''Dou E Yuan'', commonly translated as ''The Injustice to Dou E'', and also known as ''Snow in Midsummer'', is a Chinese play written by
Guan Hanqing
Guan Hanqing ( 1241–1320), sobriquet "the Oldman of the Studio" (齋叟 Zhāisǒu), was a notable Chinese playwright and poet in the Yuan Dynasty. He has been described as among the most prolific and highly regarded dramatists of the Yuan pe ...
(c. 1241–1320) during the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
. The full Chinese title of the play is ''Gan Tian Dong Di Dou E Yuan'', which roughly translates to ''The Injustice to Dou E that Touched Heaven and Earth''. The story follows a child bride turned widow, Dou E, who is wrongly convicted of crimes by a corrupt court official for actions perpetrated by a rejected suitor, Zhang the mule. After her execution, three prophesied phenomena occur to prove her innocence, including blood raining from the sky, snow in June and a three-year drought. After a visit from the ghost of Dou E, her father eventually brings the corrupt court official, a doctor and Mule Zhang to justice, thereby vindicating his daughter. Today, the phrase "snowing in June" is still widely used among Chinese speakers as a metaphor for a miscarriage of justice. The story was repeatedly used and modified by later dramatists and remains one of Guan's most popular works.
Story
Prologue
Dou Duanyun, a young maiden from Chuzhou (楚州; present-day
Huai'an District
Huai'an District () is one of four districts of the prefecture-level city of Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, China. The southeast district was formerly named Shanyang County (), Huai'an County () and Chuzhou District ().
The district is the home tow ...
,
Huai'an
Huai'an (), formerly called Huaiyin () until 2001, is a prefecture-level city in the central part of Jiangsu province in East China, Eastern China. Huai'an is situated almost directly south of Lianyungang, southeast of Suqian, northwest of Yan ...
,
Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
), is sold to the Cai family as a
child bride because her father, Dou Tianzhang, owed people a lot of money and could not repay his debts. She is renamed 'Dou E'.
Act 1
Dou E's husband died two years after their marriage, leaving behind Dou E and her mother-in-law to depend on each other. Dou E and her mother-in-law are bullied by Sai Lu Yi, an unscrupulous physician. Sai Lu Yi almost kills Dou's mother-in-law by strangling her. Dou E and her mother-in-law are saved by the hooligan Zhang Lü'er and his father. Zhang pretends to offer them "protection" and moves into their house against their will, and then tries to force Dou E to marry him but she refuses.
Act 2
Dou E's mother-in-law has a sudden craving for soup. Zhang Lü'er plots to murder Dou E's mother-in-law so that he can seize Dou E for himself after the older woman dies. He blackmails Sai Lu Yi for poison by threatening to report the physician to the authorities for his earlier attempt to murder Dou E's mother-in-law. He puts the poison in the soup and hopes that Dou E's mother-in-law will drink it and die. However, Zhang's father drinks the soup instead and dies from poisoning. Zhang Lü'er then frames Dou E for murdering his father.
Dou E is arrested and brought before the prefecture governor, Tao Wu, who subjects her to various tortures to force her to confess to the crime. Then Tao Wu threatens Dou E by torturing her mother-in-law. Dou E does not want her mother-in-law to be implicated so she admits to the murder. Tao Wu sentences her to death by beheading.
Act 3
Dou E is brought to the execution ground. Before her execution, she swears that her innocence will be proven if the following three events occur after she dies:
* Her blood will spill on her white clothes, not a single drop will drip onto the ground.
* There will be heavy snowfall in the sixth
lunar month
In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month.
Variations
In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Eur ...
(in the midst of summer) and the thick snow will cover her dead body.
* Chuzhou will experience a drought for three years.
All three events happened after Dou E's death.
Act 4
Three years later, Dou E's ghost appears before her father, Dou Tianzhang, who has become a ''lianfangshi'' (廉訪使; a senior government official) in the
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
and
Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
region, and tells him all her grievances. Dou Tianzhang orders a reinvestigation of the case and the truth finally comes to light. Dou E is posthumously proclaimed innocent while the guilty parties receive their due punishments: Sai Lu Yi is exiled to a distant land; Tao Wu is dismissed and barred from entering office again; Zhang Lü'er is given the death penalty.
Dou E also wishes that her father can allow her mother-in-law to live with him, and that he will help to take care of her mother-in-law. Dou E's father agrees. The play ends here.
Main characters
* Dou E (竇娥), the main character, originally named Dou Duanyun (竇端雲). She was a devoted daughter-in-law who was framed for killing Zhang Lü'er's father and sentenced to death. Subsequently, she was ultimately proven innocent after her death.
* Dou Tianzhang (竇天章), Dou E's father. He became an official in the end and played a major role to posthumously prove his executed daughter's innocence.
* Dou E's mother-in-law, referred to as Granny Cai (蔡婆) in the play. She was originally meant to be killed by Zhang Lü'er through lethal poisoning, but in a twist of fate, she escapes death as Zhang's father was the one who drank the poison instead.
* Zhang Lü'er (張驢兒; literally "Zhang the mule" or "Zhang the donkey"), the main antagonist of the play, and the man responsible for Dou E's plight. He was eventually
executed
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
by
lingchi, as retribution for his crimes.
* Zhang Lü'er's father, referred to as Zhang's father (張父) in the play. He was killed by the poison that was meant for Dou E's mother-in-law.
* Sai Lu Yi (賽盧醫; literally "equivalent to the Physician from Lu"), the physician who provided the poison that killed Zhang Lü'er's father. "Physician from Lu" (盧醫) is the nickname of
Bian Que
Bian Que (; 407 – 310 BC) was an ancient Chinese figure traditionally said to be the earliest known Chinese physician during the Warring States period. His real name is said to be Qin Yueren (), but his medical skills were so amazing that peop ...
, a famous physician in ancient China.
Guan Hanqing
Guan Hanqing ( 1241–1320), sobriquet "the Oldman of the Studio" (齋叟 Zhāisǒu), was a notable Chinese playwright and poet in the Yuan Dynasty. He has been described as among the most prolific and highly regarded dramatists of the Yuan pe ...
was probably adding a touch of satire or irony when he named this character.
* Tao Wu (桃杌), the corrupt prefecture governor who sentenced Dou E to death. He was later dismissed from office upon the revelation of Dou E's innocence and given a lifetime ban from taking up any governmental post.
Problems of text and translation
The scholar
Stephen H. West notes that the texts of Yuan drama were edited and "extensively altered" by
Zang Maoxun (1550–1620), whose ''Yuanqu xuan'' (元曲選) became the standard anthology. Zang rationalised both the language and the format of the plays he edited, rather than the "coarser and more rugged – sometimes ragged – registers of language found in the early commercial editions of Yuan drama."
Almost all English translations before those in the anthology by West and Idema were based on Zang's recensions.
David Rolston remarks that "West and Idema are clearly very interested in the levels of language in the plays they translate (their translations do not shy from highlighting the rawer or racier elements of plays in ways generally ignored or suppressed by other translators)." Their translations, he says, will be more useful to those who are interested in the history of the theater and the plays, while the emphasis on readability in translations based on Zang's texts, such as that by George Kao in the ''Columbia Anthology'', will be more appealing to general readers.
Adaptations
Chinese opera
The play has been adapted into
kunqu
Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. Kunqu is one of the oldest traditional operas of the Han nationality, and is also a treasure of Chinese traditional cult ...
and
zaju
''Zaju'' was a form of Chinese opera which provided entertainment through a synthesis of recitations of prose and poetry, dance, singing, and mime, with a certain emphasis on comedy (or, happy endings). Although with diverse and earlier roots, ''za ...
, as well as a 1956
Cantonese opera
Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Guangdong Province. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau and among Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Like all versions of Ch ...
, ''The Summer Snow'', by
librettist
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
Tang Ti-sheng
Tang Ti-sheng () (18 June 1917 – 15 September 1959), born Tang Kang-nien (), was a Cantonese opera playwright, scriptwriter, and film director. His contributions to Cantonese opera significantly influenced Hong Kong's reform and development of ...
.
Modern versions include the co-composition of
Chen Zi
Chen Zi (陈紫, Huiyang, 1919–1999) was a Chinese composer. He was one of the composers at the original revolutionary Lu Xun Academy in Yan'an and one of the collaborators assisting Ma Ke in composition of 1945's ''The White-Haired Girl''. Amon ...
and
Du Yu in the 1960s, and Taiwanese composer
Ma Shui-Long's 1990 version.
Theatre
A contemporary reimagining of the play was staged in 2017 by the
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
. The play was directed by Justin Audibert, translated by Gigi Chang, and specially adapted by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig. It premiered in the US at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2018.
Film and television
The play has been adapted into films and television series:
* ''Snow Storm in June'' (), a 1959 film
HKMDB information about this 1959 film ''Snow Storm in June''.
(Alias: Snow in June) starring Cantonese opera
Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Guangdong Province. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau and among Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Like all versions of Ch ...
actress Fong Yim Fun (芳豔芬) as Dou E and actress Yam Kim Fai
Yam Kim-fai (, 4 February 1913 (Lunar 29 December 1912 – 29 November 1989), also known as Ren Jianhui was a renowned Cantonese opera actress in China and Hong Kong.
Yam was most notable for her unique ability to sing in the lower register. Tha ...
(任劍輝) as Cai Changzong (蔡昌宗), her husband. Both actresses had the same roles in Tang Ti-sheng's 1956 adaptation for stage performance.
* ''Chinese Folklore'' (民間傳奇), a 1976 Hong Kong television series produced by TVB
Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...
, about various Chinese folk tales. One part is about Dou E, starring Louise Lee
Louise or Luise may refer to:
* Louise (given name)
Arts Songs
* "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005
* "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984
* "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013
* "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929
*"Louise", by Clan of ...
.
* ''Tianshi Zhong Kui'' (天師鍾馗; ''Heavenly Master Zhong Kui''), a 1994 Taiwanese-Singaporean co-produced television series about Zhong Kui
Zhong Kui (; ko, 종규, Jonggyu; ja, 鍾馗, Shōki; vi, Chung Quỳ) is a deity in Chinese mythology, traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings. He is depicted as a large man with a big black beard, bulging eyes, and ...
. One part of the series, titled ''Liu Yu Xue'' (六月雪; ''Snow in the Sixth Month''), is about Dou E, starring Fu Juan (傅娟).
* ''Qian Nü Qiyuan'' (倩女奇冤), a 1998 Chinese television series adapted from the story of Dou E and other tales.
* ''Zhongguo Chuanshi Jingdian Mingju'' (中國傳世經典名劇), a 2005 Chinese television film series based on several well-known Chinese operas and plays. One section, spanning three episodes, is about Dou E, starring Su Jin (蘇瑾).
Notes
References and further reading
Translations
Translations can be found in the following volumes:
* A translation and study of the play.
* Translated as " Rescuing a Sister," by George Kao
George Kao (; 29 May 1912 – 1 March 2008) was a Chinese American author, translator, and journalist. He is best known for translating English-language classics into Chinese and for his efforts to bring Chinese classics to English-speaking aud ...
and Wai-yee Li.
*
*
*
Critical studies
*
*
*
External links
(Original Chinese text)
* YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
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