Comic Elements in the "Xiyouji Zaju" (Yuan, Drama, Opera, China).

Abstract

The Xiyouji zaju, no. 140 in the Yuan Qu Xuan Waibian (Supplement to the Anthology of Yuan Qu), is an early Ming drama in the Yuan style. At 24 acts it is the longest of the Yuan repertoire, comprising six regular length plays of four acts each. The subject matter of the zaju is the quest to India that was immortalized in the immensely popular Ming novel Xiyouji, made famous in the West by the translations of Arthur Waley (Monkey) and Anthony Yu (The Journey to the West). The monk Tripitaka, accompanied by supernatural disciples--a monkey, a pig, the spirit of the Deep S and s, and a dragon incarnated as a horse--journeys to India under the divine protection of Guanyin, to fetch 5,048 scrolls of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. However, motifs and incidents familiar from the novel version are often h and led in decidedly bizarre fashion in the zaju, leading to many a puzzled review of the play. Traditional critics praise the quantities of excellent verse contained in the arias, then excuse perceived shortcomings in plot and dialogue by simply declining to discuss them. A major source of dissatisfaction with the plot is the prominence afforded secondary characters. The midsection of the play is dominated by lovelorn women singing of sorrows and longings, which are totally extraneous to the theme of the quest. At other junctures obscure characters sing on miscellaneous subjects, while the principal figures, Tripitaka and his disciples, are relegated to the sidelines. The dissertation argues that a primary contribution of the Xiyouji zaju is the nature of its comedy, which accounts for much of the difference between the zaju and the novel. It deliberately and irreverently damages sacred images in both incident and dialogue. Tripitaka is celibate; for comic effect therefore, ladies swoon and moon throughout much of the zaju. Tripitaka and his disciples, nominal heroes of the play, are made to endure long passages mocking both the priestly way of life and the goal of their quest, recited by minor characters who monopolize the spotlight. The Xiyouji is a rowdy play. The dissertation focuses on its bawdiness and humor, and re-evaluates the play in terms of its comic achievement. Appended to the dissertation is an original paradigm of comedy and comic interactions. Following the comic theory based on incongruity espoused by Bergson and Koestler, it is intended for use primarily with intercultural studies of comedy. Diagnoses of comic incidents in the zaju based on this analytic model are also included.