*3.1. Transplantation Strategy*

As far as available resources are concerned, the transplantation is most often observed in dealing with some controversial characters and plots of the original tales. As *Strange Tales* mainly takes shape from folk tales collected by Pu Songling, the origin of those stories is diverse and unrefined (Zhu 1985, pp. 578–79). Some characters in those stories, as a result, are morally controversial. For example, some visit brothels, and some encourage others to commit crimes. Although Chinese theatre is first and foremost a venue for entertainment, moral education becomes an increasingly significant aim of Chinese theatre after the 17th century (Zhang 2014, pp. 66–71). In this context, some of those characterizations are inappropriate for theatre. Therefore, those controversial characters and associated plots should be reconstructed in the dramatization, and the most common solution to this problem is to transplant Daoist characters to replace those controversial characters and, all the while, remove the controversial plots. As a result, the transplantation not only solves these moral contradictions but also seamlessly incorporates the transplanted Daoist characters and beliefs into the storyline. The present study chooses two scripts *Cutting off the Turtle's Tail* (*Zhan guiwei* 斬 龜 尾) (Du 2003, p. 295) and *The Matchmaker of a Finger* (*Yizhi mei* 一 指 媒) (Li 2013, vol. 4, pp. 129–76) to illustrate how the transplantation is carried out.

The script *Cutting off the Turtle's Tail* is adapted from the story *The Wife of Shen* (Shen Shi 申 氏; Pu 1979, pp. 619–21), and the storyline of the original tale is briefly summarized below:

A man named Shen cannot make a living for his family, and his wife complains and urges him to make money. In a fit of pique, his wife asks him to rob for money. Shen refuses and attempts suicide out of shame, but Shen's dead father appears to save him. Shen's father suggests that Shen hide in a field for a robbery. Following his father's suggestion, Shen takes a club and hides in that field but finds a man already hiding there. Seeing the man climb the wall and enter the house, Shen conjectures that the man is a burglar and plans to rob the burglar later. After a while, on seeing the man jump out, Shen immediately clubs the burglar. Shen, however, finds that the "man" is a monstrous turtle and then punches it to death in panic. It turns out that the monstrous turtle usually impersonates a man and harasses the Kang family next to the field. As a result, Kang's family deems Shen a hero and gifts him a big sum of money.

Although a seemingly happy ending is provided in which the monstrous turtle is killed and Shen obtains some material returns, the story is somewhat morally controversial. Above all, the story seems to convey that a malicious motive is likely to reach a good outcome. Additionally, the two characters, Shen and Shen's father, manifest no righteous or praiseworthy qualities but spiteful and illegal ideas. Although Shen accidentally kills the monstrous turtle and is thus recognized as a hero by the victims in the end, readers clearly know that his real and unspoken motive is to snatch the loot of the "burglar". Shen's father, moreover, is even more appalling because he encourages his son to commit robbery (Ren 2015, p. 1974). So observed, the two characters and the whole story are morally inappropriate for theatre.

To address the problem, the script *Cutting off the Turtle's Tail* has transplanted the Great Emperor Zhenwu (Zhenwu Dadi 真 武 大 帝) (Anonymous 1990, pp. 33–37; Cook 2008, pp. 1266–67), a well-known immortal in Daoism, to replace Shen's father and reconstruct some controversial plots. In Daoist mythologies, the Great Emperor Zhenwu (hereafter Emperor Zhenwu) is commonly known as "The Heaven Lord of Sweeping Devils" (Dangmo Tianzun 蕩 魔 天 尊) who frequently appears in combats against devils and monsters (Luan 2009, pp. 604–5). The first part of the script remains almost the same as the original tale, and the reconstruction starts from Shen's attempted suicide:

When Shen is just about to commit suicide, Emperor Zhenwu appears and saves him. Handing over Shen a magical sword, Emperor Zhenwu dispatches him to hide in a field to catch a burglar there. When Shen arrives there, he sees a man climbing a wall to break into a house. Soon after, Shen hears cries and shouts from the house and immediately realizes that the man must be the burglar. Seeing the man jumping out over the wall, Shen slashes him with the magical sword. However, Kang's family, the victim, at first captures Shen and believes him to be the monstrous turtle who usually harasses them. At this moment, Shen finds a turtle's tail on the ground and realizes that the "burglar" he had struck had to be the monstrous turtle. Kang's family then recognizes Shen as a hero and appreciates his help.

Comparing the script and the original story, we can see that the transplantation of Emperor Zhenwu has reconstructed the story and cleared away all controversial issues. In the first place, instead of encouraging Shen to commit robbery, Emperor Zhenwu hands Shen a magical sword and sends him to capture a burglar. The rearrangemen<sup>t</sup> redirects the theme of the original story, which is morally misleading as discussed before, into an event where an immortal comes to salvage someone honest but temporarily lost to return to the right track. Additionally, the rearrangemen<sup>t</sup> reshapes the subsequent plots and makes Shen a respectable hero. As seen in the script, saved and dispatched by Emperor Zhenwu, Shen abandons robbery but follows Emperor Zhenwu's suggestion to catch the burglar. The subsequent combat between Shen and the monstrous turtle, which is a robbery for a burglar's loot in the original tale, now also transforms into a righteous fight for a praiseworthy purpose. As such, this transplantation does not merely solve the moral controversies in the original story but also underscores Emperor Zhenwu's marvelous power and deep compassion for humans.

Regarding the transplantation, a more intriguing question arises as to why the script chooses Emperor Zhenwu instead of another immortal with the same duty and function. Although it has been argued that the Liaozhaixi of Chuanju has been deeply influenced by Daoism, Emperor Zhenwu is clearly not the only one among Daoist immortals who functions as a guardian and combats against devils. For instance, Zhong Kui 鍾 馗 (Anonymous 1990, pp. 153–54) and Guan Yu 關 羽 (Anonymous 1990, pp. 109–12; Haar 2008, pp. 454–55) are also known for subduing devils and monsters. Therefore, merely the function and duty of Emperor Zhenwu cannot satisfactorily explain why the script chooses him over others.

Concerning the question, I argue that the deeper reason for choosing Emperor Zhenwu is so that the storyline of the original tale could facilitate the worship and beliefs of Emperor Zhenwu. In the original story, the villain is a monstrous turtle, while an intriguing fact is that a monstrous turtle is also frequently observed in the worship of Emperor Zhenwu. Although the identity of the monstrous turtle in Daoism varies in different resources, it is often an evil monster subdued by Emperor Zhenwu (Luan 2009, p. 605). For instance,

according to *The Comprehensive Survey of Deities of Three Religions* (*Sanjiao yuanliu soushen daquan* 三教源流搜神大全) (Anonymous 1990, p. 35), the monstrous turtle is an impersonation of a devil but is trodden and subdued by Emperor Zhenwu in a combat. Studying the cultural worship of Emperor Zhenwu, we can see that the monstrous turtle has become an indispensable symbol. This can be exemplified by the trodden turtle in some statues of Emperor Zhenwu. In doing so, the original story and the worship of Zhenwu could be connected by the monstrous turtle, and this is the reason for the adaption choosing Emperor Zhenwu. Discerning this could also help us understand other reconstructed plots in the script. For instance, the magical sword mentioned in the script can also be seen in the worship of Emperor Zhenwu, as Heaven has delivered a magical sword to Emperor Zhenwu as the weapon against devils (Anonymous 1990, p. 34). The appearance of the magical sword also illustrates an attempt at transplanting the worship of Emperor Zhenwu into the adapted story.

More importantly, if we switch our perspective from the Liaozhaixi to Daoism, the transplantation derived from the script could illustrate another picture. It can be also said that the transplantation successfully uses the worship of Emperor Zhenwu to facilitate the dramatization of the original tale in Chuanju. Seen from this perspective, the original tale *The Wife of Shen* has also been transformed into a new variation about how Emperor Zhenwu subdues the monstrous turtle and, therefore, can be used to strengthen the worship and beliefs of Emperor Zhenwu.

The transplantation approach can be further illustrated and evidenced by the script *The Matchmaker of a Finger*. The script not only transplants Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓 (Baldrian-Hussein 2008, pp. 712–15), one of the Eight Immortals in Daoism, to address some controversial plots but also uses the storyline to facilitate and develop the worship and beliefs of Lü Dongbin. The script is adapted from the story *Ruiyun* 瑞雲 (Pu 1979, pp. 601–3), which is summarized as follows.

Ruiyun is a prostitute famous for her sheer beauty and artistry. When the madam wants Ruiyun to start to serve brothel visitors, Ruiyun pleads that she wants to select the first gues<sup>t</sup> by herself, and the madam agrees. Mr. He, a young but unwealthy man, admires Ruiyun and pays some money to meet Ruiyun. Ruiyun is delighted to see Mr. He and treats him kindly, but Mr. He refuses to spend the night with Ruiyun because he considers himself inferior. One day, a scholar visits the brothel and meets Ruiyun. Before leaving, the scholar taps Ruiyun's forehead with his finger. The spot that has been tapped immediately turns inky black, and Ruiyun's face thus becomes scary and ugly, so no guests come to see her again. Ruiyun is then forced to work as a maid and live a miserable life. When Mr. He hears this, he pays some money to set Ruiyun free from the brothel, and the two ge<sup>t</sup> married. A year later, Mr. He accidentally meets the scholar in an inn. The scholar asks whether Mr. He has heard of a famous prostitute named Ruiyun, and Mr. He narrates Ruiyun's experience and their marriage. The scholar is so pleased to hear this and tells Mr. He that he met Ruiyun before and used his magic to blacken Ruiyun's face to protect her. After knowing this, Mr. He asks him to undo his magic, and Ruiyun recovers her beauty.

In the story, the scholar seems to be a positive character who uses his magic to protect Ruiyun from being visited by other brothel guests. Yet, this character has been criticized by some commentators because of his meddling (Ren 2015, p. 1925). From the perspective of moral education through Chinese theatre, however, I consider the character open to question not for his meddling but for two other reasons. First, the scholar's help, most of all, is more of an accidental impulse than a result of his compassion. According to his narration, he had never thought of helping Ruiyun at first until he was shocked by her beauty in the brothel. Therefore, as a positive character, the scholar has not manifested adequate compassion. Second, the scholar's action appears heartless and inconsiderate about Ruiyun. As the caster of the magic spell, he clearly knows that his magic will make Ruiyun ugly and even scary, which consequently leads to Ruiyun's miserableness. If the scholar had attempted to help Ruiyun, he should have also considered when to break his magic spell to return Ruiyun to a normal life; otherwise, his magic could not have helped her but ruined her. However, in the given context, we cannot see that the scholar has done anything for Ruiyun before meeting Mr. He, so it is likely that he had never thought about undoing his magic at all. If so, the scholar is truly unthoughtful because he never considers the negative consequence of his magic.

As discussed, the scholar seems to be a positive ye<sup>t</sup> unsatisfactory character because of his ruthlessness and unemotionality. That is not to say that such a character should not be allowed in Chinese theatre; however, the character seems unusual and probably contradicts the audiences' common expectation of a helper. One may argue that, in fact, the scholar is a spirit or a magician because Mr. He and Ruiyun have conjectured this at the end of the story. If the conjecture was conclusive, the narration and inconsiderate behavior of the scholar can be regarded as tests for Mr. He. However, the original tale offers no additional clue to support the conjecture. It is therefore inconclusive to assume the scholar as a spirit or a magician merely relying on the hunch of Mr. He and Ruiyun, and we can see that none of the subsequent annotations have taken the conjecture as a solid reference (Ren 2015, p. 1925).

In the script, the character of the scholar undergoes a deep reconstruction. In the first place, the scholar is transformed into Lü Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals in Daoism, who is far more warm-hearted and considerate in the adapted story of the script. In contrast to the scholar who accidentally helps Ruiyun, Lü Dongbin comes to help Ruiyun because of his compassion for Ruiyun. His first soliloquy in the script clearly demonstrates that he attempts to make Ruiyun meet Mr. He again. The soliloquy also introduces the fact that Lü Dongbin's strategy for helping Ruiyun is that he will use his magic to make Ruiyun ugly at first and then undo this when the time is ripe. As seen from the script, we can see Lü Dongbin has fully carried out this strategy. At first, he uses his magic to make Ruiyun ugly and then visits Mr. He's family to undo his magic after Mr. He and Ruiyun become a married couple. Additionally, the script has rewritten some plots to maintain the respectability of Lü Dongbin. In the original fiction, the scholar visits the brothel and then accidentally meets and helps Ruiyun there. Although numerous dramas in the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) such as *Xie Tianxiang* 謝 天 香 (Li 2003, pp. 153–54) and *A Dream of Glorious Windows* (*Yunchuan meng* 雲 窗 夢) (Li 2003, pp. 74–75) deal with the concept of scholars visiting brothels, entering a brothel seems morally inappropriate at any rate. More importantly, when it comes to the Qing dynasty, plots concerning prostitutes and brothels become less popular due to the increasing recognition of loyalty and filial piety (Zhang 2014, pp. 66–71). As a script authored in the Qing dynasty, the script therefore discards the plot of visiting the brothel. In the script, when Lü Dongbin comes to save Ruiyun, Ruiyun happens to walk around the gate of the brothel, so Lü Dongbin can cast his magic without entering the brothel. This replacement also addresses the moral contradiction and maintains the respectability of Lü Dongbin.

This transplantation, the present study argues, also transplants Daoist beliefs into the storyline, as Ruiyun is a prostitute, and Lü Dongbin, appropriately, is the guardian angel for prostitutes in Daoism (Liu 2005, pp. 471–72). There are a few identical stories which show Lü Dongbin as the guardian of prostitutes in two primary sources that constitute the worship of Lü Dongbin: *The Biography of Patriarch Lü* (*Lüzu zhi* 呂 祖 志) and *The Complete Works of Patriarch Lü* (*Lüzu quanshu* 呂 祖 全 書). Furthermore, the script also cites a poem attributed to Lü Dongbin of reality with a slight adaption:

The internal elixir has been made, while I have not returned to Heaven but stayed in the human world to reveal others. The two heads of my shoulder pole are carrying the sun and moon, and I seclude myself in mountains and rivers with a gourd.<sup>2</sup>

The insertion of this poem is very significant because it clearly demonstrates the dramatist's attempts to firmly link the story with the worship of Lü Dongbin. This also reflects the influence of Daoism.

In brief, the script *The Matchmaker of a Finger* transplants Lü Dongbin to replace the character of the scholar who seems unsatisfactory and seamlessly integrates the story and

the worship of Lü Dongbin. As well, from the perspective of Daoism, the transplantation transforms the tale of *Ruiyun* into a variant describing how Lü Dongbin helps a prostitute, as shown in other stories in *The Biography of Patriarch Lü* and *The Complete Works of Patriarch Lü*.

Furthermore, the transplantation adaption is not merely observed in rewriting some controversial characters and plots but also in some other cases. Despite commonly being much simpler, the transplantations in these cases are clearly not random insertions of Daoist immortals but have considered the context of the storyline. For instance, a script named *Caocao Becomes a Dog* (*Caocao Biangou* 曹 操 變 狗) (Du 2003, p. 280), which is adapted from the tale *Empress Zhen* (*Zhenhou* 甄 后) (Pu 1979, pp. 420–22), has inserted the Perfected Person Huatuo (Huatuo Zhenren 華 佗 真 人) into the adapted story.

In summary, the Liaozhaixi of Chuanju often transplants Daoist immortals into the adapted storyline to facilitate and develop the worship of the transplanted immortals and the indoctrination with Daoist beliefs. As a result, the transplantation seamlessly connects the original story with the worship of Daoist characters, and the consistent embellishment of Daoist characters derived from the transplantation clearly contributes to the advocacy of Daoism. This is more obvious when compared to Buddhist figures. The Liaozhaixi of Chuanju shows little interest in transplanting and embellishing Buddhist figures and beliefs (Du 2003, p. 136). Even worse, Buddhist monks sometimes appear as negative characters in the adaption. Two instances in point are the lascivious monk in *The Palace of Ten Lords* (*Shiwang dian* 十 王 殿) (Li 2012a, vol. 1, pp. 91–150) that adapted from *Judge Lu* (*Lupan* 陸 判) (Pu 1979, pp. 58–61) and the villainous monk in *The Marriage of a Dull Son* (*Chi'er pei* 痴 兒 配) (Li 2012b, vol. 3, pp. 125–211) that adapted from *Xiaocui* 小 翠 (Pu 1979, pp. 428–33). The two scripts are also popular and well-received at local theater, but the negative characterization of the Buddhist monks sets a strong contrast to the positive Daoist characters. Such an arrangemen<sup>t</sup> also underscores the preference of Daoism in the Liaozhaixi of Sichuan.
