| Two phenomena,"different interpretations of the same title" and "different versions of the same work", are frequently found in literary works, among which Yu Tangchun is unique for being characterized by both. Actually, two versions of drama are sharing the same title Yu Tangchun. One version-Su Three Escorting-is not unfamiliar, while the other is rarely known-citing an ancient bottle named Yu Tangchun as the clue and narrating a comedy of costume exchange between the sexes and of punishing the evil. For their different story and plots, these two plays can be classified as "different interpretations of the same title". Meanwhile, three versions of the latter can currently be found:Overview of Yu Tangchun in Poetry Collection in Che Wang Royal Palace of Qing Dynasty (Yu Tangchun of Che Wang Royal Palace Version for short), Yu Baoping in Fu Xihua Classical Opera Rare Collection (Yu Baoping of Myth Version for short), and Yu Tangchun Script in Periodical of Pop Literature (Yu Tangchun Script for short). These are three different versions of the same work. In this thesis, the author aims to reorganize, compare, and analyze the three versions, to distinguish the academic chapter and textually research the origin.The thesis is composed of an introduction and four chapters:Introduction:this chapter makes an overall description on subject, current situation, significance and method of the research.Chapter One:this chapter is the content summary of Yu Tangchun and the distribution of its versions. The story is an interesting mis-gender episode concerning an Aquarius cherished by generations of Zhang’s family. Three versions of the drama, Yu Tangchun of Che Wang Royal Palace Version, Yu Baoping of Myth Version), and Yu Tangchun Scrip, can be found currently.Chapter Two:this chapter is the comparative study of the three versions. The origin of the drama is deduced by analyzing the names of roles and tunes, chapters, contents, figures, and characters of language. Yu Tangchun of Che Wang Royal Palace is the earliest Version. Yu Tangchun Script is the script of Che Wang Royal Palace version. The latest version, Yu Baoping-Myth, was adapted from Yu Tangchun of Che Wang Royal Palace. Yu Tangchun of Che Wang Royal Palace and Yu Baoping serve for different types of drama. Meanwhile, although based on mandarin, Yu Tangchun of Che Wang Royal Palace involves Wu dialect. However, in Yu Baoping, this dialect fades away and the drama appears more elegant.Chapter Three:reorganization work on Yu Baoping of Myth Version is done in this chapter. So far Guo Jingrui from Sun Yat-sen University, along with other scholars, has proofread and sorted Yu Tangchun of Che Wang Royal Palace, collecting it in Poetry Collection in Che Wang Royal Palace (Song Dynasty). But the other two versions are both in form of handwritten-copy, resulting in a rough appearance and a large amount of secular, mispronounced or phonetically-loaned characters. These mistakes have never been rectified and hamper readers from understanding. Therefore, checking and reorganizing work on the other two versions is done in this chapter with reference to Yu Tangchun in Poetry Collection in Che Wang Royal Palace (Song Dynasty).Conclusion:Although escaping the attention of scholars for a long time and even being viewed as anonymous work, Yu Tangchun-a fine work in the history of theatre-displays the art of narrating in late Qing Dynasty and reflects the social culture then. The thesis confirms the value of Yu Tangchun concerning its narrating skill, stage practice and cultural implication, and comments on the drama about the limitation of its feudalism. In the end of the article, assumptions are put forward with regard to issues that require further studies. |
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