中國戲曲的海外傳播與演出：日本長崎唐館做戲暨相關文獻紀錄初探

Materials of the Chinese Opera, such as variety plays (zaju), legend (chuangqi), archival, and so forth were spread to Japan from Edo period. Chinese opera was also imported by Tang people (Tōjin) who lived in Tang House (Tōjin-yashiki) into Nagasaki, the only port open to the public during the Sakoku era, and performed in several important occasions. The Japanese officials, interpreters and literati who interacted with Tang people then wrote about the performances of the Chinese Opera in fictions, poetry and various accounts. From these records, we can firstly see that overseas Chinese opera performances existed before19th century. Secondly, we were able to know the circumstance and condition of how Chinese opera traveled to Japan and how it was performed. Thirdly, through these records, we can explore how Japanese over that time period understood and appreciated the Chinese opera performances, which enables us to probe not merely the distribution of the Chinese opera performances but also the communication between China and Japan. By looking at these records, we can therefore understand the influence and the significance of the spread of Chinese opera in Japan during that time period.