Guan Han-qing is one of the most celebrated dramatists of early Chinese literature who very much deserves the title of “Shakespeare of China,” though with a certain amount of exaggeration. He is especially noted for his particular themes and the style of dramatization. “More than any of his contemporary dramatists, Guan Han-qing seems the voice of the city culture of Dadu (now Beijing), a militant “counterculture” in both its language and values” (Chen P. 745).
The works of Guan Han-qing as available for us confirm the masterful craftsmanship of a highly skilled dramatist who portrayed the life and realities of the people as evident in his works. One of the most remarkable plays by Guan Han-qing is Rescuing One of the Girls in which he celebrates the life and realities as faced by the courtesan community and the commodification of human relations. “A play like Rescuing One of the Girls represents something genuinely new in the Chinese literary tradition” and the play is very much noted for its themes which catch the attention of even the most ordinary reader. (Chen P. 745).
In this paper, we take up the challenge of identifying the most celebrated themes in the play which is evidently the theme of courtesans and the commodification of human relations. Therefore, it is remarkable to point out that the major theme that a close analysis brings to the mind of the reader is the theme of courtesans and the commodification of human relations which the author celebrates in its completeness.
One of the most noticeable characteristics of the play is that it portrays the life and realities around the courtesan life and focuses on the way they are treated and how they respond to life as such. The culture conveyed through the courtesan character and others are the particular culture of the region which may well be termed a militant “counterculture” in both its language and values. Here, we find the culture as conveyed by the courtesans and the so-called decent people.
In one of the most touching moments of the play, we find Zhao Pan-er singing about the life of a courtesan where she says that if she married, “I’d pretend to act like an honest woman,/ to work at submission and be a good wife;/ but I can’t help being what I am,/ just a no-good dancehall girl,/ fickle in heart and always/ meaning other than what I say.” (Guan Han-qing, Rescuing One of the Girls) Here the real character of a courtesan is made clear by the dramatist.
The life of the courtesans is always driven by the love of money and pleasures though there are much greater elements of beauty and value in their lives. The words of Zhao Pan-er confirm that their life is particularly driven forward by the force of money and not the relationships and their greatness. “Dancehall girls keep men company,/ we chase after money all our lives/ for our “retirement plan”-/ we can’t waste time with winning ways/ just to show much we care/ for some man that has our heart.” (Guan Han-qing, Rescuing One of the Girls) The life and the ways of the courtesans are, thus, explored by Han-qing and the reader is very much comfortable in comprehending the meaning of this theme as it conveys the characteristic features of a culture rather than just an imaginary made up of the dramatist’s creative faculty.
Through the exploration of the courtesan culture and the life situation of the people slotted in it, the author extends the scope of the play to cover the commodification of human relations. Guan Han-qing also, skillfully, narrates the story of a culture that is without any amount of value and regard for the sacredness of human relations, especially that of family relations. This important theme of the play is portrayed by the playwright through the character of Zhou She. The very person who pretends to be very much cultured and descent in life turns out to be more wicked and immoral than the courtesans.
There is implicit irony in the statement of Zhou She when he tells his newly married wife Song Yin-Zhang “No sooner out of the courtesan’s gate/ than you are the wife of a decent man.” There is greater character and truthfulness in the thinking of Song Yin-Zhang, “What’s got me worried is:/ when I bear the abuse of this “decent man,”/ I’ll think of becoming a whore again.” In their married life we cannot find even a small amount of respect for relation or trust to each other. Marriage, which is considered the most sacred of all the relations, is given the least significance and greatness.
It is portrayed as an institution wherein people can inflict pain, perform superiority, and persecute the weaker part. The husband-wife relation is driven not by the powers of love, care, or the most valuable elements of life, but rather by usefulness, selfish intentions, and passions, and in this relation sincerity, honesty, truthfulness, respect, or any such valuable concept does not mean anything. It is the same fact that is portrayed by the character of Zhou She.
He is not bothered about divorcing his wife at all but wants to make sure that there is another taking her position and he is not an ultimate loser in the bargain. Therefore, he thinks a second time before agreeing to Pan-er on divorcing the wife: “a moment! I’ve been beating that woman regularly, and she’s so scared of me that if I give her divorce papers, she’ll be gone in a trail of smoke. Then if this one won’t marry me, I’ll lose out on both sides, Don’t go rushing into things! I had better make sure of this woman.”
The same commodification of human relations is suggested by Song Yin-Zhang when she tells her concept of marriage and husband. “There’s something for every season of the year. During those little naps I love to take in the summertime, he fans me; and in winter be warms the covers for me and helps me rest comfortably. When I go off somewhere to pay a call, he fixes the collar ties on the clothes I wear and straightens my hairpins.
And it’s because he treats me well in things like this that I want to marry him with all my heart.” There is obviously no real bondage in any of the human relations in the play. Even the words of Zhou She suggesting her wish to get married point to some of the deprivations of a woman in marriage. “Getting married has been on my mind/ these past few years, and I’ve heard/ how some girls paid their indenture/ and some girls were bought free.” There is little sincerity, in the same way, in all the human relations explored in the play and the dramatist has very realistically and skillfully established this theme of the commodification of human relations. “Good families well understand degrees/ of intimacy and reserve, – -/ and know how to observe/ when to be distant, when to comply—/ it’s a sort of breeding that’s quite distinct.”
Human relations do not seem to understand the same aspect of life. There is a generation represented in the play which has lost all its purity and value for human relations and the reader would join to address such people, “You’re always hot for new girls,/ you grow forgetful and mix up the old,/ what’s more your eyesight is failing.” Thus, the play introduces a culture without any respect for human relations but is driven by self motives, desires, and passions, and truly it is a culture whose “eyesight is failing.”
The play Rescuing One of the Girls, therefore, presents two of the most beautiful themes and the aesthetic value of these themes is most skillfully enlarged by the playwright through the mere genius of his craftsmanship. The themes of courtesans and the commodification of human relations in the play have been very clearly established and developed by the dramatist to make them very powerful themes with universal appeal and wide recognition.
The courtesan life and values are very vividly explored and the cultural distinction between the high class, standard life, and courtesan life is explained. “A high-class lady’s a high-class lady;/ a dancehall girl’s a dancehall girl.” The play gets a greater appeal when the lack of the sacred nature of human relations is explored in its entirety and reality. The characterization and the dialogues support these themes making them greatly celebrated. In short, Guan Han-qing has been very successful in conveying the themes of courtesans and the commodification of human relations through the play Rescuing One of the Girls and the effect of this powerful presentation is far-reaching and universal.
Work Cited
Chen, Jiu Feng. Variety Plays: Guan Han-qing, Rescuing One of the Girls. The Yuan and Ming Dynasties. P. 745.