Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Zhang, JIng

Area of Concentration

Chinese Language and Culture

Abstract

This thesis examines Tang Xianzu’s Ming dynasty play, Peony Pavilion. Over the course of the play, the heroine of the play, Du Liniang, goes through a journey of transformation, from living girl, to phantom, to resurrected woman. The playwright utilizes Du Liniang to perpetuate the ideas which he considered important, such as qing, or sincere and all-powerful love. The dedication to this ideal allows her to take on agency she might not have otherwise had. To show this, I analyze the play using two sets of paradigms, qing and li as well as nei and wai. Du Liniang is forced to negotiated between these sets of paradigms, as she is shown to be deeply connected to the natural world and her emotions but is still expected to abide by the austere world of tradition. By writing his heroine in such a way, Tang Xianzu created a piece of literature whose influence has lasted until modernity, inspiring not only men and women in the seventeenth century, but also touching the lives of those who read and view it today.

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