ABSTRACT
Ming subjects felt the impact of theater in increasingly multifaceted ways. The basic plot of the “Orphan” narrative is well known to drama readers in China and worldwide through the renown of the Yuan zaju. The different modes of representation in the zaju Orphan and the “Southern Orphan” are also reflected in the woodblock illustrations accompanying editions of the plays’ scripts. The “Southern Orphan” illustrations, by contrast, are merely rough-and-ready devices to render action, drawing readers into the horror or spectacle of the moment, rather than inviting detached aesthetic contemplation. The increased prominence of the street in the “Southern Orphan” is vividly embodied in the character Zhou Jian, one of the figures in the “Southern Orphan” who appear neither in traditional sources nor in the zaju version of the story. The “Southern Orphan” was a central reference point in Ming theatrical culture.
