Ming Dynasty’s Shakespeare

2016-07-13 Source：Shanghai Daily 

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the deaths of Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu. The two playwrights, who never met, died on opposite ends of the earth only two months apart.

However, it is not only death that links them. Tang was a renowned Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) author and playwright, whose masterpiece “The Peony Pavilion” is still performed on stages in China. It’s the story of thwarted love and death — plot elements not unfamiliar to Shakespeare. Indeed, Tang is often called the “Shakespeare of the Orient.”

He was born in the city of Fuzhou in Jiangxi Province in 1550, and held mainly low-level positions after passing the imperial examination. He retired in 1598 to Fuzhou to dedicate his life to writing.

Even in his hometown, where memorials mark his life, Tang is not particularly well known. One current resident of the city is determined to change that and honor his legacy.

That man is Sun Huogen, a collector by nature. Sun’s home in Fuzhou overflows with collections of stamps, admission tickets, lottery tickets, newspaper clippings and pictorials. Included in the paraphernalia amassed over 30 years are about 1,000 items related to Tang and his works.

“Everything in the collection is like my baby,” says Sun. “The whole process of searching for and purchasing items is hard work, but it’s my way of showing respect for this great literary master.”

Tang’s major masterpieces, including “The Peony Pavilion” and “The Purple Hairpin,” are collectively called “Four Dreams” because of the central role that dreams play in the plot of each. Adapted versions of the works have become hallmarks of Chinese Kunqu Opera and other traditional Chinese operas.

“The Peony Pavilion” has been translated into English, Japanese, Russian and German. The plot, which takes place in the dying days of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), focuses on the love between Liu Mengmei, a young scholar, and Du Liniang, the daughter of an important official, with subplots related to warfare between two dynasties. It’s a long play, with some 55 scenes, dream sequences, the death and ultimate resurrection of the heroine, and the final reunion of the two lovers. All’s well that ends well.

Sun, 67, was born in the Jiangxi provincial capital of Nanchang and raised in Tang’s hometown of Fuzhou, where he has lived for almost 60 years.

Starting from a young age, Sun found an interest in the arts. He screened films at the Fuzhou Film Co for more than 20 years before retirement.

“I’ve been interested in literature and history since I was little,” Sun recalls. “In 1957, when I was in the second grade, I started collecting stamps because that was very popular at the time.”

Two years later when the country celebrated the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Sun drew a painting based on his stamp collection. It was entitled “Tian’anmen Square” and won the top prize at his elementary school.

Sun says China has many people who are avid collectors, but few focus on Tang.

“Thanks to the three decades that I have collected Tang items,” he notes, “I have come to know so much more about him and his works.”

Sun’s collection includes an 1848 musical score containing all “Four Dreams” and the first two-volume set of “The Peony Pavilion” printed in copperplate in 1908.

Sun first turned his focus to Tang in 1983, when he read in newspaper a story about the playwright and his “Four Dreams.” Soon after, a memorial stamp of Tang was issued. That cemented Sun’s interest.

“To most children in Fuzhou, Tang is a historical celebrity,” he says. “Schoolchildren are taken to visit his gravesite and other memorials. But to be honest, we don’t know much about him beyond that.”

Sun has twin daughters, who entered college in 1993. To support their studies, he worked for a lottery company.

“The job required me to sell lottery tickets in different cities, which enabled me to travel to different places and enrich my collection,” he says.

He has been to almost all Chinese provinces, poking through old bookstores and flea markets, and doing research on Tang.

A contemporary dance adapted from “The Peony Pavilion,” directed by famed filmmaker Feng Xiaogang, was staged in Nanchang in July 2010. The performance was so popular that the tickets were hard to come by. Sun spent a whole day under a scorching summer sun, queuing to get a ticket and show brochure.

In 2013, Sun participated in the 17th China Tourism Tickets Collection Exhibition in the Hebei Province capital of Shijiazhuang. He entered a work designed with the ticket and brochure, and won awards for best creativity and best design.

“During my 30 years of searching for Tang’s materials, I have come to deeply understand the meaning of the ‘Four Dreams’,” he says. “Tang became the principal focus of my life.”

Besides Tang, Sun’s collections also include over 2,000 items about Lei Feng (1940-62), a soldier in the People's Liberation Army lionized for his selflessness, modesty and loyalty to the Communist Party.

“For me, the value of collecting is more about morality than about monetary gain,” he says.

Nonetheless, his collections do have market value.

In 1999 Sun bought a copy of “The Peony Pavilion” published during the Republic of China (1911-49) at a flea market for less than 20 yuan (US$3). Its value rose 10-fold. He later donated the copy to the Tang Xianzu Museum, established in 1995 in Fuzhou, along with several other items related to performances of Tang’s plays.

Since retirement, Sun has been spending more time in Beijing, where his elder daughter lives. Every time he returns to Fuzhou, he brings back something new for his Tang collection, often donating it to the museum. He plans to be home quite a lot this year to participate in events commemorating the 400th anniversary of Tang’s death.

To assist the museum in enriching its collection, Sun helped purchase up to 500 books and study materials about Tang. He vows his interest in the literary master will never ebb.

“In a sense, I have grown up and grown old with the master,” Sun explains. “Collecting things from the past is a way to promote Chinese culture and introduce our history to more people, both in China and abroad.”