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THE฀RECEPTIO N฀O F฀BERTOL T฀BRECH T฀I N฀CHIN A฀ AND฀IT S฀IMPAC T฀O N฀CHINES E฀DRAM A฀ Adrian฀Hsi a฀ In฀193 5฀Brech t฀sa w฀Me i฀Lanfang' s฀incomparabl e฀ performance฀a s฀a ฀femal e฀impersonato r฀o f฀th e฀Chines e฀ Opera฀i n฀Moscow .฀I t฀wa s฀no t฀onl y฀a ฀mileston e฀i n฀th e฀ development฀o f฀Brecht' s฀caree r฀a s฀a ฀playwrigh t฀an d฀ 'Dramaturg'฀(i n฀th e฀sens e฀tha t฀th e฀Pekin g฀Oper a฀confirme d฀ Brecht's฀view s฀o n฀alienation) ,฀bu t฀i t฀als o฀marke d฀th e฀ beginning฀o f฀Brecht' s฀receptio n฀i n฀China .฀Admittedly ,฀thi s฀ undercurrent฀o f฀enthusias m฀wa s฀t o฀remai n฀imperceptibl e฀ for฀decades .฀Shortl y฀afte r฀Brecht' s฀experienc e฀wit h฀th e฀ Chinese฀Theatre ,฀h e฀wrot e฀'Bemerkunge n฀ube r฀di e฀ chinesische฀Schauspielkunst' ,฀probabl y฀th e฀firs t฀versio n฀o f฀ the฀essa y฀'Verfremdungseffekt e฀i n฀de r฀chinesische n฀ Schauspielkunst'.฀Th e฀Englis h฀translatio n฀o f฀thi s฀essa y฀ published฀i n฀Lif e฀an d฀Letter s฀Toda y฀i n฀193 6฀unde r฀th e฀titl e฀ 'The฀Fourt h฀Wal l฀o f฀China ,฀A n฀essa y฀o n฀th e฀effec t฀o f฀ disillusion฀i n฀th e฀Chines e฀theatre '฀wa s฀ardentl y฀peruse d฀b y฀ a฀youn g฀Chines e฀- ฀Huan g฀Zuoli n฀- ฀wh o฀wa s฀the n฀studyin g฀ drama฀i n฀England .฀H e฀wa s฀please d฀tha t฀a n฀ar t฀for m฀fro m฀ his฀motherlan d฀wa s฀highl y฀appreciate d฀b y฀a ฀Europea n฀ dramatist฀o f฀som e฀repute ,฀an d฀th e฀essa y฀mus t฀als o฀hav e฀ instilled฀i n฀hi m฀th e฀ide a฀o f฀mergin g฀Europea n฀dram a฀an d฀ Chinese฀Oper a฀s o฀a s฀t o฀produc e฀a ฀dramati c฀for m฀bot h฀ modern฀an d฀Chinese ,฀i.e. ,฀whic h฀woul d฀mee t฀th e฀ requirements฀o f฀bot h฀th e฀contemporar y฀tim e฀an d฀th e฀ particular฀country ,฀China .฀However ,฀thi s฀ide a฀too k฀a ฀lon g฀ time฀t o฀surfac e฀int o฀th e฀real m฀o f฀hi s฀consciousnes s฀an d฀ mature.฀Hence ,฀th e฀birt h฀o f฀th e฀brainchil d฀onl y฀too k฀plac e฀ in฀1951 .฀ On฀Januar y฀2nd ,฀1951 ,฀Mr฀Huang ,฀who฀was฀then฀Deput y฀ Head฀o f฀th e฀Shangha i฀People' s฀Ar t฀Theatre ,฀delivere d฀a฀ long฀speec h฀t o฀hi s฀colleague s฀o n฀th e฀difference s฀betwee n฀ traditional฀an d฀Epi c฀Theatre .฀A s฀fa r฀a s฀I ฀ca n฀ascertain ,฀ Reception฀o f฀Brech t฀i n฀China฀4 7฀ this฀wa s฀th e฀firs t฀systemati c฀introductio n฀o f฀Brecht' s฀ theatre฀o n฀Chines e฀soil .฀I t฀ma y฀hav e฀bee n฀th e฀longes t฀tal k฀ ever฀give n฀o n฀th e฀Epi c฀Theatr e฀anywher e฀i n฀th e฀world :฀i t฀ lasted฀si x฀hours .฀Huan g฀Zuoli n฀summarize d฀th e฀conten t฀o f฀ many฀play s฀b y฀Brech t฀an d฀describe d฀ho w฀the y฀wer e฀ produced.฀The n฀h e฀delineate d฀th e฀histor y฀o f฀th e฀ development฀o f฀Epi c฀Theatre :฀th e฀kin d฀o f฀backgroun d฀ against฀whic h฀i t฀evolved ,฀wh y฀i t฀wa s฀necessar y฀an d฀th e฀ special฀technique s฀require d฀t o฀achiev e฀wha t฀wa s฀understoo d฀ as฀th e฀goa l฀o f฀th e฀Lehrstuck .฀Attentio n฀wa s฀als o฀give n฀t o฀ acting,฀stag e฀design ฀an d฀lighting .฀I n฀short ,฀th e฀whol e฀ system฀wa s฀describe d฀i n฀a s฀detaile d฀an d฀comprehensiv e฀a฀ manner฀a s฀possible.฀ Huang's฀speec h฀wa s฀no t฀a n฀academi c฀talk ,฀i t฀serve d฀a฀ practical฀purpose .฀Th e฀Korea...

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