''The Chalk Circle'' (sometimes translated ''The Circle of Chalk''), by
Li Qianfu
Li Qianfu (), courtesy name Xingdao (行道), was a 14th-century Chinese playwright of the Yuan dynasty. His works include '' Hui Lan Ji'' (灰闌記) — ''The Chalk Circle — classical zaju verse play and gong'an crime drama,'' which was used ...
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
Enotes.com
eNotes was a free student and teacher educational website founded in 1998 by Brad Satoris and Alexander Bloomingdale, that provides material to help students complete homework assignments and study for exams. Based in Seattle, Washington, eNote ...
Enotes.com
eNotes was a free student and teacher educational website founded in 1998 by Brad Satoris and Alexander Bloomingdale, that provides material to help students complete homework assignments and study for exams. Based in Seattle, Washington, eNote ...
Asian Theatre Journal
The ''Asian Theatre Journal'' is an academic journal dedicated to the performing arts of Asia, focusing upon both traditional and modern theatrical forms. It contains descriptive and analytical articles, original plays and play translations, as wel ...
'', Volume 18, Number 2, Fall 2001, pp. 222-237. a series of translations and revisions inspired several popular modern plays.
Plot
A beautiful sixteen-year-old girl, Hai-tang (also transliterated Hai-t'ang, Hi-tang, or Chang-hi-tang), is sold into a house of prostitution by her impoverished family, after her father's death. There she is befriended by Ma Chun-shing, a wealthy and childless tax collector, who takes her into his house as his second wife. She bears him a son, Shoulang, but earns the jealousy of his first wife, Ah-Siu. Ah-Siu accuses Hai-tang of adultery, poisons Ma, blaming Hai-tang for the crime, and claims to a court that Shoulang is her own child, so that she can inherit Ma's fortune. Hai-tang is arrested, and beaten until she confesses. As Hai-tang is about to be hanged, she is rescued by Bao Zheng in a scene similar to the Judgment of Solomon: Shoulang is placed in a circle of chalk between the two women, and each is ordered to pull the child toward her; as Hai-tang can not bear to hurt her child, she gives—and so is judged his true mother."''The Circle of Chalk'' Character Analysis" ''Cyclopedia of Literary Characters'', online at
Enotes.com
eNotes was a free student and teacher educational website founded in 1998 by Brad Satoris and Alexander Bloomingdale, that provides material to help students complete homework assignments and study for exams. Based in Seattle, Washington, eNote ...
Macmillan
MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to:
People
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, , page 96. Online excerpt at Google Books retrieved May 28, 2008.ic Paul G. Brewster, ''Folklore Studies'', Vol. 21, (1962), pp. 236-240, Asian Folklore Studies, Nanzan University. Online version accessed June 23, 2015.
Adaptations
The play became first known in the Western world in a
French language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...
translation by
Stanislas Julien
Stanislas Aignan Julien (13 April 179714 February 1873) was a French sinologist who served as the Chair of Chinese at the Collège de France for over 40 years and was one of the most academically respected sinologists in French scholarship.
Ju ...
, published in London in 1832 as ''Le Cercle de Craie''. This was liberally re-translated into
German
German(s) may refer to:
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by Klabund as ''Der Kreidekreis'' in 1924, which was very popular."Klabund" The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2008. In Klabund's version, the Emperor marries the heroine at the end of the play, while in the original she returns to live with her brother, who is now a court official. Based on Klabund's play, the Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky adapted a libretto for his ''
Der Kreidekreis
''The Chalk Circle'' (sometimes translated ''The Circle of Chalk''), by Li Qianfu, is a Yuan dynasty (1259–1368) Chinese classical zaju verse play and gong'an crime drama, in four acts with a prologue.James Laver as ''The Circle of Chalk'', in five acts, published in London by
William Heinemann
William Henry Heinemann (18 May 1863 – 5 October 1920) was an English publisher of Jewish descent and the founder of the Heinemann publishing house in London.
Early life
On 18 May 1863, Heinemann was born in Surbiton, Surrey, England. Heine ...
in 1929. It was put on stage in March of that year, produced by Basil Dean, starring the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
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Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
.This was possibly Laurence Olivier's first West End theatre role; Hodges (above), claims it was, but his work wasn't really focused on Olivier, rather on Wong. Our article Laurence Olivier chronology of stage and film performances differs. As of 2008, this version is still being produced by various theatre groups.
In 1940,
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
wrote ''
Der Augsburger Kreidekreis "The Augsburg Chalk Circle" (german: Der Augsburger Kreidekreis) is a short story written in 1940 by Bertolt Brecht. The story derives from '' The Chalk Circle'', a 14th-century play by Li Xingdao, and can be seen as a "first draft" for Brecht's ...
'', a short story based on ''Der Kreidekreis'', which reworks the story by omitting any Imperial intervention and making the first wife the biological mother, but having her abandon the child. The heroine is a serving girl who rescues and raises him, becoming the "real" mother. In 1944, he further reworked the story as the play, '' The Caucasian Chalk Circle'', moving the events to medieval Georgia, adding a prologue set in
Soviet Georgia
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц ...
, and greatly elaborating the narrative. In 2000, ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' in turn was rewritten as ''Full Circle'', or ''The Berlin Circle'', by
Charles L. Mee
Charles L. Mee (born September 15, 1938) is an American playwright, historian and author known for his collage-like style of playwriting, which makes use of radical reconstructions of found texts. He is also a Special Lecturer of theater at Colu ...
American Repertory Theatre
The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...
.
The famous Kyrgyz author and novelist Chinghiz Aitmatov was also indirectly inspired from the Chalk Circle, while writing his 1960 book,
The Red Scarf
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...
. He used some indirect elements from the tale very loosely. In Turkey, plot of the legendary Turkish movie "
Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım
''The Girl with the Red Scarf'' ( tr, Selvi Boylum, Al Yazmalım) is a 1978 Turkish romantic drama film, directed by Atıf Yılmaz based on the short story ''My poplar in a red scarf'' by Chinghiz Aitmatov. The film is about a village girl who fa ...
" was based on The Red Scarf. The movie has since been an ageless favourite for turkish cinema critics and popular choice and a unique example of
Turkish cinema
Cinema of Turkey or Turkish cinema (also old known as ''Yeşilçam'' literally means ''The Green Pine'' in Turkish language), () or Türk sineması is the sobriquet that refers to the Turkish film art and industry. It is an important part of ...
.
In 2018, Claire Conceison wrote and directed a play called The Chalk Cycle based on the original Yuan drama The Chalk Circle, the Brecht adaptation The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and the Custody battle for Anna Mae He.
Charles L. Mee
Charles L. Mee (born September 15, 1938) is an American playwright, historian and author known for his collage-like style of playwriting, which makes use of radical reconstructions of found texts. He is also a Special Lecturer of theater at Colu ...