Interpretation of the images of Qing Judges in the illustrated woodblock editions and popular prints nianhua

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National Tsing Hua University

Russian Academy of Sciences Library

St. Petersburg State University

Interpretation of the images of Qing Judges in the illustrated woodblock editions and popular prints nianhua

D.I. Maiatskii

Xinzhu, Taiwan

St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Abstract

The paper aims to analyze different types of illustrations of court case gong'an №«°ё stories featuring Qing dynasty judges Shi-gong К©№« and Peng-gong ·юєЕ№« found in the late Qing woodblock editions and popular woodblock prints nianhua ДкЖ in order to figure out how tales about imperial `fair officials' have been reflected in book illustrations and in popular prints nianhua ДкЖ. Popular prints from various Russian and foreign collections mostly depict episodes featuring Qing dynasty judges Shi Shilun ЃiК©КАКдЈ¬dec. 1722Ѓj, originally a protagonist of the novel “Criminal Cases of Judge Shi”ЈЁК©№«°ё Shigong an, preface dated 1798Ѓj, and Peng Peng ЃiЕнЕфЈ¬1637-1704Ѓj from the novel “Criminal Cases of Judge Peng”ЈЁЕн№«°ё Penggongan, 1871Ѓj by Tanmeng Daoren КіВЬµАИЛ.“Shi-gong plays” about Judge Shi and his friends gained popularity during the Daoguang period Ѓi1821-1850Ѓj, however Judge Shi was no longer their central protagonist. The popular prints mostly depict martial scenes from these plays based on the court case stories. This research claims to define sources of various types of illustrations and clarify connections between book illustrations, popular prints and drama.

Keywords: Court case stories, book illustration, play, popular print nianhua, Russian collection, martial scene

Аннотация

Интерпретация образов цинских судей в иллюстрированных ксилографах и на китайской народной картине

А.Е. Завидовская, Т.И. Виноградова, Д.И. Маяцкий, Национальный университет Цинхуа, Библиотека Российской академии наук, Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет

Статья посвящена вопросу интерпретации и отображения событий судебных романов эпохи Цин «Дела, разобранные судьей Ши» ЃiК©№«°ё Шигунъань, аноним, первое предисловие 1798Ѓj и «Дела, разобранные судьей Пэном» ЃiЕн№«°ё Пэнгунъань, авт. Таньмэн Даожэнь КіВЬµАИЛЈ¬1871Ѓj, преобразованных в пьесы пекинской оперы в середине - конце XIX в., на книжной иллюстрации и народной картине ДкЖ няньхуа начала XX в. В качестве прототипов героев романов выступали реальные исторические персонажи: уездный судья Ши Шилунь ЃiК©КАКдЈ¬ум.1722Ѓj и уездный глава Пэн Пэн ЃiЕнЕфЈ¬1637-1704Ѓj, жившие в период правления императора Канси Ѓi1654-1722Ѓj. В статье использованы материалы из российских и зарубежных собраний, в частности, в Научной библиотеке СПбГУ было обнаружено издание романа «Дела, разобранные судьей Ши» ЃiВУ147Ѓj с портретом судьи Ши и хвалебной к нему надписью. Мы обнаружили, что многочисленные народные картины из собраний Государственного Эрмитажа и Музея антропологии и этнографии РАН представляют собой батальные сцены, иллюстрирующие серию пьес «восемь больших арестов» °ЛґуДГ бадана, в которых главную роль играют вовсе не судьи, а их помощники - бравые удальцы. Эта серия пьес, созданная в первой половине XIX в., пользовалась большой популярностью в императорском дворце и у широкой публики именно благодаря эффектным батальным сценам. Отображение батальных сцен на народной картине зачастую придерживалось определенного канона, что видно на примере оформления сцен из пьесы «Храм восьми духов» Ѓi°ЛіжУ®^ баламяоЃj, и может быть объяснено желанием художников запечатлеть кульминационную и наиболее узнаваемую сцену пьесы. В статье отмечается разница в интерпретации образов судей в книжных иллюстрациях и на народной картине, выдвигается тезис о том, что народные художники сами смотрели эти пьесы и создавали сюжеты народных картин на основе личных впечатлений.

Ключевые слова: судебный роман, книжная иллюстрация, пьеса, народная картина, российские коллекции, батальные сцены

Introduction

Court case stories Ѓi№«°ёРЎ^ gong'an xiaoshuoЃj have been occupying a visible position in Chinese literary history since the Song dynasty. Our research pursuit is to revisit the perception of these stories by carefully interpreting its illustrative material and popular prints ДкЖ nianhua. Since our scholarly lenses are focused on visual aspects of late imperial liter ature and drama, having checked both illustrated books and popular prints we were struck by the abundance of prints depicting mostly martial scenes from the stories about brave men helping the Qing dynasty judges К©№« Shi-gong and Еуµє№« Peng-gong.

Moreover, these images bear close ties with the plays, which were rather popular among the urban population of the mid-late XIX century. The scenes depicted on the sheets ЛТ-4789, ЛТ-4790, ЛТ-4791, ЛТ-4793, ЛТ-5997, ЛТ-5999 from the State Hermitage and sheet № МАЭ 3676-19_1 from MAE RAS all represent scenes referred to as “eight big arrests”ЈЁ°ЛґуДГ badanaЃj All prints from the State Hermitage mentioned in this paper can be viewed online by entering their corresponding number into the search box of the museum's online catalogue: http://collections.hermitage.ru/ “Eight big arrests” include: “Ruler Ba's Village”ЈЁ°ФНхрЮ Bawangzhuang, arresting Huang Longji »ЖВЎ»щЃjЈ¬“Solitary Tiger Camp”ЈЁ»«»ў№Ь Duhuying, arresting Luo the Fourth Tiger Т«ЛД»ўЃjЈ¬“Inner Sea Rampart”ЈЁ№ьєЈtµє Lihaiwu, arresting Lang Rubao АЙИз±ЄЃjЈ¬“Dongchang Residence”ЈЁКшІэё® Dongchangfu, arresting She Wenseng єВОДЙ®ЃjЈ¬“Lake Luomahu”ЈЁВдСЙєю Luomahu, arresting Li Pei АоЕеЃjЈ¬“Eight Spirits Temple” ЃiBalamiao °ЛіжУ®^, arresting Fei Degong ft µВ№¦ЃjЈ¬“Yin Family Fort”ЈЁТујТ±¤ Yinjiabao, arresting Yin Hong ТуєйЃjЈ¬“Huaian Residence”ЈЁ»ґ°Іё® Huaianfu - arresting Cai Tianhua ІММм»ЇЃj.The final scenes of the plays serve as a bridge for the next play; therefore all of them are interconnected., a term for eight plays about brave men helping Judge Shi. Some of them were rather popular among nianhua artisans, therefore prints have titles similar to those of the plays, e.g. “Arresting Luo the Fourth Tiger” ЃiДГТ«ЛД»ў Na Luosihu, sheets ЛТ-4791, ЛТ-4793 from YangliuqingЃj. Sheets ЛТ-5998, ЛТ-5999 titled “Lake Luomahu” ЃiВдСЙєю LuomahuЃj feature protagonists sailing on a boat, while sheet ЛТ-5997 with the same title also from Yangliuqing represents a performance of this play on the stage. Yangliuqing sheet ЛТ-4788 titled “Village Xihuangzhuang” ЃiПЄ»КрЮ XihuangzhuangЃj depicts a scene with Judge Peng kept hostage in a hall. Sheet ЛТ-5043 produced in Shanghai illustrates a battle scene from the “Criminal Cases of Judge Peng”Ј¬proving that battle scenes were a prevailing type of composition in illustrating court case tales in nianhua.

Originally court case stories existed as oral narratives, which later turned into plays during the Ming period, and a new wave of chivalric court case stories emerged during the mid-late Qing period; these stories served as a plotline for court case plays popular with urban audiences of the XIX - early XX centuries. What made “Criminal Cases of Judge Shi” di fferent from the criminal novels of the preceding periods is the prevalent role of chivalry ЃiПАфЛ xiayiЃj in the cause of establishing justice and protecting the judge. Among them Huang Tianba »ЖМм°ФЈ¬who had abandoned the path of banditry and rebellion becoming the official's protector, serves as the most representative type of knight-errant in both “Criminal Cases of Judge Shi” and “Criminal Cases of Judge Peng”. What interests us is the source of the battle scenes depicted on popular prints: did nianhua artisans watch the opera and produce the sketches based on their own observations, or did they follow some established canon of depicting the battles from these operas? This research intends to clarify this issue.

In his paper introducing literary features of the early “court case novel” Ѓi№«°ёРЎ gong'an xiaoshuoЃj Dmitry Voskresenskiy quotes Lu Xun's opinion about the novels telling stories of Judges Shi and Peng, saying that their “language is so coarse and poor that they can hardly be called `liter a- ture'” [Voskresenskiy, 1966. P. 108]. Lu Xun also criticized the polit ical standing of these novels saying that their protagonists are just a bunch of messengers whose only joy is to serve the mighty ones [Tao Junqi, 1963. P. 27]. Robert van Gulik Ѓi1910-1967Ѓj misinterpreted Chinese court case stories as detective stories, while they are basically the opposite: they lack descriptions of the intellectual effort, focus on the military service rather than the investigation process per se. Renown judges should be seen as examples of the civil servant's behavior rather than detectives. David Der - wei Wang saw the potential of Chinese court case stories to turn into the Western detective novel. He suggested a term “chivalry and judge cases novel”ЈЁПАфЛ№«°ёРЎ^ xiayigong'an xiaoshuoЃj for this hybrid type of novel [Wang, 1997. P. 117-118]. Novels “Three knight-errands and five righteous ones”ЈЁИэПАОефЛ Sanxia wuyi, 1879Ѓj by Shi Yukun and “Criminal Cases of Judge Peng” ЃiЕн№« °ё Penggong'an, 1871Ѓj basically adopted a structure similar to that of the “Criminal Cases of Judge Shi”. Tao Junqi places stories about Huang Tianba and Judge Shi in a row with other popular lite r- ary pieces reflecting common hatred for corrupted officials and local bullies of that period, such as “Cases of Judge Peng”Ј¬“Cases of Judge Yu” ЃiУЪ№«°ё Yugong'anЃj, “The Three Knights” ЃiИэПАШа Sanxiajian), “Tales of Brave Knights” (УАчзЙэЖЅ Yongqing shengping) and the above-mentioned “Three knight - errands and five righteous ones” “Criminal cases of Judge Shi” had up to 10 collections of continued stories (538 chapters in total), “Criminal cases of Judge Peng” - 17 collections, “Three knight-errands and five righteous ones” - 24 collections..

Overview of Qing Judge Shi and Peng novel editions

One of the earliest edit ions of “Criminal Cases of Judge Shi” (К©№«°ё Shigong'an, another title “Fantastic stories about Judge Shi cases” К©°ёЖж^ Shi'anqiwen, “Unusual Perspectives on One Hundred Judgments” °ЩСеЅпЖж^ Baiduan qiguan, 1830) with the 1798 preface in nine juan and 97 chapters produced by Wendetang ОДµВМГ(Xiamen) is held at the British Museum. Some researchers consider 1798 to be the year of the book's formation, which was preceded by a long period of Judge Shi stories circulating in the form of short plays and oral vernacular literature [Miao Huaiming, 2007. P. 64]. Scholars who have studied the history and reception of this novel generally agree that it was written in the late Qianlong (1735-1796) or early Jiaqing era (1796-1820) [Olivia Milburn, 2014. P. 118-119]. There were also the 1824 Benya ±ѕСГ edition housed at Beijing Normal University (Reprint: Shi'anqiwen К©°ёЖжОЕ[Fantastic stories about Judge Shi cases]ЎЈАоµВ·ј µгРЈ Collated by Li DefangЎЈ BeijingЈє Beijing shifandaxue chubanshe ±±ѕ©К¦·¶ґуС§іц°жЙзЈ¬ 1993), 1829 Jinchangbenya Ѕр^±ѕСГ edition and 1830 edition [Du Yajuan, 2007. P. 5]. Fu Sinian Library of Academia Sinica (Taiwan) holds a woodblock edition “Fantastic stories of Judge Shi” (К©°ёЖж^ Shi'anqiwen, another title “Tales about Judge Shi's Cases with Portraits” ^ПсК©№«°ёёµ Xiuxiang shigong'an zhuan) in eight juan and 97 chapters by Penglai ЕпАґ publisher dated 1839. A full account of early woodblock editions can be seen in the study by Miao Huaiming [Miao Huaiming, 2007]. In 1902 Shanghai publisher Wenxuan shujuguang ОДРыє¦ѕЦ№в published all ten sequels of the Judge Shi novel. A lithographic edition by Shanghai's Guangyishuju ёЇТжє¦ѕЦ(1903) is kept in the library of Beijing Normal University. We would hardly be able to list all the late lithographic editions here due to their abundance.

Illustrations of the earliest extant 1830 edition prove that warrior protagonists like Huang Tianba have not entered the gallery of portraits, which includes: Virtuous Official Shi К©ІНіј(Fig. 1, 1), Liu Yuan ШвФЄ,nee Wu ОвКПЈ¬Hu Dengju єъµЗ·оЈ¬Shi Zhong К©ЦТЈ¬He Tianbao єХМм±Ј,Ni Qizhu ДбЖЯ^ (appears in the plays), Seng Jiuhuang Й®ѕЕ»Ж,nee Dao µ¶КП,Li Kun АоєЦ,Wu Tianqiu Од Мміж1 (also present in the plays), Black-faced monk (єЪГжЙ®ИЛ Heimian sengren). They all are in standing posture without traces of theatrical attire. Judge Shi is depicted without theatrical make -up, with a beard and mustache, wearing a robe of a Qing official.

The St. Petersburg University library woodblock edition of “The Tale about Criminal Cases of Judge Shi with a Portrait”(ПсК©№«°ёёµ Xiuxiang shigong'an zhuan, ВУ147) was produced in 1874 by Jingdu Wenchengtang ѕ©¶јОДіЙМГ.It contains a portrait of Judge Shi riding on a donkey's back (Fig. 1, 3), immediately bringing up associations with Laozi. This resemblance is enhanced by the fact that his outfit is similar to a Taoist's robe. We suggest that the portrait of Judge Shi from ВУ147 copies the one from the earlier Penglai ЕпАґ edition “Fantastic stories of Judge Shi” (К©°ё Жж^ Shi'anqiwen) in eight juan and 97 chapters dated 1839 (Fig. 1, 2).

In Chinese popular culture, donkeys are mentioned in old sayings “A donkey is not aware of his own ugliness”(ЛиІ»ЦЄБіх® lubuzhilianchou), “To ride a donkey with a book in hand - let's see what happens next”(±§Цшє¦±ѕШИЖжЛиЧУТ»ЧЯЦшЗЖ baozhe shuben qi luzi - zouzheqiao). These meanings could be implied by the artist and may hint at the appearance of the judge. Only a beard and mustache are clearly seen on his face, while facial features are not distinct, because of many dots covering his face; does it imply that he used to suffer from smallpox? It is likely that this depiction symbolizes his ugliness. Importantly, this portrait is supplied by an inscription of “Praise for the portrait of Judge Shi”(К©№«Пс^ Shigongxiang zan) shown below:

ИкЙнІ»О·Ј¬

ИкГІІ»СпЎЈ

єъфЄ°ојТЦ®ЦщКЇЈ¬

¶шфЄЙъГс^ХтНыЎЈ

ИкНв±ЇЈ¬

ИкДЪк°ЎЈ

ё@ІЕКсµВХюЦ®ХСХСЈ¬

¶ш^ОДХВЦ®ЧЪЅіЎЈ

ОыЎЈОўЛ№ИЛТІЈ¬

зЬК§ЧУУрИ»ГчЦ®ПаЎЈ[Xiuxiang, 1874. P. 2]

You are not tall, nor boast conspicuous appearance.

You have become a pillar for the State, and an abode of hope for the people.

You look ugly, but have treasures inside you.

Have you gained glory only through virtuous governance?

Truly an outstanding master of literary writing!

Hey! The man though small, would he give in to the unattractive Ziyu and Ranming?

Fig. 1. Judge Shi portraits. Рис. 1. Портреты судьи Ши

1 - from Wendetang (1830) edition, from: Shi'anqiwen [К©°ёЖжОФ ЙПєЈЈєЙПєЈ№Еј®іц°жЙз]Fantastic stories about Judge Shi cases. Shanghai: Gujichubanshe, 2002, juan 1. P. 5 (photo by author);

2 - from: Shi'anqiwen [К©°ёЖж^ЎЈЕпАґ] Fantastic stories of Judge Shi, Penglai, 1839, juan 1. P. 3, Fu Sinian Library, Taiwan (photo by author);

3 - from: Xiuxiang shigong'an zhuan [^ПсК©№«°ёёµЎЈѕ©¶јОДіЙМГ].The Tale about Criminal Cases of Judge Peng Shi with Portraits. Jingduwenchengtang, 1874. P. 3, Oriental Department of St. Petersburg University Library, ВУ147. (photo by author);

4 - portraits of Judge Shi and others, from: Dazi zuben xiuxiang shigong'an quanji [ґуЧЦЧг±ѕ^ПсК©№«°ёИ«јЇЎЈ ЙПєЈґуіЙє¦ѕЦ]Full Collection of Big Character Judge Shi Court Cases with Portraits. Shanghai dachengshuju, p. 3 (photo by author)

1 - из издания печатни Вэньдэтан (1830), из: [Шианьцивэнь. Удивительные истории о делах, разобранных судьей Ши. Шанхай: Шанхай гуцзичубаньшэ, 2002, цз. 1. C. 5] (фото автора);

2 - из: [Шианьцивэнь. Удивительные истории о делах, разобранных судьей Ши. Пэнлай, 1839, цз. 1. С. 3, Библиотека Фу Сынянь, Тайвань] (фото автора);

3 - из: Сюсян шигунъань чжуань. О делах, разобранных судьей Ши, с портретами. Цзиндувэньчэнтан, 1874. C. 3]. Восточный отдел научной библиотеки СПбГУ, ВУ147 (фото автора);

4 - портреты судьи Ши и других, из: [Дацзы цзубэнь сюсян шигунъань цюаньцзи. Полное собрание дел, разобранных судьей Ши с портретами в больших иероглифах. Шанхай дачэн шуцзюй, C. 3] (фото автора)

Praise for the portrait of Judge Shi consists of a title in 4 Chinese characters and of 55 words of the main text. The text is not marked with punctuation marks. It is written partly in the calligraphic style of lishu (“clerical script”)Ј¬partly - in caoshu ("draft script”)Ј¬which made it difficult to understand. Apparently, the board with this text was cut out by a hardly literate master, whose caoshu was rather poor, and he most likely did not fully understand the meaning of what he had carved. As a result some characters and their combinations were strongly transformed by him (for example, the verb M "to be” was presented twice in different ways). The presence of a single type rhyme throughout the entire text with "-ang” at the end of each even line and grammatical parallelisms a l- lows to divide the text into ten paired lines with the pattern 4-4-7-7-3-3-7-7-5-8, so that the first and second strokes have 4 characters each, the third and fourth - 7 characters each and so on. Each line represents an opposition, a technique that is very common in Chinese old literature. In the final line the judge is compared with Ziyu and Ranming - two famous politicians of the Zhou Dynasty, who were both wise and ugly.

Qing literati Gu Gongxie's ч蹫ЫЖ "Leisurely notes from the country in summer” (ЅрР¤ПД^СФјє Xiaoxia xianji) has a description of Judge Shi's appearance saying that “his appearance was bizarre, eyes look askew, weak hands, stumbling feet, slanting mouth”Ј¬needless to say that the portrait in the ВУ147 edition also portrays Judge Shi as a rather ugly person. But in the plays he was always presented as an elderly respected man character laosheng АПЙъЈ¬whose inner moral beauty was combined with noble appearance, so these peculiar facial features of Judge Shi did not show on stage [Shao Zengqi, 1962. P. 15]. Olivia Milburn concludes that all surviving accounts of Shi- gong's ugliness and disabilities appear to date from the late Qing Dynasty and therefore may be i n- fluenced by his portrayal in the “Fant astic stories about Judge Shi cases” [Milburn, 2014. P. 125].

The illustrations of the lithographic edition by Shanghai's Guangyishuju (1903) portrayed the protagonists in fighting poses proving close ties with the operatic tradition rather than the one springing form the book tradition exemplified by Wendetang edition. The Republican period lithographic edition “Full Collection of Big Character Judge Shi Court Cases with Portraits” (ґуЧЦЧг±ѕ ^ПсК©№«°ёИ«јЇ Dazizuben xiuxiang shigong'an quanji) by Shanghai dachengshuju ЙПєЈґуіЙє¦ ѕЦ has several sheets with portraits, where protagonists are arranged in groups according to their participation in “eight big arrests”. Judge Shi is shown as a Qing official next to Kangxi Emperor, while Huang Tianba is shown wearing a stage costume; an interesting mixture of protagonists of the novel and plays about Judge Shi (Fig. 1, 4).

judicial romance qing illustration folk painting

Oral narratives about Judge Shi existed during the early Jiaqing years Ѓi1796-1820Ѓj, supposedly, the so-called “secret books”ЈЁµА»оГШ±ѕ daohuo mibenЃj used by story-tellers could have been released to the publisher, resulting in the production of the numerous “sequels” of the Judge Shi novel К©°ёЖж^ Shi'anqiwen A collection of hand-written librettos and oral vernacular pieces of different genres called “Librettos from Che Prince residence”ЈЁЧїНхё®Зъ±ѕ Chewang fuquben, around 4400 bookletsЃj, dated mid-late XIX century, contains tales based on “Shi-gong stories”Јє “General Tale of Huaian residence”ЈЁ»ґ°Іё®±ёПўСФ»Ж Huaianfu zongjiangЃj, “General Tale of Ruler Ba's village”ЈЁ°ФНх·Ж¶¬ПўСФ»Ж Bawangzhuang zongjiangЃj, “General Tale on Lake Luomahu”ЈЁВдСЙєю±ёПўСФ»Ж Luomahu zongjiangЃj [Zhang Wenshu, 2015. P. 219-220]. Moreover, this collection mentions “Criminal Cases of Judge Shi” in the genre of drum tale guci №ДСФЛѕ[Miao Huaiming, 2007. P. 64-65]. [Du Yajuan, 2007. P. 14]. Tao Junqi stresses that “Shi-gong plays” proliferated after the spread of the novel “Fantastic stories of Judge Shi” ЃiК©°ёЖж^ Shi'anqiwenЃj and vernacular literary piece pingshu СФЖЅє¦ “Five Daughters and Seven righteous” ЃiОеЕ®ЖЯЖд Wunu qizhenЃj, and the plays gained popularity mostly in Beijing during the Daoguang, Xianfeng and Tongzhi periods Ѓi1825-1874Ѓj.According to Shao Zengqi, the novel “Fantastic stories of Judge Shi” ЃiК©°ёЖж^ Shi'anqiwenЃj is a revision of the pingshu “Five Daughters and Seven righteous” with some changes and reductions. Peking Opera plays featuring Huang Tianba became well-known to the public throughout the XIX century, especially the plays titled “Fight with Lianhuantao” ЃiЛЩи±МЧ LianhuantaoЃj, “Lake Luomahu”ЈЁВдСЙєюГыПўСФ»Ж LuomahuЃj and “Evil tiger village” Ѓi±Ї»ўґе EhucunЃj making Huang Tianba one of the favourites a mong theatre connoisseurs; the total number of “Shi - gong plays” amounted to thirty [Tao Junqi, 1963. P. 26]. The plots of the plays were mostly bo r- rowed from pingshu “Five Daughters and Seven righteous”Ј¬the content and style of the plays were designed by the martial role actors ОдЙъ wusheng who played leading roles [Shao Zengqi, 1962. P. 15, 16]. A famous wusheng actor and playwright Shen Xiaoqing ЃiЙтРЎчзЈ¬1808-1855Ѓj believed to be the author of “eight big arrests”, was also a rigorous listener of story -tellers and very likely could have heard narratives about Judge Shi [Du Yajuan, 2007. P. 7]. His plays became very popular during the Daoguang and Xianfeng periods Ѓi1821 -1861Ѓj. Judge Peng's stories and short plays started circulating in Beijing during the Daoguang period Ѓi1821 -1850Ѓj, around which time there formed a pingshu “Judge Peng court cases”ЈЁЕн№«°ё Penggong'anЃj, the novel by Tanmeng Daoren КіВЬµАИЛ was published even later in 1871, but little is known about Judge Peng plays.

All the “Judge Shi” and “Judge Peng” plays were produced by drama troupes working in Beijing and gained popularity in the capital around the 1820-1830s. The novels bear strong Pekinese flavor due to the venue of their formation and proliferation. For instance, Peng-gong in the novel “Criminal Cases of Judge Peng”Ј¬originally a commoner from Fujian pro vince who finally made it to the rank of Governor of Guangdong, was changed into a Manchu bannerman belonging to the 5^th regiment of the Borderland Ren Banner; the novel mentions various locales of Beijing as well, more over, these types of novels widely used Beijing dialect [Keulemans, 2014. P. 74]. However, we have found an impressive amount of popular lithographic prints from early XX century Shanghai also featuring “eight big arrests”, proving their popularity in the teahouses of Shanghai in the early XX century. These prints belong to the so-called xiaojiaochang РЎРЈЫь prints Ѓi“prints from the small parade ground”Ѓj tradition of Shanghai, discussed in more detail below.

The novel about Judge Shi was not banned by the Qing government, therefore short plays featuring Huang Tianba entered the imperial stage during the Xianfeng period Ѓi1851-1861Ѓj; famous wusheng actors Tan Xinpei РЕсыцОЕаЈ¬1847-1917Ѓj and Yang Xiaolou ЃiйЅРЎму 1878-1938Ѓj were invited to the palace to perform “eight big arrests” for Cixi Dowager [Yu Zhibin, 1962. P. 30]. The album titled “Praising the Ascending Peace”ЈЁчзЙН•NЖЅ Qingshang shengping, 1851-1874, kept at the National Library, BeijingЃj was produced by the Bureau of Ascending Peace Ѓi •N ЖЅ Кр ShengpingshuЃj, which was in charge of imperial opera performances, supposedly it was made as a gift for Cixi Dowager. It featured portraits of the characters from two Judge Shi plays wearing costumes and make-up, including “Lake Luomahu” (ten portraits) and “Daoist Cai Tianhua”(ІММм »Ї Caitianhua, twelve portraits), these plays were introduced to the court by the Anhui troupe. Mei Lanfang Memorial Museum in Beijing holds another album belonging to the Bureau of Ascending Peace featuring two Judge Shi plays “Eight spirits temple”(°Ліжур^ Balamiao) and “Ruler Ba's Vil- lage”(°ФНхрЮ Bawangzhuang) with a vertical line describing the actor's make-up to the right from the portrait. These images give us a glimpse of the canonical attire of different characters from the “Judge Shi plays” and allow comparisons with the appearance of the characters in popular prints. Each villain from “eight big arrests” was supposed to have his own recognizable make -up colouring, and each of the “arrests” displayed one certain type of warfare, e.g. “Lake Luomahu” Т» a water battle, “Ruler Ba's Village” - a daytime battle on the ground [Zhao Qi'en, 2016. P. 34]. Therefore each of the eight plays had its own special dangzi мыЧУЈ¬a stage setting and a design of moves and tricks in the martial scenes illuminating the skill of the leading wusheng actor [Du Yajuan, 2007. P. 18]. We suggest that nianhua prints strived to illustrate the most brilliant dangzi of each play, so that such nianhua could be seen as a “visiting card” for a play. Below we examine how two out of “eight big arrests” plays were interpreted in popular prints.

Case of “Eight spirits temple” play

The play “Eight spirits temple” is based on chapters 305-310 (chapters 17-22 of the 5 ^th sequel book) of the novel “Criminal Cases of Judge Shi”Ј¬which had undergone visible edi ting: the erotic content of the story was reduced, the part of Huang Tianba was exaggerated to grant him a central place on stage. Originally, a bandit leader Fei Degong ·СµВ№¦ was supposed to have a fixed makeup made of three blobs of purple colour, a portrait from the palace album (Fig. 2, 1) gives an idea of this make-up, yet it is not completely the same on all nianhua that we have checked [Zhao Qi'en, 2016. P. 34]. Comparing several prints from Yangliuqing and Shanghai we quickly discover similarity in their composition with Fei Degong placed in the centre, next to him are Huang Tianba's wife Zhang Guilan №­іЅ№рМЩ and a boy He Renjie єШИКЅЬЈ¬who were used as bait to lure out Fei Degong; Zhang Guilan is not present on some sheets [Zhongguo muban, 2009. P. 120-121]. These prints most likely depict a final scene, when the fort held by villain Fei Degong w as captured by Huang Tianba's friends, among them is also an old martial arts master Zhu Biao. A print from Shanghai “Capturing Fei Degong at Zhaoxianzhen village” (ХР ЖЖ ЧЅД÷ѵ¹« Zhaoxianzhen zhuona Feidegong, ЛТ-5042) features characters with names different from those in the jingju opera (Fig. 2, 3).

Case of “Luomahu lake” play

The play “Lake Luomahu” is widely present on nianhua prints produced in Yangliuqing and Shanghai. The play is based on the story from chapter 285 (or chapter 46 of the 4 ^th sequel book) of the “Criminal Cases of Judge Shi”. Composition of the prints featuring this play ha s variations, but the villain АоЕе Li Pei is always recognizable due to two long pheasant feathers as part of his headdress (an attribute of a barbarian general, Fig. 2, 2). For instance, print ЛТ-5997 (Yangliuqing) depicts a stage performance with Li Pei seated and Huang Tianba standing next to him probably pr eparing to launch an attack on Li Pei (Fig. 3, 1) Curiously, a hand-written note glued to the right fringe of this print contains a commentary by Alekseev's Chinese teacher, in which he does not identify the play and the depicted protagonists, he just describes them as “mountain general” ЙЅбЬЅ« shanjiang, “mountain king” ЙЅНх shanwang, and a “hero” УўРЫ yingxiong..

Sheet ЛТ-5999 (Yongqinghe shop, Yangliuqing) shows Judge Shi's alliances Zhu Biao, Zhu Guangzu Цм№вЧжЈ¬Wan Junzhao ГпѕэХЧ sailing on a boat towards Li Pei stronghold with tablet “Luomahu” on it, a water battle is about to erupt, since Zhu Biao is pulling a t his bowstring (Fig. 4, 1).

Fig. 2. Attire of the actor sperforming Fei Degong ·СµВ№¦,Li Pei АоЕе and popular print "Capturing Fei Degong at Zhaoxianzhen village”

Рис. 2. Костюмы актеров, изображающих Фэй Дэгуна ЦµВ№¦,Ли Пэя АоЕе и народная картина «Арест Фэн Дэгуна в деревне Чжаосяньчжэнь»

1 - Attire of the actor performing Fei Degong ЦµВ№¦,from: Qingshang shengping [ДЖ•NЖЅ]Palace album “Praising the Ascending Peace”;

2 - Attire of the actor performing Li Pei АоЕе,from: Qingshang shengping [ДЖ•NЖЅ]Palace album “Praising the Ascending Peace”;

3 - popular print "Capturing Fei Degong at Zhaoxianzhen village” ХР^^ЧЅД÷ѵ¹«(No. ЛТ-5042). The State Hermitage, St. Petersburg (photo provided by the Museum)

1 - костюма актера, изображающего Фэй Дэгуна ЦµВ№¦,из: [Циншан шэнпин. Дворцовый альбом «Прославление мира».

2 - костюм актера, изображающего Ли Пэя АоЕе,из: [Циншан шэнпин. Дворцовый альбом «Прославление мира»;

3 - народная картина «Арест Фэн Дэгуна в деревне Чжаосяньчжэнь» ЙКЖ ЧЅД÷ѵ¹«(No.ЛТ-5042).Государственный Эрмитаж, Санкт-Петербург (фото предоставлено музеем)

Fig. 3. Popular prints “Lake Luomahu”(ВдСЙєю)

Рис. 3. Народные картины «Озеро Ломаху» (ВдСЙєю)

1 - (No.RT-5997). The State Hermitage, St. Petersburg (photo provided by the Museum);

2 - (No.RT-8217). The State Hermitage, St. Petersburg (photo provided by the Museum)

1 - (№ЛТ-5997). Государственный Эрмитаж, Санкт-Петербург (фото предоставлено музеем);

2 - (№ЛТ-8217). Государственный Эрмитаж, Санкт-Петербург (фото предоставлено музеем)

However on the sheet ЛТ-5998 (Dailianzeng shop, Yangliuqing) we see villain Li Pei and his gang standing on the bank, while a group of men including Huang Tianba, Zhu Guangzu and Zhu Biao approach them on a boat, with Wan Junzhao politely greeting the men on the bank, since the plan was to capture Li Pei by using his son-in-law Wan Junzhao as a decoy (Fig. 4, 2).

Fig. 4. Popular prints “Lake Luomahu”(ВдСЙєю)

Рис. 4. Народные картины «Озеро Ломаху» (ВдСЙєю)

1 - (No. ЛТ-5999). The State Hermitage, St. Petersburg (photo provided by the Museum);

2 - (No.RЎё5998). The State Hermitage, St. Petersburg (photo provided by the Museum).

3 - (№ЛТ-5999). Государственный Эрмитаж, Санкт-Петербург (фото предоставлено музеем);

4 - (№ЛТ-5998). Государственный Эрмитаж, Санкт-Петербург (фото предоставлено музеем)

Print ЛТ-8217 (Hengyuansheng shop, Yangliuqing) shows yet another way of Wan Junzhao trying to deceive Li Pei. Hegemonic Li Pei and a warrior protecting him are shown standing on the bank of the lake, Wan Junzhao holds his hands in respectful greeting, Huang Tianba is next to him in a pose ready to fight (Fig. 3, 2). Examination of this series of prints allows us to suggest that these are different stages of the final part of the story.

Xiaojiaochang prints from Shanghai

During his travel to the Yangtze region of China in early 1909, Vasily Alekseev purchased hundreds of prints in Hankou, Suzhou and Shanghai, most of which are housed at the State Hermitage. Notably, prints illustrating stories of Judges Shi and Peng seem to have been produced in series by renowned Shanghai print shops: "Sunwenya” ЛпОДСЕ(ЛТ-5043, “Capturing Huafeng at Xihuangzhuang village”Ј¬Judge Peng story), “Junxiangge” уЮПг^ (ЛТ-5044, “Huang Tianba destroying Ehu village”Ј¬Judge Shi story), “Jiuhezhai” ѕГєНцЁ(ЛТ-5053, “Judge Shi. Case of flying robber stabbing at Yin Family Fort”Ј¬Judge Shi story), “Muxinchang” ДАРВІэ(ЛТ-4637, “Big havoc in Huaian residence”, Judge Shi story), “Gandesheng” ёКµВКў(ЛТ-6010, “Bright Dragon among the clouds and Phoenix Ridge”This play titled “A Tower of Zhao Family”(И¤јТПр Zhaojialou) featuring deeds of Judge Ji (Ж№«°ё Jigong an) has also been included in above mentioned “Librettos from Che Prince residence”(ЧїНхё®Зъ±ѕ Chewangfu quben), two plays were produced by actors of Songzhu troupe бФЧЈ°а organized by Prince Yiqin-wang ЩЛ^НхЈ¬among who were some kunqu genre actors from the Suzhou area, therefore this play belongs to the kunqu genre., Judge Ji story). They all look like crowded fighting scenes. Prints from Shanghai have marks shang ЙП(Shanghai), su Ж (Suzhou) and han Ж (Hankou) in the corner, signifying the place of their purchase and therefore pointing at a large network of Shanghai prints distribution and popularity of this type of theatrical prints across the wide Yangtze river region.

Conclusion

This paper has taken a genre of chivalric court case stories about Judges Shi and Peng as a subject reflected both in late imperial illustrated editions and popular prints nianhua. We have discovered a key role of traditional opera as the medium through which court case st ories became known to a wider illiterate public and showed how these prints could in a certain sense advertise and promote popular plays about “eight big arrests” based on Judge Shi's stories. These plays with martial scenes were edited specifically for the newly emerging dynamic jingju genre. What may be considered an important outcome of this study is an assumption that court case plays were produced specifically for stage performances, moreover the artisans themselves watched them and produced their sketches based on personal impressions. Nonetheless, the compositions of the prints for “Eight Spi r- it Temple” and “Lake Luomahu” plays display a certain compositional pattern and depict the most breathtaking scene from the entire story, making the content of each print easily recognizable by the wider public. Therefore, the examined prints may be considered a reproduction of the real stage action, not a product of the artisans' fantasies. Portraits of the actors from palace albums show just another facet of the universality of the cultural codes used in the drama performances. No matter where they were staged - in the yard, in the tea-house or the imperial palace, they all abided to the same set of symbolic patterns used in composing the traditional drama.

References

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15. Шао Цзэнци. «Шигунъань» хэ «шигунси» ЃmЙЫФшмчЎЈЎ¶К©№«°ёЎ·єНК©№«П·Ѓn«Дела, разобранные судьей Ши» и «пьесы о судье Ши» // Шанхай сицзюй (ЙПєЈП·ѕУ U Драма Шанхая). 09.28.1962. С. 14-17. (на кит. яз.)

16. Юй Чжибинь. Жухэ пинцзя «шигун си»: юй Шао Цзэнци тунчжи шанцюэ ЃmУЪЦК±тИзєОЖАјЫ < К©№«П·ЎµЈєУлЙЫФшмчН¬ЦѕЙМИ¶Ѓn.Как оценивать «пьесы о судье Ши»: дискуссия с товарищем Шао Цзэнци // Шанхай сицзюй (ЙПєЈП·ѕУ U Драма Шанхая). 27.12.1962. С. 29-31. (на кит. яз.)

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