Article

Name: From “The Western Wing” to “The Spilled Cup”: Transformation of a Chinese Drama’s Plot in Russian Reception of the 19th – 20th Centuries

Authors: Bo Chen

National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation

In the section Chinese Plots in Russian Literature

Abstract:

Based on Wang Shifu’s play “The Western Wing” (13th century) and its Russian versions – Zachary Leontievsky’s prose retelling “The Traveler” (1835), L. D. Pozdneeva’s interlinear translation (1940s), Andrei Globа’s theatrical adaptation “The Spilled Cup” (1952), and L. N. Menshikov’s philological translation (1960) – this article examines how transformation in genre forms (drama → narrative prose → stage adaptation) transform the plot structure, the nature of the conflict, the system of characters, and the types of denouement. Drawing on archival materials (the transcript of the 1952 discussion of Globа’s play) and textual analysis, the article identifies the mechanisms of plot changes caused by shifts in cultural distance, theatrical codes, and ideological requirements. It demonstrates that each new version not only retells but reinterprets the original plot schema according to the norms of the target genre and audience expectations. The analysis of archival sources revealed that the history of the Russian reception of “The Western Wing” is not a linear approximation to the original but a succession of independent plot modifications, each reflecting the demands of its time.

Keywords: Wang Shifu, “The Western Wing”, “Xi xiang ji”, Leontievsky, Pozdneeva, Globa, Menshikov, Eidlin, plot theory, genre transformation, zaju, Russian-Chinese literary relations

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