Interpretation of Novels and Plays about Song Dynasty Judge Bao in the Chinese Illustrated Woodblock Editions and Popular Prints nianhua

Authors

  • Ekaterina A. Zavidovskaia Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, 12, ul. Rozhdestvenka, Moscow, 107031, Russian Federation Bryansk State University, 14, ul. Bezhitskaia, Briansk, 241036, Russian Federation
  • Tatiana I. Vinogradova Russian Academy of Sciences Library, 1, Birzhevaia liniia, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation
  • Dmitry I. Maiatskii St. Petersburg State University, 7–9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu13.2021.306

Abstract

The article aims to analyze various illustrations of court case stories about Song dynasty judge Bao Zheng (包拯, also named as Bao-gong 包公, Bao Longtu 包龍圖, 999–1062), found in Qing woodblock editions of the novel and popular woodblock prints nianhua, in order to determine how tales about the famous incorruptible judge have been transformed in the visual culture of late imperial times. The authors discovered several woodblock editions of novels about Judge Bao-gong, or Bao Dragon-Design (Bao Longtu), in the St. Petersburg State University library including one illustrated edition and several non-illustrated ones. The State Hermitage and other Russian collections hold an impressive number of popular prints depicting scenes from the traditional drama based on Judge Bao stories, while only several of them refer directly to literary pieces, being mostly scenes from the plays. The protagonists are shown wearing theatrical make-up matching their theatrical character, Judge Bao is recognized by a black-colored face symbolizing his astuteness and uncorrupted nature. The article attempts to find connections between Shi Yukun’s 石玉昆 novel “The Three Heroes and Five Gallants” (Sanxiawuyi 三俠五義, 1879), the traditional drama plays and nianhua prints featuring Judge Bao, which proliferated in the late 19th — early 20th centuries. This research claims to define sources of various types of illustrations and clarify connections between book illustration, popular prints and drama.

Keywords:

Judge Bao’s stories, book illustration, play, popular print nianhua, Russian collection, martial scene

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
 

References

Idema W. L. Judge Bao and the Rule of Law: Eight Ballad-stories from the Period 1250–1450. Singapore, World Scientific, 2010. 417 p.

Noga Ganany. Baogong as King Yama in the Literature and Religious Worship of Late-Imperial China. Asia Major, Vol. 28, No. 2 (2015), pp. 39–75.

Hegel R. E. Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1988. 484 р.

St. André J. Picturing Judge Bao in Ming Shangtuxiawen Fiction. Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews(CLEAR). Vol. 24 (2002.12), pp. 43–73.

Hanan P. Judge Bao’s Hundred Cases Reconstructed. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 40, no. 2 (1980), pp. 301–323.

Wang Xianghua. Lüelun “sanxiawuyi” banben de liubian [Brief discussion of the transformations of ‘The Three Heroes and Five Gallants’]. Wenxue yanjiu, 2005, no. 9, pp. 27–28. (In Chinese)

Liu Yeqiu ed. Zhongguo gudian xiaoshuo da cidian [Big Dictionary of Chinese classical novel]. Shijiazhuang: Hebei renmin chubanshe, 1998. 1391 p. (In Chinese)

Blader S. R. A Critical study of “San-hsia wu-yi” and Relationship to the “Lung-t’u kung-an” songbook. PhD Diss. 1977. 300p.

Shi Yukun. The Three Heroes and Five Gallants. A Novel. Moscow, Gud’yal-press, 2000. 352p. (In Russian)

Tao Junqi. Jingjujumu chutan [Preliminary discussion of Peking opera librettos]. Beijing, Zhongguo jixu chubanshe, 1963. 558 p. (In Chinese)

Vinogradova T. I. Judge Bao plots in various genres of Chinese popular art. Proceedings of the XXVII conference “Society and State in China”. Moscow, 1996, pp. 137–140. (In Russian)

Chen Tao. Baogongxi yanjiu [Study of Judge Bao plays]. Beijing, Renmin chubanshe, 2011. 280 p. (In Chinese).

Yang Xurong. Baijia gong’an yanjiu [Study of One hundred court cases abdicated]. Shanghai, Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2005. 480 p. (In Chinese)

Riftin B. L., Wang Shucun. Rare Chinese popular pictures from the Soviet collections. Moscow, Avrora Publ.; Beijing, Renmin yishu chubanshe, 1991. 212 р. (In Russian)

Chinese popular picture. Exhibition catalogue. Ed. L. I. Kuzmenko. Moscow, 1987. 79 p. (In Russian)

Zhongguo muban nianhua jicheng. Eluosi zangpin juan [Compendia of the Chinese woodblock new year pictures. Volume from the Russian collections], Feng Jicai ed. Beijing, Zhonghua shuju, 2009, 1009 p. (in Chinese)

Eliasberg D. Imagerie Populaire Chinoise du Nouvel An. Arts asiatiques, tome 35, Paris, 1978. 127 p.

Downloads

Published

2021-10-09

How to Cite

Zavidovskaia, E. A., Vinogradova, T. I., & Maiatskii, D. I. (2021). Interpretation of Novels and Plays about Song Dynasty Judge Bao in the Chinese Illustrated Woodblock Editions and Popular Prints nianhua. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies, 13(3), 383–399. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu13.2021.306

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 3 (2021)

Section

History and source studies

License

Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.