China News Agency, Seoul, June 28th: How does drama build a bridge of cultural exchanges between Korea and China?
——An exclusive interview with Wu Xiuqing, a Korean sinologist and honorary president of the Korea-China Drama Exchange Association
China News Agency reporter Liu Xu
In April 2022, the "Fifth Chinese Drama Reading Performance" was held in Seoul, South Korea, during which excellent Chinese drama works such as the one-act drama collection "Red Horse & Crowded", "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu" and "Tea House" were launched. The artist reinterpreted Chinese drama and put it on the stage in the form of "reading aloud".
As the initiator of the Chinese drama reading performance project and the translator of the Korean version of "Tea House", Wu Xiuqing, a Korean sinologist, honorary president of the Korea-China Drama Exchange Association, and professor of the Department of Chinese at Hanyang University in South Korea, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "East and West Questions". How does the drama exchange boost the exchanges and mutual learning of the cultural industry between China and South Korea, and build a bridge for mutual understanding between the Chinese and South Korean people.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Agency reporter: Why did you choose Chinese drama as your research field?
Wu Xiuqing:
I became interested in Chinese literature when I was in high school.
After I went to university, I originally studied French, but I learned Chinese and read Chinese classical literature. It was so interesting!
I chose to major in Chinese literature. In addition, I like drama and have participated in a university drama club, so I am very concerned about the course of Chinese drama. In the end, I also chose Guan Hanqing's "Dou E Injustice" for my graduation thesis. Since then, I began to choose Chinese drama. as my major.
After entering the world of Chinese drama, I found that it is far wider, deeper and more interesting than I imagined, and I have been researching in the scope of Chinese drama since then.
Chinese drama has sublimated from the people's life to the literary level, and then to the artistic level on the stage, forming an interesting phenomenon that can not only interact but also deepen development.
How did China form such a complex and rich theatrical world?
I just wanted to dig in, which kept me motivated to go to China and see how local people create and perform Chinese dramas.
The first time I went to China was in 1991. I started from Seoul, took a boat to Weihai, flew through Beijing to Fuzhou, and then took a bus to Quanzhou. It took me a few days to go to the opening of the Nanxi Opera and Mulian Opera Conference.
Since then, I have kept in touch with teachers in the Chinese drama world, who have been generous in helping me, and I have tried my best to make some achievements.
Many of their teachers have passed away, but they have given me the foundation and unspoken support for my current activities.
China News Service reporter: What is the reason why you have been focusing on promoting Chinese dramas in South Korea for so many years?
Wu Xiuqing:
Drama is very underdeveloped in traditional Korean society. Although there are activities such as music, dance, and masquerade in people’s lives, there are pansori (also known as “The Legend of Chunhyang”, “The Legend of Shenqing” and “The Legend of Heungfu”), etc.
"Bansoli"), but as a literary and artistic form developed into a separate opera genre and stage performance system, Korea is indeed lacking.
Since modern times, the concept of drama has only been accepted by Western drama.
But China is different.
I have studied Chinese drama for decades, watched a lot of dramas, and got in touch with many Chinese experts, scholars, and artists.
The more I understand, the more I feel that the Chinese drama world is indeed rich, but Koreans actually know very little about Chinese culture, especially Chinese drama, which I feel is a pity.
China has such a wealth of dramatic arts, and Korean audiences are also worth knowing and enjoying.
In addition, during the process of modernization, South Korea has been caring about and accepting the West for a period of time. After the establishment of diplomatic relations with China, the exchanges between the two countries are mainly concentrated in the economic field, and the exchanges in the cultural field are not deep enough.
So there are some things that don't understand each other, and even conflicting things.
This is precisely because of insufficient understanding of each other's culture.
Chinese drama is the accumulation and concentration of Chinese people's spiritual world and feeling world for a long time, and it is the best way to understand Chinese people.
So I want to introduce Chinese drama to South Korea, and hope that through this channel, the people of the two countries can understand each other from a spiritual level.
In 1993, Wu Xiuqing (right) and Ms. Zhang Jiqing took a group photo when the Jiangsu Kunqu Opera House performed in Korea.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee issued by China News Agency
China News Service reporter: What are your reasons for choosing the form of drama reading and performance to promote Chinese drama?
Wu Xiuqing:
Choosing a Chinese drama reading performance is actually an activity that I have been waiting for for many years.
I have had the opportunity to participate in exchange activities between Korea and China, and have accumulated a lot of experience, and I have been introducing Chinese dramas through translation dramas.
But the audience for reading the script is very limited, so I wanted to find a more direct and accessible way to the general audience.
And it's a great way to get big results with low capital.
Because reading aloud performances can better convey the taste and value of the script, and Korea is also very popular, so I chose this method.
In addition, in 2015, the most important national theater troupe in South Korea produced the drama "Orphan of Zhao, Seed of Vengeance" based on the drama "Orphan of Zhao" by Ji Junxiang in the Yuan Dynasty, which made the Korean drama circle pay attention to the power of Chinese classical drama.
This play not only won all the drama awards that year after its premiere, but also received great acclaim when it exchanged performances at the China National Theatre in Beijing in 2016.
Since then, he has performed in South Korea for more than a month almost every year, and every time the tickets are sold out, even when the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system has negatively affected the relationship between South Korea and China.
This shows that Korean audiences not only care about Chinese dramas, but also have no prejudice in their enthusiasm for Chinese drama productions, no matter how the political climate changes.
This gave me a lot of confidence.
So I started to hold Chinese drama reading and performance activities in 2018.
Although this event has only been held for the fifth time, it has now been promoted to one of the best-known drama events in Korea, which gives me more confidence.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee issued by China News Agency in "Camel Xiangzi"
China News Agency reporter: How do you choose the plays for the play reading performance from the many Chinese plays?
Wu Xiuqing:
Selecting the repertoire is the most difficult.
Part of it is the classic repertoire that our association's Chinese theater experts have been following for many years, and the other part is the contemporary repertoire recommended by friends in the Chinese theater industry.
After that, we will read and revise together in turn, and then we will make a more complete and satisfactory translation script.
In this year's reading aloud performance, we launched three works: the one-act drama collection "Red Horse & Crowded", the newly compiled Peking Opera script "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu" and Lao She's masterpiece "Tea House".
Mr. Lao She is a writer I respect very much. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and China. In this special year, I pay tribute to Mr. Lao She through his works; choosing a one-act drama is a new attempt, which can better show Chinese drama richness.
As for the Peking Opera "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu", although it is a Peking Opera script, it has a very complete narrative structure, and many Koreans have read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and understand the basic story, so there is nothing to convey to the audience by reading aloud. question.
Stills of the fifth reading performance "Tea House".
Photo courtesy of the interviewee issued by China News Agency
In conjunction with the drama reading and performance activities, there is also the translation and publishing activities of "Chinese Drama Series".
The series has now reached 33 volumes, and I hope to make at least 50 volumes.
Although my ability is limited, I hope to include the best, most worthy, and most wanted repertoires in China.
In addition, we will also participate in the production of the reading performance activities.
Because of the cultural differences between Korea and China, Korean domestic dramatists do not necessarily fully understand the cultural layers.
This may require us to explain the time background and cultural content of the work, that is, cultural translation.
Our (translators') involvement will give them a better understanding of the script and the writer's intent and what's between the lines.
The drama produced in this way is more in line with the original intention and image, and it is easier to convey to the Korean audience.
Therefore, what we do is three levels and three stages of selection, translation and production.
China News Agency reporter: What are the conveniences and difficulties for you to promote Chinese dramas in South Korea?
Wu Xiuqing:
One of the most important reasons why our Chinese drama reading and performance activities can be loved by the audience is that it has a homogeneous cultural foundation.
Compared with Western drama, Korea and China share the commonalities of oriental culture, and have common foundations such as Chinese character culture, Confucianism, and Buddhist thought.
Therefore, when Korean audiences come into contact with each other, they can rediscover the original common parts.
Pingju "The Legend of Chunxiang" was staged in Beijing.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Jia Tianyong
For example, the story of "The Legend of Chunxiang" actually has many similarities with some Chinese dramas of talented and beautiful women.
In "The Legend of Chunxiang", the relationship between men and women is compared to "butterfly" and "flower", which is similar to that of "fish" and "lotus" in the Han Yuefu "Jiangnan".
These are the resonances that we can feel on the stage of opera, without even having to say it in words.
Speaking of difficulties, the copyright of the play can be counted as one.
Many Chinese playwrights are happy to entrust the copyright to me, and some teachers don't even charge the copyright fee at all. Their support has given me a lot of strength.
However, there are also some classic plays with complicated copyrights. For example, I have always wanted to translate and introduce excellent plays such as Yue Opera "Dream of Red Mansions" and Peking Opera "Red Lantern", but the copyright problem has not been solved, and these classic plays cannot be included in the series, indeed It's a great pity.
China News Agency reporter: How do you view the role of drama in promoting cultural exchanges between China and South Korea? This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea. What are your expectations for the people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and South Korea?
Wu Xiuqing:
From my personal experience, the power of drama performance is beyond imagination.
Korean audiences can see the general predicament of human beings in Chinese dramas, and they will feel that the Chinese have also experienced similar situations to us, and thus resonate.
When they encounter issues related to China later, based on this common understanding, their judgments or actions will be different.
As a Korean, I share the fine Chinese dramas to Korea, and let the audience recognize these works, which is the meaning of my event.
I hope more and more audiences will see the goodness of Chinese dramas, and I also hope that Korean dramas can be introduced to China. This is also a good way for Chinese audiences to understand Koreans.
After all, a drama can completely resonate with the performer and the audience, which is a rare experience.
Before the epidemic, I often went to China. I enjoyed and liked so many things in China. There are also many young Chinese friends who like Korean contemporary culture.
South Korea and China are so close together and have a long history of friendship, it would be sad if there were conflicts between the people.
Now, we are standing at the new starting point of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. I hope that in the future, the people of the two countries can have more emotional communication, which will be more effective and powerful in pushing the ROK-China relationship to a new level.
(Finish)
About the Author:
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Xu
Wu Xiuqing, Ph.D., Seoul National University, South Korea, Korean sinologist, served as director of the East Asian Culture Research Institute of Hanyang University, editor-in-chief of "East Asian Culture Research", international committee member of BESETO Drama Festival, currently president of the Korean Drama Society, Korea-China Drama Exchange Association Honorary President, Vice President of Korea ITI.
He has translated Yuan Zaju "Dou E's Injustice", Southern Opera "Zhang Xie Zhuang Yuan" (translation), "The White Rabbit" (section translation), Kunqu Opera "Zhang Xie Zhuang Yuan", "1699 Peach Blossom Fan", Sichuan Opera "The Story of Embroidered Ru" "Gold", Peking Opera "Camel Xiangzi", Huangmei Opera "Huizhou Woman", "Xue Lang Gui" and other Chinese opera works, Cao Yu's "Thunderstorm", Lao She "Tea House", Liu Jinyun "Gou Er Nirvana", Tian Qinxin's adaptation of "Life and Death" Red Rose White Rose", Army "Summer Memories", Guo Shixing "The Chess Man", "Frog", and Mou Sen's adaptation of "One Sentence Worth Ten Thousand Sentences" and other drama works.
Since 2018, Wu Xiuqing has launched Chinese drama reading and performance activities in South Korea, further deepening the Korean audience's understanding and love of Chinese drama, and having a close dialogue with Chinese culture.