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V The Noble Savage as a Rejuvenative Symbol ONE O F the mos t unusua l thing s abou t The Wilderness (1937 ) i s th e absence o f a length y prefac e o r postscrip t whic h Ts'a o Yi i ha s ofte n used as a kind of expository essay on life and art. To the extent that they furnish first-hand informatio n o n th e source s an d sometime s eve n unfortunate circumstance s unde r whic h th e play s wer e written , thes e essays are extremel y valuable , especiall y sinc e neithe r a biograph y no r an autobiograph y o f th e playwrigh t i s available. 1 W e kno w fro m it s preface, fo r instance , tha t Thunderstorm i s intende d a s a dramati c projection o f a n unintelligibl e worl d i n whic h th e kicked ' surviv e th e 'innocent'. Though mor e often tha n no t the play turns ou t to be some thing quit e differen t fro m it s origina l intent , th e informatio n ha s nevertheless been helpful, i f only because it illuminated the discrepanc y between its intention an d its performance. N o less helpful ha s been th e postscript t o Sunrise, bu t fo r whic h it would have been difficult t o trace its source 1 of influenc e t o s o unlikely a writer a s Chekhov. But although no such information ha s been provide d o n The Wilderness , its sources, moral purposes (for Ts'ao Yu has never written anythin g without attaching to-it a moral purpose) and some of its basic motifs ar e easily discernible . Fo r th e play , muc h a s i t aspire s t o b e original , i s essentially a revisitation t o th e familia r worl d o f Thunderstorm wit h it s equally familia r realities . T o sa y this , however , i s no t t o sa y tha t The Wilderness i s simpl y Thunderstorm recast . I f i t were , i t woul d no t be wort h ou r effort . True , mos t o f Ts'a o Yii' s mora l obsession s ar e recognizably there—fate , 'cosmi c cruelty' , primitiv e passions , sexua l 1 A s an example of his conscientiousness as a writer, Ts'a o Yii relates in his postscript to Sunrise tha t in order t o be able to describe the brothe l scene more 'realistically' , h e undertook t o visi t a 'red-light * distric t himsel f t o collec t 'authenti c materials ' o n th e lives o f th e prostitutes . Becaus e hi s manne r wa s s o over-anxious , som e o f th e thug s there too k hi m t o b e a detectiv e i n disguis e an d gav e him a beating . 44 The Noble Savage as a Rejuvenative Symbol deprivation, and most unmistakably of all, 'courage of defiance' as exemplified b y Cho u Fan-yi . Bu t wha t make s The Wilderness a significantl y different pla y is its abilit y t o giv e its threadbare ideas an ingenious an d at times vigorous interpretation. And , instea d o f rolling them int o a big . lump o f problems , Ts'a o Yi i here ha s narrowed hi s scattere d interest s to on e centra l concern : primitivism . It is only natural that he has chosen to write on primitivism, consider ing th e fac t tha t h e starte d hi s caree r wit h a n unsettlin g pla y o f socia l protest. Fo r socia l protest , lik e revolution , i s essentiall y a romanti c enterprise motivated by an equally intense desire for change, which is in itself a manifestation o f ameliorist optimism . O n the surface , o f course, it woul d b e difficul t t o se e ho w primitivis m ca n b e relate d t o socia l progress. Bu t i f we qualif y th e meaning o f primitivis...

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