Abstract
Based on Li Zhuowu's annotated edition and Ling Yanxi's engraved edition of Moon Prayer Pavilion, the article analyzes intertextuality and connection between its illustrations and dramatic narrative. Specifically, it makes an analysis from the following aspects: chuxiang (illustrations on the upper part of a page with texts below), illustration order and inscriptions on the illustrations, textual meaning expression and performance of story scenes, figure gestures and scenic tension, etc. Considering all the aspects, the article tries to illuminate how the book reconstructs artistic conception by inserting annotations instead of only displaying the plot through pictures; how it shapes the characters through coordinating illustrations and corresponding plot with narrative details; how the illustrations leave a space for imagination, appreciation and performance, diverse in form but same in substance with the text, when depicting virtual scenes and creating images by characters' costume and gestures, which further establishes the interactive relationship among characters and scenes, pictures and texts, picturing figures and performances. Interpreting graphic details contributes to further understanding of the internal relationship between illustrations and textual structures as well as of the significance of illustrations in spreading xiqu plays in the middle and late Ming dynasty.
First Page
132
Last Page
142
Recommended Citation
Ding, Shumei, and Ranran Zhang. 2018. "Chuxiang, Annotations and Performances of Moon Prayer Pavilion: A Case Study of Li Zhuowu's Annotated Edition and Ling Yanxi's Engraved Edition." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 38, (5): pp.132-142. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol38/iss5/5
