The Communist Anxiety: A Study of Two Chinese Plays

THE COMMUNIST ANXIETY A STUDY OF TWO CHINESE PLAYS THE CHAOTIC AND VIOLENT GREAT PROLETARIAN CULTURAL REVOLUTION in Communist China has attracted much attention since its outbreak in 1965. Surprisingly, drama has played a very significant role in this "revolution." The beginning of the "revolution" is generally dated. with an article by Yao Wen-yuan in the Wen Hui Daily in Shanghai, November 10, 1965, implying anti-Party content in a historical play, Hai-jui Dismissed From Office (Hai-jui pa kuan).l The purpose of the cultural revolution is to secure the future of Communhm (Mao's version) by eliminating the influence of Neo-Revisionism which, Mao believes, will eventually lead to the revival of capitalism, and the function of this violent movement is educational, designed for the young generation in whose hands, Mao correctly sees, the future of Communism lies. The significant role of drama in this Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was given further recognition in two identical editorials of the People's Daily and the Red Flag (Hung Ch'i) on January 1, 1967. The editorials acknowledged that the drama reform in 1963 was the actual beginning of the present Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Viewing the extraordinary role of drama claim.ed by the official Communist news organs, one feels that Mao Tse-tung is making the entire nation a big stage and every young Chinese (the Red Guards are all very young) an involved actor to catch the ghosts of revisionism and the bourgeoisie. The 1963 drama reform was the so-called "Hsien-tai-hsi" movement, a term I shall render as "drama-on-contemporary-subjects." The closing act of the 1963 drama reform movement was the pompous East China Drama Experimental Performance (Hua-tung ch'u hua-ch'u kuan-mo yen-ch'u) held in Shanghai from Decemebr 25, 1963, to January 22, 1964, during which there were nineteen drama troups from various cities and provinces of the region staging thirteen mult1 Hai-jui Dismissed from Office was written by Wu Han, a well-known Wstorian and vice-mayor of Peking until his dismissal in 1965. Wu was severely criticized for insulting and attacking the regime and the Communist Party in this play. Yao Wen-yuan's article was reprinted in the People's Daily, November 30, 1965, and Yao himself has become one of Mao's confidants in the cultural revolution. 124 1969 Two CHINESE PLAYS 125 act plays and seven one-act plays which were all written in 1963.2 This experimental performance occurred after one whole year of careful and closely supervised preparation. The Party had mobilized drama workers and sent them down to the country-side, factories, and armed forces to live and work with farmers, workers, and soldiers in order to gain some first-hand experience for the writing of plays.3 The result of this massive effort was the appearance of one hundred and six plays, fifty-five of which were staged, and twenty chosen to be played in the 1963 Drama Experimental Performance in Shanghai.4 These twenty plays were considered by the Party to be the most representative and ideologically most correct "hsien-tai-hsi" plays on the contemporary scene of Communist China. The drama reform of 1963 proceeded not without criticism, however . One charge was that "these plays were written by the Party cadres, not by the playwrights."5 The accusation was true, but the Party retorted by accusing the complaining writers of "attempting to separate literary creativity from the leadership of the MarxistLeninist Party, and to make writers accept the leadership of revisionism ."6 In Peking, on March 31, 1964, the Ministry of Culture bestowed awards and honors on the best plays, playwrights, and performing units of 1963 in a solemn celebration. Among these plays were The Young Generation (Nien-ch'ing-te i-tai) which had been performed in Shanghai and You Must Never Forget (Ch'ien-wan pu-yao wang-chi), written and performed in Manchuria before coming to Peking. Both plays were staged in Peking for the final competition, and both of them had been most frequently performed in other parts of the country . According to the report in The Drama...