着急，待等公主分娩之后，就在宫门之外张下榜文，上写公主得下不治之症，太医束手无策，招草泽医人进宫调治。那时节我揭下榜文，应聘进宫，将婴儿盗出,你看如何？ Cheng Ying: I have an idea! Princess, you don’t need to worry. After you deliver the baby, you can post an official notice outside of the palace gate announcing that “The Princess is suffering from an incurable disease, and the imperial physicians have no treatments. We are looking for a doctor from among the commoners to enter the palace and prepare a cure.” I will accept the offer by taking the notice off, so that I have a legitimate reason to go to the palace and abscond with the baby. What do you think?
庄姬：好哇。进宫全凭这榜文。 Zhuangji: Good idea! With this notice, you will be able to enter the palace.
[A deafening sound of gongs and drums.]
程婴：耳边有听人声震。 Cheng Ying: I hear a commotion outside.
赵朔：想是奸贼到来临。（念）程先生大事托付在你身上，你速速逃走了吧。 Zhao Shuo: I am guessing that it must be the treacherous villain approaching. Speaks: Master Cheng, I entrust this great matter of life and death to you. Please escape quickly now.
程婴：告辞了。 Cheng Ying: Farewell.

Cheng Ying’s Taunting of General Han Jue [1:03:57-1:11:12]

The second part of first act of the original zaju relays the encounter between General Han Jue and Cheng Ying. Prior to Cheng Ying’s arrival, Han Jue explores his conflicting sentiments between his employer Tu’an Gu and his commitment to honest governance in a series of songs. Once Cheng Ying enters the stage with the Orphan hidden in the medicine chest, these are no longer abstract questions, but assume life-altering urgency: will Han Jue arrest Cheng Ying and comprises his own self-regard, or will he let him and the baby go and violate an official order knowing full well of the potential lethal consequences? In all instances, though, it is Han Jue who weighs the alternatives in his own mind. Both the decision to let Cheng Ying go rather than collect a reward and to commit suicide rather than submit to torture are Han Jue’s own. By contrast, in the modern Orphan, in the sixth scene, “Interrogation at the Gate” (“Panmen” 盘门), it is Cheng Ying who drives the action first by taunting Han Jue, and then, by compelling him to commit suicide. Thus, once more, the social hierarchies embedded in the original play are flattened in favor of greater agency for the commoner.

Click to expand/collapse Translation Notes
Chinese SubtitlesCTC Translation
韩厥：(白) 转来。 Han Jue speaks: Turn around.
程婴：(白) 在。 Cheng Ying speaks: Yes, Sir.
韩厥：(白) 什么人？ Han Jue speaks: Who is it?
程婴：(白) 草泽医人。 Cheng Ying speaks: I am a commoner physician.
韩厥：(白) 进宫何事？ Han Jue speaks: What brings you to the palace?
程婴：(白) 与公主调治病症。 Cheng Ying speaks: I came to treat the Princess’s illness.
韩厥：(白) 公主得何病症？ Han Jue speaks: What illness is the princess suffering from?
程婴：(白) 肝郁不舒。 Cheng Ying speaks: She has a liver disorder.
韩厥：(白) 可曾治好？ Han Jue speaks: Have you cured her?
程婴 : (白) 药到病除。 Cheng Ying speaks: The symptoms lessened after my herbal medicine took effect.
韩厥：(白) 箱中何物？ Han Jue speaks: What’s in the chest?
程婴：(白) 甘草薄荷。 Cheng Ying speaks: Licorice and mint.
韩厥：(白) 可有孤儿？ Han Jue speaks: Is there an orphan?
程婴：(白) 这……这倒不曾听见过有这味药材。 Cheng Ying speaks: Em… I have not ever heard about this type of herbal medicine.
韩厥：(白) 去吧。 Han Jue speaks: You can go.
程婴：(白) 是（转身就走）。 Cheng Ying speaks: Yes (turns around and walks away immediately).
韩厥：(白) 慢，转来，你为何神色慌张？ Han Jue speaks: Hold on, turn around. Why are you so flustered?
程婴：(白) 我乃乡里郎中，见将军威严神武，心中有些害怕。 Cheng Ying speaks: I am a simple doctor from the countryside. When I see the general’s dignified appearance and martial bearing, I am a little scared.
韩厥：(白) 定有夹带！ Han Jue speaks: You must be carrying something hidden in the chest.
程婴：(白) 并无夹带。……并无夹带，并无夹带。 Cheng Ying speaks: I am not carrying anything hidden. I am not, I am not.
韩厥：(白) 箱儿放下。俺要搜。 Han Jue speaks: Put down your chest. I am going to search it.
程婴：(白) 好好好，请搜。 Cheng Ying speaks: Sure, sure, sure. Go ahead and search it.
韩厥：(白) 去吧。 Han Jue speaks: You can go.
程婴：(白) 是是是。 Cheng Ying speaks: Yes, general. Yes, yes.
[The baby inside of the medicine chest cries out. ]
韩厥：(白，语速加快) 你说箱中俱是甘草薄荷，里面为何有人？（程婴手放在箱子上，韩厥脚踩住箱子）有人声在内。 Han Jue speaks rapidly: You only mention licorice and mint in the chest, but why is there a person inside? (Cheng Ying puts his hands on the chest, but Han Jue puts his foot on the chest to keep it shut). I hear a human voice coming from the chest.
程婴：(白) 这个……将军啊，将军啊，我是个草泽医人，与赵家是非亲非故。只因他全家被害，可叹世代忠良，就留下这一条根苗。是我不顾生死，是前来搭救，今被将军看破，你若贪图富贵，将我献与屠岸贾，你你你……就请功受赏去吧。 Cheng Ying speaks: Em… General, general, I am a commoner physician and neither a relative nor a friend of the Zhao family. Because their whole family is massacred, it is deeply lamentable that among the loyal and decent people of this age only this lone sprout is left. I am not worried about my own life and death, I came to rescue the orphan. Now that I have been found out by you, General, if you set store by wealth and rank, you can hand me over to Tu’an Gu. You, you, you… go collect a reward for your service!
韩厥：（唱）此人说话有胆量，句句打动我心肠。若将孤儿来献上，这小小的婴孩也丧无常。大丈夫生在这世上，见义勇为也应当。(白)罢，（唱）韩厥今日将你放。(白) 去罢。 Han Jue sings: This person talks like he has a lot of nerve. Every sentence strikes a chord in me. If I turn this orphan in, this tiny baby will be put to death. Nowadays, when an honorable man sees righteous and courageous conduct, he should respond in kind. Speaks: Enough!  Sings: Today, Han Jue will let you go. Speaks: You go now!
程婴：（白）多谢将军。（唱）多谢将军好心肠。倘若奸贼把罪降…… Cheng Ying speaks: Thank you, general. Sings: Thank you for your decency. If you’re punished by the treacherous villain…
韩厥：（白）哎呀，（唱）生死二字哪放在心旁。 Han Jue speaks: Never mind. Sings: Why would the twin words of life and death be on my mind!
程婴：（程婴奔去，转回，白）啊将军。 Cheng Ying rapidly departs, but he comes back and speaks: Ah, general.
韩厥：（白）你为何去而复转？ Han Jue speaks: Why are you coming back?
程婴：（白）非我去而复转，此事万万不可泄漏，倘若走漏消息，我程婴一死是无关紧要，倘若孤儿有一差二错，可叹赵家三百余口冤沉海底。 Cheng Ying speaks: I don’t want to come back, but you absolutely cannot let any information leak out about this matter. Otherwise, if this news gets out, my own life is of no concern, but if anything happens to the orphan, the prospects for the rectification of justice for the more than three hundred people from the Zhao family will be dim.
韩厥：（白）哎呀（挥剑自刎）。 Han Jue speaks: Sigh… (cuts his own throat with his sword).
Cheng Ying tries to stop Han Jue, but it is too late. Cheng Ying moves in a crouch towards Han Jue’s body. He hears shouts nearby and quickly leaves the palace.
 

WORKS CONSULTED CLICK TO EXPAND/COLLAPSE

Liu, Siyuan. Transforming Tradition: The Reform of Chinese Theater in the 1950s and Early 1960s. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2021.

Huang, Pi-Twan and Wai-yee Li, trans. The Zhao Orphan. In The Columbia Anthology of Yuan Drama, edited by C.T. Hsia. Wai-yee Li, and George Kao, 20-55. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014.

Wang, Shih-pe. “The Orphan of Zhao: The Meaning of Loyalty and Filiality.” In How To Read Chinese Drama: A Guided Anthology, edited by Patricia Sieber and Regina Llamas, 127-150. New York: Columbia University Press, 2022. 

Wang Yan 王雁. Zhaoshi gu’er (Jingju) 赵氏孤儿（京剧）. Beijing: Zhongguo xiju chubanshe, 1959. 

Wang Peiyu 王佩瑜. Taishang jian : Wang Peiyu Jingju xueyan ji 台上见：王佩瑜京剧学演记 (See You on Stage: Wang Peiyu’s Account of Learning How to Perform Beijing Opera). Beijing: Zhongxin chubanshe, 2019. 

Xu Jinwen 徐锦文. Jingju Dong Huang: Zhongguo diyi nü laosheng 京剧冬皇：中国第一女老生 (Queen Dong of Beijing Opera: China's First Female Performer of the Senior Male Role). Changsha: Hunan shifan daxue, 2011.

Zang Maoxun 臧懋循. Yuanqu xuan 元曲选 (Select Yuan Plays). 4 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1989.
 

AUTHORS

Patricia Sieber and Gillian Yanzhuang Zhang

 

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