Spoken Drama from 1978: Limited Innovation

SPOKEN DRAMA FROH 1978: LI}IITED INNOVATION Edward Gunn Cornell University Upon the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, spoken drama in China was reduced to a minor form of theater, productions of it limited .to.brief, local events, and scripts for it rarely published. In 1977 the dominant form of theater, the revolutionary model performance (geming yangbanxi Jf-4f#:-tfi-,z)G) began to come under official attack. Its gradual disappearance began to create a vacuum which the spoken drama and other forms of entertainment previously banned or neglected were allowed by authorities to fill. In turn, the spoken drama became a vehicle for the timely portrayal of recent or current events, although by 1978 events were moving so swiftly that a playwright was hardpressed to keep up with them in a manner consistent with official views. The play In a Land of Silence (Yu wusheng chu ·f JGJ j.t ) .by the worker Zong Fuxian suggested this problem.' In this powerful, melodramatic piece the depredations of the "gang of four" are exposed and the leadership of Mao Tse-tung and Hua Guofeng extolled. Yet no sooner had this play been published in November than the first wall poster criticizing Mao Tse-tung appeared in Beij ing, followed by criticism of Hua Guofeng for his political and ·ecogiance to Mao's thought and for "emancipation of the mind." A wave of dissident magazines, not sanctioned by officials, was emerging, and while some of the frankly anti-communist editors and contributors to these mimeographed publications were being arrested, others were having their work reprinted in officially-sanctioned periodicals. Hence, within the bounds of loyalty to the nation and to socialism, a vast new scope for social criticism was opening up. In addition, new official ties with SPOKEN DRAMA FROM 1978: LIMITEDINNOVATION Edward Gunn Cornell University Upon the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, spoken drama in China was reduced to a minor form of theater, productions of it limited· to brief, local events, and scripts for it rarely published. In 1977 the dominant form of theater, the revolutionary model performance (geming yangbanxi f4-r#;fR'2.)<.. ) began to come under official attack. Its gradual . disappearance began to create a vacuum which the spoken drama and other forms of entertainment previously banned or neglected were allowed by authorities to fill. In turn, the spoken drama became a vehicle for the timely portrayal of recent or current events, although by 1978 events were moving so swiftly that a playwright was hardpressed to keep up with them in a manner consistent with official views. The play In a Land of Silence (Yu wusheng chu ·f Jc., Jftt- ) by the worker Zong Fuxian suggested this problem.' In this powerful, melodramatic piece the depredations of the "gang of four" are exposed and the leadership of Mao Tse-tung and Hua Guofeng extolled. Yet no sooner had this play been published in November than the first wall poster criticizing Mao Tse-tung appeared in Beijing, followed by criticism of Hua Guofeng for his political and economic leadership, and the convening in December of the third plenum of the Eleventh Party Congress, which called for an end to dogmatic allegiance to Mao's thought and for "emancipation of the mind." A wave of dissident magazines, not sanctioned by officials, was emerging, and while some of the frankly anti-communist editors and contributors to these mimeographed publications were being arrested, others were having their work reprinted in officially-sanctioned periodicals. Hence, within the bounds of loyalty to the nation and to socialism, a vast new scope for·social criticism was opening up. In addition, new official ties with 10 the West were greatly increasing cultural exchange, including access to Western literature, without a clearly defined policy on what might be legitimately absorbed into the official Chinese literary world. In this new climate of relaxed official guidance and censorship, the.year 1979 brought major developments in esthetic innovation and social criticism on the stage. A major event in the Beijing theatrical season was the staging of Berthol t Brecht's Galileo, portraying the great astronomer 's retraction of his theory as a cowardly act of capitulation to the dogma of Roman Catholic Church authorities. The parallel with recent Chinese intellectual history was not lost on Chinese intellectuals who had weathered the Cultural Revolution years in abject self-criticism. In Shanghai satire grew more pungent with the publication and televising of a one-act play titled "The Artillery Commander's Son" (Paobing siling de erzi }C1~ ~ 4'~1'9)L,·:j-- ), written by students at Fudan University. 2 In this work a hypocritical.,. social-climbing time-server in the Communist Party under the "gang of four" attempts to steer his daughter into an alliance with the son of a high-level cadre at the expense of her desire to marry a common worker. The rotten apple is upstaged and then tricked by a conspiracy of young people into agreeing to his daughter's choice. Such assertions of egalitarian spirit triumphant over official shortcomings, together with the return to China of such innovative, modernist work as Brecht's, set the stage in turn for a play which finally ran afoul of the views of Party leaders and prompted a statement of official policy for drama. This play was a satirical work in six scenes called "If I Were Real" .~) J.- .lJ:: ~ ~&h 3 (Jiaru wo shi zhende ~f.z...~'O-1""A'j:C~rJ3), or "The Impostor" (Pianzi). "The Impostor" was written in the summer of 1979 by three members of the Shanghai People's Art Theater: Sha Yexin, Yao Mingde, and Li 10 the West were greatly increasing cultural exchange, including access to Western literature, without a clearly defined policy on what might be legitimately absorbed into the official Chinese literary world. In this new climate of relaxed official guidance and censorship, the.year 1979 brought major developments in esthetic innovation and social criticism on the stage. A major event in the Beijing theatrical season was the staging of BertholtBrecht's Galileo, portraying the great astronomer 's retraction of his theory as a cowardly act of capitulation to the dogma of Roman Catholic Church authorities. The parallel with recent Chinese intellectual history was not lost on Chinese intellectuals who had weathered the Cultural Revolution years in abject self-criticism. In Shanghai satire grew more pungent with the publication and televising of a one-act play titled "The Artillery Commander's Son" (Paobing siling de erzi j~~ ~ 4' W3 JL·=J- ) , written by students at Fudan University. 2 In this work a hypocritical_, social-climbing time-server in the Communist Party under the "gang of four" attempts to steer his daughter into an alliance with the son of a high-level cadre at the expense of her desire to marry a commonworker. The rotten apple is upstaged and then tricked by a conspiracy of young people into agreeing to his daughter's choice. Such assertions of egalitarian spirit triumphant over official shortcomings, together with the return to China of such innovative, modernist work as Brecht's, set the stage in turn for a play which finally ran afoul of the views of Party leaders and prompted a statement of official policy for drama. This play was a satirical work in six scenes called "If I Were Real" (Jiaru WO shi zhende li~.L~~-k._$aj), or "The Impostor" (Pianzi). 3 . "The Impostor" was written in the summer of 1979 by three members of the Shanghai People's Art Theater: Sha Yexin, Yao Mingde, and Li 11 3 4 Shou cheng.- The imposter himself is an educated youth, Li Xiaozhang, sent down from the city to a state farm, where he has gradually become demoralized and turned from an idealist into a cynic. Returning to the city sur- -reptitiously, he takes the name Zhang Xiaoli to impersonate the son of Zhang Lao, a ranking cadre in the Party Central Commission for Inspecting Discipline, so that he may arrange a transfer for himself back to the city where his pregnant girlfriend anxiously awaits their marriage and reestablishment as an urban household. In his guise as Zhang Xiaoli, the youth has no trouble finding Party cadres eager to help transfer him with a view to the personal benefits they may reap in return, while other, less- ~illing cadres can be manipulated into acquiescence. Only when Zhang Lao himself, the real Commissioner, happens to arrive in the city i~ the plot exposed. Zhang Lao insists on having Li tried for fraud, but also agrees to act as Li Xiaozhang's defense counsel and concludes the play by reprimanding the cadres with a warning that their privilegeseeking behavior will not continue to go unpunished. As a socialist play, "The Impostor" presents us with an unprecedented , acerbic view of several contemporary issues in society: the generation gap between those who established the People's Republic and those who came to maturity during or after the Cultural Revolution years; the divide between urban and rural living conditions; the Party seen as an elite group divorced from the masses; and the atmosphere of disillusionment and corruption that dominates both the Party and the people. In a setting so permeated with cynicism, the use of conventional socialist rhetoric to define or prescribe is made to look r~diculous. To plead Li Xiaozhang's case to an influential cadre, Li's girlfriend, Minghua, enlists the aid of the cadre's daughter, who is her former classmate. This results ll 3 4 Shou cheng. The imposter himself is an educated youth, Li Xiaozhang, sent down from the city to a state farm, where he has gradually become demoralized and turned from an idealist into a cynic. Returning to the city surreptitiously , he takes the name Zhang Xiaoli to impersonate the son of Zhang Lao, a ranking cadre in the Party Central Commission for Inspecting Discipline, so that he may arrange a transfer for himself back to the city where his pregnant girlfriend anxiously awaits their marriage and reestablishment as an urban household. In his guise as Zhang Xiaoli, the youth has no trouble finding Party cadres eager to help transfer him with a view to the personal benefits they may reap in return, while other, lesswilling cadres can be manipulated into acquiescence. Only when Zhang Lao himself, the real Commissioner, happens to arrive in the city is the plot exposed. Zhang Lao insists on having Li tried for fraud, but also agrees to act as Li Xiaozhang's defense counsel and concludes the play by reprimanding the cadres with a warning that their privilegeseeking behavior will not continue to go unpunished. As a socialist play, "The Impostor" presents us with an unprecedented , acerbic view of several contemporary issues in society: the generation gap between those who established the People's Republic and those who came to maturity during or after the Cultural Revolution years; the divide between urban and rural living conditions; the Party seen as an elite group divorced from the masses; and the atmosphere of disillusionment and corruption that dominates both the Party and the people. In a setting so permeated with cynicism, the use of conventional socialist rhetoric to define or prescribe is made to look ridiculous. To plead Li Xiaozhang's case to an influential cadre, Li's girlfriend, Minghua, enlists the aid of the cadre's daughter, who is her former classmate. This results 12 in the following exchange between the father, Sun, and his daughter, Juanjuan: Juanjuan: Minghua has a boyfriend who's still on the farm. They've known each other now for years, and they want to get married. Only her father won't agree to it, and he won't give his conseni unless her boyfriend is transferred back to the city. Dad, poor Minghua is really desperate. You've got to help think up a solution. Sun: You're her classmate, so you should go to work· on her father's ideology. Tell her father that this kind of thinking is incorrect . In our country there's no such thing as high or low status positions. Any work, no matter whether it's on a farm or in a factory, is for the sake of serving the people, and everyone alike shares in the prospects for the future. Juanjuan: Spoken like a simpleton. You go say that! Who 5 listens to that babble nowadays? Juanjuan is portrayed as a spoiled, callow young woman, and therefore her mockery cannot be taken as the theme of the play itself. Yet the response of her father is hardly adequate, either, and serves to show the distance between the conventions of socialist discourse and the reality of society. The only effective contrast to such an exchange of cynicism and hollow moralizing is silence, and the play repeatedly offers scenes of the silent assertion of moral integrity to develop its theme, before finally giving voice to that theme. Once Li Xiaozhang, in his guise as Zhang, has arranged for his own transfer back to the city he triumphantly presents himself to the director of the state farm, Zheng. The dispirited Zheng undergoes severe temptation himself. Believing that Li really does have an-influential friend named Zhang, Zheng asks Li to arrange a transfer for himself, but then silently reasserts his individual dignity and integrity by withdrawing his request: 12 in the following exchange between the father, Sun, and his daughter, Juanjuan: Juanjuan: Minghua has a boyfriend who's still on the farm. They've known each other now for years, and they want to get married. Only her father won't agree to it, and he won't give his consent unless her boyfriend is transferred back to the city. Dad, poor Minghua is really desperate. You've got to help think up a solution. Sun: You're her classmate, so you should go to work on her father's ideology. Tell her father that this kind of thinking is incorrect . In our country there's no such thing as high or low status positions. Any work, no matter whether it's on a farm or in a factory, is for the sake of serving the people, and everyone alike shares in the prospects for the future. Juanjuan: Spoken like a simpleton. You go say that! Who 5 listens to that babble nowadays? Juanjuan is portrayed as a spoiled, callow young woman, and therefore her mockery cannot be taken as the theme of the play itself. Yet the response of her father is hardly adequate, either, and serves to show the distance between the conventions of socialist discourse and the reality of society. The only effective contrast to such an exchange of cynicism and hollow moralizing is silence, and the play repeatedly offers scenes of the silent assertion of moral integrity to develop its theme, before finally giving voice to that theme. Once Li Xiaozhang, in his guise as Zhang, has arranged for his own transfer back to the city he triumphantly presents himself to the director of the state farm, Zheng. The dispirited Zheng undergoes severe temptation himself. Believing that Li really does have an-influential friend named Zhang, Zheng asks Li to arrange a transfer for himself, but then silently reasserts his individual dignity and integrity by withdrawing his request: 13 Zheng: ... I want to make something of this farm, but the way things, are going it's absolutely impossible. If things go on like this, then 1--1 don't want to rot here anymore either. The way I'm going, the more I feel I'm--1'm just about fed up. Li (surprised): So you want to get out too? Zheng (with a show of grievance): Put in a memo--for a transfer order. There is a son of a high-level cadre, Zhang Xiaoli is his name. You know him, don't you? Ask him--to help me--to put in a ~ord for me with the municipal committee secretary, and have me transferred. Li (non-plussed): But--but how ~an I do that? (Youth A, who has earlier secured Zheng's agreement to sign a leave request" enters.) Zheng: Why not--why can't you do it? (producing the note written by Secretary Wu) Ask him if he can write an order to transfer you then why can~t he write an order to transfer me? (picking up the transfer request statement which he has just written) Here's my--request for transfer . (Zheng hands the transfer request to Li, who stands motionless in ~tupefaction. Abruptly Zheng withdraws it, shakes his head sadly, then waves Li out the door. Li exits. Slowly and vehemently Zheng tears the transfer request to shreds. Youth A, standing behind Zheng, also slowly tears up his request form. Curtain.)6 Zheng's action reestablishes a moral context for the young imposter's ,behavior so that Li's actions are no longer primarily a satiric reflection of social ,ills, bqt also from then on a mirror of his own individual moral inadequacy. The confrontation with his own individual responsibility is 13 Zheng: ... I want to make something of this farm, but the way things are going it's absolutely impossible. If things go on like this, then I--I don't want to rot here anymore either. The way I'm going, the more I feel I'm--I'm just about fed up. Li (surprised): So you want .to get out too? Zheng (with a show of grievance): Put in a memo--for a transfer order. There is a son of a high-level cadre, Zhang Xiaoli is his name. You know him, don't you? Ask him--to help me--to put in a word for me with the municipal committee secretary, and have me transferred. Li (non-plussed): But--but how can I do that? (Youth A, who has earlier secured Zheng's agreement to sign a leave request,. enters.) Zheng: Whynot--why can't you do it? (producing the note written by Secretary Wu) Ask him if he can write an order to transfer you then why can't he write an order to transfer me? (picking up the transfer request statement which he has just written) Here's my--request for transfer . (Zheng hands the transfer request to Li, who stands motionless in stupefaction. Abruptly Zheng withdraws it, shakes his head sadly, then waves Li out the door. Li exits. Slowly and vehemently Zheng tears the transfer request to shreds. Youth A, standing behind Zheng, also slowly tears up his request form. Curtain.) 6 Zheng's action reestablishes a moral context for the young imposter's . behavior so that Li's actions are no longer primarily a satiric reflection of social ills, b~t also from then on a mirror of his own individual moral inadequacy. The confrontation with his own individual responsibility is 14 also initiated in a silence fittingly counterpointed by the inane babble of a Party cadre, Qian, who in a chance social encounter brings together Zhang 'Lao and the youth posing as his son: Qian (chattering on): .. Zhang Lao, have a seat. Please do 'have a seat. Why not have a seat? Young Zhang, why are you looking at your dad like he was a tiger? (She looks them both over as they continue to stand silently confronting each other.) Look at you two, one old, one young, how interesting. You see each other .and you just stand there without saying a word. Oh, I understand. It's probably like what they have in plays where two people have been apart for so long that when they see each other they're too moved to say anything! Zhang Lao: No. I have something to say to him.7 In the conversation that ensues Li Xiaozhang acknowledges his guilt to the degree that he'accepts facini legal consequences for his actions, while Zhang Lao acknowledges the moral climate of society and the Party to the extent that he is willing to argue in court that it offers a mitigating circumstance for Li's behavior. Hence, it is only with the recognition of a moral order by Li and the realization of Party failures by Zhang Lao that a basis is formed for the revival of socialist discourse, which appears in Zhang's closing speech, challenging the Party to live up to its own code. Zhang's speech berating and exhorting the Party concludes the play but not the trial of Li Xiaozhang. That is left for the audience to decide, and in leaving the audience to decide the fate of Li, the playwrights also emphasize the silence that concludes the play. It is not certain that Zhang Lao's speech is the final lesson to be drawn 'from the play, the 14 also initiated in a silence fittingly counterpointed by the inane babble of a Party cadre, Qian, who in a chance social encounter brings together Zhang Lao and the youth posing as his son: Qian (chattering on): .. Zhang Lao, have a seat. Please do have a seat. Whynot have a seat? Young Zhang, why are you looking at your dad like he was a tiger? (She looks them both over as they continue to stand silently confronting each other.) Look at you two, one old, one young, how interesting. You see each other and you just stand there without saying a word. Oh, I understand. It's probably like what they have in plays where two people have been apart for so long that when they see each other they're too moved to say anything! Zhang Lao: No. I have something to say to him. 7 In the conversation that ensues Li Xiaozhang acknowledges his guilt to the degree that he·accepts facing legal consequences for his actions, while Zhang Lao acknowledges the moral climate of society and the Party to the extent that he is willing to argue in court that it offers a mitigating circumstance for Li's behavior. Hence, it is only with the recognition of a moral order by Li and the realization of Party failures by Zhang Lao that a basis is formed for the revival of socialist discourse, which appears in Zhang's closing speech, challenging the Party to live up to its own code. Zhang's speech berating and exhorting the Party concludes the play but not the trial of Li Xiaozhang. That is left for the audience to decide, and in leaving the audience to decide the fate of Li, the playwrights also emphasize the silence that concludes the play. It is not certain that Zhang Lao's speech is the final lesson to be drawn from the play, the 15 straightforward assertion of its moral. Rather, Zhang"s ~peech may also be taken as one more point of view, and the audience may also question whether his point of view is an adequate and just interpretation any more than the previously portrayed, inadequate views. An open-ended conclusion was not unusual for literary works in the late 1970s, yet this one was unusually ambiguous for a dramatic piece. As the play presents the case, Li Xiaozhang has been treated unfairly, since other youths sent down to the state farm have been transferred back to the city through the influence of their parents, while Li, whose parents are ordinary workers, has been ignored since he has no connections with influential persons. Li is guilty of fraud, and so he must plead in court, while Zhang Lao agrees to defend him by arguing mitigating circumstances , the corruption and inequity of the social system. Given, such a socj.al situation, the chance appearance of Zhang Lao in the penultimate scene of the play was taken by some critics to be an unrealistic device, deus ex machina, and his relentlessly correct attitude applied to such an outrageous s~tuation considered equally unrealistic: his insistence that there be a trial to render a proper, legal verdict on Li's behavior and expose to embarrassment his fellow Party members I for their unethical' conduct only ?erves in the end to reveal Zhang Lao to be merely the impotent defender of an unjust system which jails those who are helpless in the face of unfair treatment, while offering only a slap on the wrist to the Party elite who are responsible for creating the situation. Given this view, Zhang Lao and,his final speech appear to be as inadequate a.resolution to social conditions as the conventional discourse that legitimated the situation. Sha Yexin, apparently the .principa1 author of the play and its spokesman, replied to such a view: 15 straightforward assertion of its moral. Rather, Zhang•·s speech may also be taken as one more point of view, and the audience may also question whether his point of view is an adequate and just interpretation any more than the previously portrayed, inadequate views. An open-ended conclusion was not unusual for literary works in the late 1970s, yet this one was unusually ambiguous for a dramatic piece. As the play presents the case, Li Xiaozhang has been treated unfairly, since other youths sent down to -the state farm have been transferred back to the city through the influence of their parents, while Li, whose parents are ordinary workers, has been ignored since he has no connections with influential persons. Li is guilty of fraud, and so he must plead in court; while Zhang Lao agrees to defend him by arguing mitigating circumstances , the corruption and inequity of the social system. GiveP..such a soc;ial situation,the chance appearance of Zhang Lao in the penultimate scene of the play was taken by some critics to be an unrealistic device, deus ex machina, and his relentlessly correct attitude applied to such an outrageous situation considered equally unrealistic: his insistence that there be a trial to render a proper, legal verdict on Li's behavior and expose to embarrassment his fellow Party members1 for their unethical conduct only ~erves in the end to reveal Zhang Lao to be merely the impotent defender of an unjust system which jails those who are helpless in the face of unfair treatment, while offering only a slap on the wrist to the Party elite who are responsible for creating the situation. Given this view, Zhang Lao and-his final speech appear to be as inadequate a resolution to social conditions as the conventional discourse that legitimated the situation. Sha Yexin, apparently the principal author of the play and its spokesman, replied to such a view: 16 (Some.critics have said that) in the play "the Impostor" Zhang Lao is "hollow, without flesh and blood." We sought to make Zhang Lao the embodiment of justice, a representative of the revolutionary tradition, and the image that a Party cadre ought to have. Indeed, his'appearance illustrates that the Party "relies on its own strength to correct errors." Through this character one can best see the authors' viewpoint , stand, and feelings toward the Party. Even if, as some have accused us, he was written without flesh and blood, still he has more of the air of a human being than some seriously corrupted members of the Party do in real life. If in our actual lives we had more people like Zhang Lao in the ranks of the elder Party cadres that would not be without benefit to the Party, the nation, and the people.8 To the playwrights, then, Zhang Lao may stand as a stern but just father figure who symbolically restores honest dialogue between the Party and the mass of youth and workers, represented by Li Xiaozhang. As an overreacher , Li cannot be allowed an unethical triumph, nor can Zhang Lao'do more as his defense counsel than urge leniency for mitigating circumstances while turning the full force of his ire on the Party cadres for fostering a privilege-seeking mentality. While in disagreement about the interpretation of the character Zhang Lao, these two views share an acceptance of the world of the playas not straining the bounds of credibility. This was precisely the assumption attacked by a third view, which held that the cynical atmosphere and attitudes emphasized in the playas characterizing society were inappropriate as a faithful depiction of society and the Party following the reforms of the third plenum of the Eleventh Party Congress in December 1978. Hence the play created an unrealistic sit·uation. 16 (Some.critics have said that) in the play "the Impostor" Zhang Lao is "hollow, without flesh and blood.'' We sought to make Zhang Lao the embodiment of justice, a representative of the revolutionary tradition, and the image that a Party cadre ought to have. Indeed, his appearance illustrates that the Party "relies on its own strength to correct errors." Through this character one can best see the authors' vie\~point , stand, and feelings toward the Party. Even if, as some have accused us, he was written without flesh and blood, still he has more of the air of a human being than some seriously corrupted members of the Party do in real life. If in our actual lives we had more people like Zhang Lao in the ranks of the elder Party cadres that would not be without benefit to the Party, the nation, and the people. 8 To the playwrights, then, Zhang Lao may stand as a stern but just father figure who symbolically restores honest dialogue between the Party and the mass of youth and workers, represented by Li Xiaozhang. As an overreacher , Li cannot be allowed an unethical triumph, nor can Zhang Lao do more as his defense counsel than urge leniency for mitigating circumstances while turning the full force of his ire on the Party cadres for fostering a privilege-seeking mentality. While in disagreement about the interpretation of the character Zhang Lao, these two views share an acceptance of the world of the play as not straining the bounds of credibility. This was precisely the assumption attacked by a third view, which held that the cynical atmosphere and attitudes emphasized in the play as characterizing society were inappropriate as a faithful depiction of society and the Party following the reforms of the third plenum of the Eleventh Party Congress in December 1978. Hence the play created an unrealistic situation. 17 Apparently a large portion of the literary community was reluctant to take this view since it prevailed only after Hu Yaobang suggested it at a conference of dramatists. Hu was then rising from director of propaganda to Party secretary, on his way to becoming Party chairman. Stating that the play did not sufficiently portray the essence and truth of society, Hu observed: At the end of the playa positive character, Zhang Lao, appears, and naturally this is good. However, he is an outsider; he seems like a liberator, and this gives one the sense of his having the air of a savior. Further, without analysis (of the situation) he sympathizes with a character who is unworthy of sympathy (Li Xiaozhang).9 By calling the character Zhang Lao an "outsider" Hu implied that there is no need to portray such a positive character as being outside the normal system of order and justice. By adding the term "liberator" Hu suggested that such a character is inappropriate to the portrait of a socialist society which has already been liberated. Finally by employing the term "savior" (j iushizhu Ait.{!t,.:i. ), always reserved for reference to a metaphysical concept condemned in Communist literature,IO Hu challe~ged the fidelity of the ·play to Marxist theory, as well as to official views on the condition· of society. Hu went on to suggest that the ultimate social effect of the work would be deleterious to the all-important tasks of educating and uniting the people, To Hu, apparently, the play was suspect in creating an authority figure from Party Central who, ,instead of identifying with the rank and file of the Party, sympathizes with views and desires which exert a centrifugal force away fr.om the call for loyalty and compli~ ance.with the system of social order and the policies of the central government. These would include the desire to end the policy of sending youths down to the countryside and the view that the Party itself was responsible for a generation gap and the antisocial behavior of youth. 17 Apparently a large portion of the literary community was reluctant to take this view since it prevailed only after Hu Yaobang suggested it at a conference of dramatists. Hu was then rising from director of propaganda to Party secretary, on his way to becoming Party chairman. Stating that the play did not sufficiently portray the essence and truth of society, Hu observed: At the end of the play a positive character, Zhang Lao, appears, and naturally this is good. However, he is an outsider; he seems like a liberator, and this gives one the sense of his having the air of a savior. Further, without analysis (of the situation) he sympathizes with a character who is unworthy of sympathy (Li Xiaozhang). 9 By calling the character Zhang Lao an 11outsider" Hu implied that there is no need to portray such a positive character as being outside the normal system of order and justice. By adding the term "liberator'' Hu suggested that such a character is inappropriate to the portrait of a socialist society which has already been liberated. Finally by employing the term "savior'' (j iushizhu ;#l-tit.:i.), always reserved for reference to a metaphysical concept condemned in Communist literature, 10 Hu challenged the fidelity of the play to Marxist theory, as well as to official views on the condition of society. Hu went on to suggest that the ultimate social effect of the work would be deleterious to the all-important tasks of educating and uniting the people, To Hu, apparently, the play was suspect in creating an authority figure from Party Central who, instead of identifying with the rank and file of the Party, sympathizes with views and desires which exert a centrifugal force away from the call for loyalty and compli-,ance with the system of social order and the policies of the central government. These would include the desire to end the policy of sending youths down to the countryside and the view that the Party itself was responsible for a generation gap and the antisocial behavior of youth. 18 Particulars aside, Hu's speech argued in favor of allowing such topics ,as love and social problems, but in falling back on, the concept of what is "typical" (dianxing .~:t! ) and the presumption that literature has a predictable social effect (shehui xiaoguo ;f;L/~~,~ft ), he identified his views with socialist realism, the dominant theoretical influence on literature and art for decades. This left little actual rationale for artistic innovation. Essentially Hu agreed that there had been changes in society which opened up certain topics, but did not alter fundamental assumptions about 'the role and effect of literature. The effect of Hu's argument was to emphasize continuity in literature, more than innovation. "The Impostor" became a pivotal work in the reassertion, of Party guidance over literature, to insure that themes of social criticism did not go beyond those prescribed by official Party organs. Published discussions of the play did not, deal directly with esthetic matters. Critics who touched on such matters at all tended to concede that it was a well-written play. At the same time their attack on the work for emphasizing a mood of cynicism and demoralization' as common to society implied a rejection of satire as a suitable form of art, especially if directed internally toward the existing leadership of society. "The Impostor" thus stands as a major example of social satire in socialist China. In the context of the esthetic doctrines prevailing through most of the decade, one of the boldest strokes in the play was to place its negative and morally flawed characters at the center of attention, thereby stepping away from the accepted practice of keeping positive characters in the foreground. While emphasis on negative characters is fundamental to the art of satire, the authors felt compelled to defend their choices by prefacing the script with a quotation from Gogol to the effect that the portrayal of the immoral may serve to suggest moral purpose as well as a direct portrayal of positive moral action. The authors were also familiar with the 18 Particulars aside, Ru's speech argued in favor of allowing such topics as love and social problems, but in falling back on the concept of what is "typical" (dianxing .~:M ) and the presumption that literature has a predictable social effect (shehui xiaoguo ;f'J_ /~~)fl ) , he identified his views with socialist realism, the dominant theoretical influence on literature and art for decades, This left little actual rationale for artistic innovation. Essentially Hu agreed that there had been changes in society which opened up certain topics, but did not alter fundamental assumptions about the role and effect of literature. The effect of Ru's argument was to emphasize continuity in literature, more than innovation, "The Impostor" became a pivotal work in the reassertion. of Party guidance over literature, to insure that themes of social criticism did not go beyond those prescribed by official Party organs. Published discussions of the play did not deal directly with esthetic matters. Critics who touched on such matters at all tended to concede that it was a well-written play, At the same time their attack on the work for emphasizing a mood of cynicism and demoralization as conunon to society implied a rejection of satire as a suitable form of art, especially if directed internally toward the existing leadership of society. "The Impostor" thus stands as a major example of social satire in socialist China. In the context of the esthetic doctrines prevailing through most of the decade, one of the boldest strokes in the play was to place its negative and morally flawed characters at the center of attention, thereby stepping away from the accepted practice of keeping positive characters in the foreground. While emphasis on negative characters is fundamental to the art of satire, the authors felt compelled to defend their choices by prefacing the script with a quotation from Gogol to the effect that the portrayal of the inunoral may serve to suggest moral purpose as well as a direct portrayal of positive moral action. The authors were also familiar with the 19 imposter in Gogol's The Inspector General. Khlestakov, however, is remembered for' a line delivered to the audience when they are comfortably settled into enjoying the ridicule of the characters onstage. Khlestakov then points to the audience and asks, ."Whom are you laughing at but yourselves?" Far more than mere imitators, the Chinese authors of "The Impostor" would not have, resorted to copying such a device, yet on'the other hand, it appears that neither they, the audience, nor the Party would find such a remark appropriate 'or acceptable. Indeed, even though "The Impostor" avoided such an accusation as Khlestakov's, Chinese critics were quick to argue that the play had already implied too much of a parallel between nineteenth-century Russia and socialist China by the simple allusions to the play by Gogol. Beyond exploring satire, the authors were also eager to bring modernist techniques of the twentieth century to the stage, which, for spoken drama, had been dominated by nineteenth-century concepts of staging. Chinese theater artists had fitfully sought for decades to "tear down the fourth wall" of naturalistic staging inherited from Western nineteenth-century theater-~that invisible wall formed by the proscenium arch through which the 'audience views the actors on stage. In "The Impostor" the opening scene is set in front of the stage curtain and in the audience itself. The ,script calls for the theater manager to appear before the audience and apologize that the performance will be delayed until a party of VIPs has arrived. Shortly Li Xiaozhang and an escort of Party cadres arrive and take seats in the front row of the theater. But just as the play is to begin on stage, police enter and arrest Li for his fraud. The rest of the play is acted out 'onstage, ,recreating the events that lead up to Li's arrest until the final trial scene, during which the audience is meant to form part of the courtroom. The disruptions in the conventional use of space and in the conventional linear sequence of events are also accompanied by other breaks with the 19 imposter in Gogol's The Inspector General. Khlestakov, however, is remembered for a line delivered to the audience when they are comfortably settled into enjoying the ridicule of the characters onstage. Khlestakov then points to the audience and asks, "Whomare you laughing at but yourselves?" Far more than mere imitators, the Chinese authors of "The Impostor" would not have resorted to copying such a device, yet on the other hand, it appears that neither they, the audience, nor the Party would find such a remark appropriate or acceptable. Indeed, even though "The Impostor" avoided such an accusation as Khlestakov's, Chinese critics were quick to argue that the play had already implied too much of a parallel between nineteenth-century Russia and socialist China by the simple allusions to the play by Gogol. Beyond exploring satire, the authors were also eager to bring modernist techniques of the twentieth century to the stage, which, for spoken drama, had been dominated by nineteenth-century concepts of staging. Chinese theater artists had fitfully sought for decades to "tear down the fourth wall" of naturalistic staging inherited from Western nineteenth-century theater-~that invisible wall formed by the proscenium arch through which the audience views the actors on stage. In "The Impostor" the opening scene is set in front of the stage curtain and in the audience itself. The script calls for the theater manager to appear before the audience and apologize that the performance will be delayed until a party of VIPs has arrived. Shortly Li Xiaozhang and an escort of Party cadres arrive and take seats in the front row of the theater. But just as the play is to begin on stage, police enter and arrest Li for his fraud. The rest of the play is acted out onstage, recreating the events that lead up to Li's arrest until the final trial scene, during which the audience is meant to form part of the courtroom. The disruptions in the conventional use of space and in the conventional linear sequence of events are also accompanied by other breaks with the 20 heritage of nineteenth .... centu:rynaturalism, such as the provision of a nar.... rator who recites a prologue to each scene, setting the ironic mood with dry comments, and at one point apologizing sarcastically that the setting for a scene inside a high-level cadre's home can only be imagined since no ordinary persons, the writers included, have ever seen one. This deliberate act of disrupting the audience's willing suspension of disbelief, of undermining the illusion of actuality for the audience, strongly auggests the influence of Bertho1t Brecht through his "alienation" technique (German: verfremdungseffekt; Chinese: jianli xiaoguo 113J.~«*) .' Just as the other stage techniques are meant to disrupt the customary, unreflective audience response to how space and time are ordered in a theater production, so the narrator. does not allow the audience to assume that a setting is necessarily a known and familiar entity. He insists, rather, that it is strange, and stimulates the audience to regard it as strange and reconsider it. Such are the ambitions ·of Brecht's theory of "epic theater," a major contribution to modernist drama, and the rationale for a number of characteristically modernist devices. As a Marxist playwright who derived much of his theory for his form of theater by'watching traditional Chinese theater (as presented by Mei Lanfang during a tour of the West), Brecht would appear to be a likely candidate as an influence on modern Chinese theater. Certainly the staging of Brecht's Gali1eo in 1979 indicated a degree of official tolerance for his work, and his epic theater was very much a topic of discussion in dramatic and theatrical circles in China. "The Impostor" did not push alienation technique very far, however, and it was probably' just as well for the authors. Much as he was an admirer of Marx and Chinese theater, Brecht wrote his plays for bourgeois audiences, which were expected to 20 heritage of n;i.,neteenth .... centu;i:-y naturalism, such as the provision of a nar .... rator who recites a prologue to each scene, setting the ironic mood with dry comments, and at one point apologizing sarcastically that the setting for a scene inside a high-level cadre's home can only be imagined since no ordinary persons, the writers included, have ever seen one. This deliberate act of disrupting the audience's willing suspension of disbelief, of undermining the illusion of actuality for the audience, strongly auggests the influence of Bertholt Brecht through his "alienation" technique (German: verfremdungseffekt; Chinese: jianli xiaoguo j'1JJ -~~). · Just as the other stage techniques are meant to disrupt the customary, unreflective audience response to how space and time are ordered in a theater production, so the narrator.does not allow the audience to assume that a setting is necessarily a known and familiar entity. He insists, rather, that it is strange, and stimulates the audience to regard it as strange and reconsider it. Such are the ambitions -of Brecht's theory of "epic theater," a major contribution to modernist drama, and the rationale for a number of characteristically modernist devices. As a Marxist playwright who derived much of his theory for his form of theater by watching traditional Chinese theater (as presented by Mei Lanfang during a tour of the West), Brecht would appear to be a likely candidate as an influence on modern Chinese theater. Certainly the staging of Brecht's Galileo in 1979 indicated a degree of official tolerance for his work, and his epic theater was very much a topic of discussion in dramatic and theatrical circles in China. "The Impostor" did not push alienation technique very far, however, and it was probably just as well for the authors. Much as he was an admirer of Marx and Chinese theater, Brecht wrote his plays for bourgeois audiences, which were expected to 21 abandon their social allegiances having rethought the nature of their societi~s, and their roles in it under the subversive influence of Brecht's writing. Ther~ was little reason in socialist China for socialist playwrights to try to engender the same results, since they were not bent on subverting socialism, only reforming it. What and how much of Brechtian 'theory and practice would be useful to such playwrights remained problematic . Even as Hu Yaobang was severely criticizing "The Impostor Hits chief author,Sha Yexin, was having another of his works staged. This was "Mayor Chen Yi" (Chen Yi shizhang ~Jf,Rfi,f,-), a work commissioned to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Liberation of Shanghai. Sha used this also as a vehicle for experimenting with ot~er Brechtian techniques charac- ,teristic of epic theater. As an historical play "Mayor Chen Yi" depicts moments in the career of the famous, Red Army general from the eve of the entrance of his army into Shanghai in 1949, when he lectures fellow soldiers and Party members on how to behave with civility:and treat properly the citizens of the city, to the re-establishment of the city as a functioning, developing center of commerce, industry, and culture under his leadership. Although an historical play, the form of "Mayor Chen Yi" avoids emphasis on the particulars of historical cause and effect in a fully developed plot, employing instead a series of largely self-contained scenes. These scenes present situations which suggest models of behavior that might serve Chinese society beyond the bounds of a given historical setting. Neither is there much concern with character development, but rather with offering examples of attitudes representing a cross-section of Shanghai socie~y. Finally there is no real, explicit conflict at the heart of the play or the scenes, but rather the challenge of problems to be solved: how 21 abandon their social allegiances having rethought the nature of their societies. and their roles in it under the subversive influence of Brecht's writing. There was little reason in socialist China for socialist playwrights to try to engender the same results, since they were not bent on subverting socialism, only reforming it. What and how much of Brechtian theory and practice would be useful to such playwrights remained problematic . Even as Hu Yaobang was severely criticizing "The Impostor" its chief author, Sha Yexin, was having another of his works staged. This was "Mayor Chen Yi" (Chen Yi shizhang p/f ... ~