Forget Each Other in the Rivers and Lakes: Li Yu's Bimu Yu Revisited

Adaptation of earlier writings was the primary mode of cultural production during the late Ming and early Qing period. The cross-genre adaptation between vernacular short stories and dramas was the most popular practice. Li Yu (1611-1680), famous playwright and vernacular short story writer versed in both genres, was the best in the industry. Different from others who adapted earlier writers’ works, Li Yu adapted his own stories for his own chuanqi work. Bimu yu, adapted from Tan Chuyu, is one of them. The present case study on this adaptation does not aim to illustrate the literary techniques involved or to evaluate the adaptation, but to historicize the chuanqi text and examine the relationship between Li Yu’s literary production and his understanding of the contemporary situation in the early Qing China. In the 17th year of the Shunzhi reign, Zhang Jinyan (1599-1672), Li Yu’s friend and notorious turncoat official, or erchen, was expatriated to the North East. Li Yu’s Silent Opera II, whose publication was patronized by Zhang, was implicated in literary inquisition, and was renamed as Liancheng bi for safe publication. Adapted from a short story in Silent Opera II and composed after Zhang’s expatriation, Bimu yu can never be well interpreted without such context. Did Li Yu clarify in Bimu yu his judgment or position on Zhang, his generous patron and ill reputed erchen? How did Li Yu take his position on the sensitive issue? The present study attempts to answer such a question.