A Couple Of Soles: A Comic Play From Seventeenth-Century Chinaby Li Yu

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Couple Of Soles: A Comic Play From Seventeenth-Century Chinaby Li Yu Whitney Emerson A COUPLE OF SOLES: A COMIC PLAY FROM SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY CHINA. By Li Yu. Translated by Jing Shen and Robert E. Hegel. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019. 360 pp. Paperback, $25.00. A Couple of Soles: A Comic Play from Seventeenth-Century China comes as a welcome addition to Columbia University Press’ Translations from the Asian Classics series; it offers an accessible new translation of an important comic work by playwright Li Yu. Jing Shen and Robert E. Hegel’s translation allows English-speaking scholars and theatre artists access to another seminal work of dramatic literature from China; this also serves to aid the teaching of theatre history within a global context. Shen opens the book with a thorough introduction to the playwright and plot, giving context to the drama for readers unfamiliar with early Qing dynasty theatre (1644–1661). In the plot summary, Shen makes a point of highlighting the playwright’s depiction of the lead actors both on and off stage as chaste and virtuous as a way into the play’s broader discussion of morality and ethics. However, as Shen notes, the depiction may also be Li Yu’s attempt to elevate the poor reputation of actors during the Ming/Qing dynastic transition. Sections on vocal music conventions help the reader imagine the play in performance, giving an aural dimension to what could have been a dry translation. The introduction also draws attention to Li Yu’s controversial professional and personal life through discussion of the choice to invite the “woman scholar Wang Duanshu” to write the original 1661 preface to the play, also included in this translation. The historical significance of the work, especially when put in conversation with both previous Yuan dynasty zaju and contemporary Qing dynasty chuanqi, facilitates a deeper appreciation of the work within the context of traditional drama in China. Eye-catching artwork on the cover and the inclusion of several contemporaneous woodblock prints of the play in performance serve as illustrations of dramatic moments in the play and add a pleasing visual element to the book. The plot, performed through aria, poetry, and spoken dialogue, concerns a young scholar named Tan Chunyu, who falls in love with the beautiful young actress Fairy Liu. In order to get closer to her, he joins her family’s acting troupe and works his way up to playing romantic lead roles opposite her. Performing as lovers, they express their love for each other through onstage dialogue. However, the evil Moneybags Qian purchases Fairy Liu as a concubine from her greedy mother. The distraught lovers then commit suicide mid-performance by jumping [End Page 221] from the stage into a nearby river. However, the local river god learns of their plight and transforms them into the titular pair of soles to save their love. Murong Jie, a retired official who became a fisherman, catches the fishandthepairarerestoredtotheiroriginal humanforms. Followingthe sage advice of Murong, Tan quickly attains a government position and, aftersomestruggles, defeatsalocal bandofmonstrous brigands. Tanthen resigns his post to spend a quiet life with Liu in the mountains. In keeping in line with the stage conventions of chuanqi drama, the scenes of this lengthy play alternate in tone-romantic “wen” scenes of the lovers Tan and Liu are contrasted with military-focused “wu” scenes about brigands attacking a town. Many hallmarks of comedy are present: lovers separated by a disapproving father, mistaken identity, weddings, and metatheatre, particularly the consequential scene of the actress Fairy Liu playing an inconsolable lover in a play-within-a-play. The use of metatheatre within a kind of tongue-in-cheek criticism of the culture of performing arts is perhaps testament to Li Yu’s own command of the theatre. The work of the translators to enhance the comic tone of the play is perfectly encapsulated in the choice for the title, which plays on the pun of the homonyms “souls” and “soles.” The title also incorporates the offhanded “couple of” which has the meaning of a romantic couple as well as the casual way of referring to a small number of things...