청대 궁정대희 《忠義璇圖》의 소설 《水滸傳》 각색 방식

Abstract

Zhongyixuantu, underrated in comparison to Shuihuzhuan in terms of literary quality, has long failed to be recognized as a classic although both of them are full-length literary works created based on The Water Margin Story. Such view mainly stems from two dominant appraisals regarding the book: Zhongyixuantu, chronologically preceded by Shuihuzhuan, lacks literary creativity simply adapting the stories from Shuihuzhuan and other plays written earlier and was also created in favor of the ruling class of Qing Dynasty. These two appraisals are so compelling that they have prevented Zhongyixuantu from being properly appreciated. Zhongyixuantu, however, is the only literary work into which the entire plot of the novel Shuihuzhuan was dramatized and also is an extraordinary work adapted for a full-length play to be performed at the court theater by the imperial palace which, in fact, banned Shuihuzhuan. Thus, Zhongyixuantu holds great significance in identifying how the narrative of Shuihuzhuan was disseminated by the ruling class, as well as in drawing an objective comparison between the two different genres. The purpose of this paper is to objectively asses the literary quality of Zhongyixuantu by comparing and analyzing the two literary works within their text and away from the conventional approach. The two literary works will be compared based on a wide range of fundamental factors that would have been taken into consideration for dramatization. This includes, for example, what were the changes made, when and where the actions were set, how the number of characters and places was reduced on the stage, what was done to build dramatic tension, what parts or certain scenes of the novel were dramatized, and so on.