Date of Award

3-21-2025

Thesis Type

PhD

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Department

Department of Chinese Studies

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

The motif of spirits represents a recurrent literary theme that transcends the boundaries of time and space, and can be observed in the germination, emergence, and development of Chinese drama. It became especially prominent during the Ming and Qing dynasties, a period characterised by a trend of seeking the imaginary and fantastical. This invites curiosity about its manifestations, characteristics, and functions. Previous studies often provide a generalised overview of dramas featuring spirits as a single category, overlooking the diversity and specificity of such spirits in drama works. Based on drama texts and stage performances of the Ming and Qing dynasties, this study attempts to understand, describe, and analyse the characteristics of spirits from a motivic perspective. This thesis first elucidates the concept of spirits in Ming and Qing drama, examines their cultural origins and relationship with drama, and classifies the spirit motifs in 148 Ming and Qing dramas featuring spirits that have been collected by the author. Subsequently, the textual characteristics of the spirit motifs are examined in detail. The motif of divine judgment which is thematically rich, the motif of human-god romance that transcends the boundaries of life and death, and the courtly celebration dramas supplemented with feasts are analysed in order to understand how these motifs depict a celestial world of immortality and eternal joy in drama texts through supernatural artistic images, legendary plots, and diverse subject matters. Additionally, the infernal journey motif that integrates Buddhist view of hell and Taoist teaching of the underworld, the Zhong Kui motif which manifests in different subtypes, and the Mulian Saves His Mother dramas that have been widely performed in both folk and court settings are analysed to explore the textual characteristics of single spirit motifs, composite spirit motifs, and spirit motif clusters in constructing the underworld space. The stage presentation of spirit motifs is then examined to explore their theatrical characteristics and evolution, with a focus on the flower god motif and the human-god romance motif cluster that are still actively staged today, as well as the spirit scenes that temporarily vanished from the stage but have been revived in modern performances. The thesis concludes with a synthesis of the characteristics of spirit motifs in Ming and Qing dramas, an identification of which aspects of them have changed and which have remained unchanged in drama adaptations, and a generalisation of their diverse stage representations. The persistence of motif functions, the adaptation of structural prototypes, and the enrichment of thematic content sustain the vitality of spirit depictions in drama texts. Similarly, the transformation of spirit roles, the continuity of performance characteristics, the diversification of special attire, and the innovation of stage designs contribute to the lasting evolution of spirit portrayals on stage. The examination of the textual and theatrical characteristics of the spirits in classical Chinese dramas from a motivic perspective offers insights that can inform their reconstruction in the contemporary context.

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Thesis (PhD) – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya, 2025.

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