Jing Shen

Two early twentieth-century female impersonators, Mei Lanfang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1894-1961) and Ouyang Yuqian [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1899-1962), adapted episodes from the novel Honglou meng [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Dream of the Red Chamber) for the Beijing opera stage. This paper investigates why Honglou meng popularity soared during this transitional era and what socio-political and commercial purposes it served. It particularly investigates the representation of femininity (acting technique, costumes, props, stage settings) in the attempt to illuminate Mei and Ouyang's particular contributions to Beijing opera.

The classical Chinese novel Shuihu zhuan (The Water Margin), which was created in the fourteenth century and edited in the sixteenth century, has germinated many visual adaptations. The Water Margin, which foregrounds brotherhood, depicts only a few women characters.¹ Most sensuous women in this narrative cause the heroes' withdrawal from society. The adaptations that concern this group of female characters reflect on the conventions of the visual form chosen and the ideology of the form's historical time. Such developing adaptations expand the interpretive capacity of these characters, who are primarily portrayed as evil influences in the novel.² This paper proposes to examine the depiction of Zhang Zhenniang, the most moral heroine, and that of Pan Jinlian, the notorious adulteress, in relation to the corresponding male heroes in chuanqi drama, cinema and modern and contemporary drama, and to demonstrate how the socio-historical context and conventions of art forms shape the productions.