Drama Beyond the Drama: The Private Apartment System and Beijing Theatre Culture, 1790-1911

Abstract

Following the entry of Anhui troupes into Beijing in the late eighteenth century, a unique theatrical culture emerged in the capital closely involved in elite male homoeroticism. This theatre culture included far more than dramatic performance; there were the actors, troupes, theatres, and audiences, but as well as these the theatres spawned actor-ranking booklets and venues such as restaurants and 'private apartments' in a proto-modern precinct of public leisure adjacent to the theatre quarter. Among these developments 'private apartments' had a most profound and direct influence on the theatre culture of the time. Based on extensive investigation of vast primary source archives, this book is the first academic work to explore the origins of the 'private apartment system' and its role and function in the operation of Beijing theatre culture at the time, as well as the social-historical significance of literati men's patronage of young male actor-courtesans. The book's argument enables broader reflections on the nineteenth century transformation of Chinese popular culture and its relation to modernity, sexuality and public culture in late-imperial Chinese society. 本書是第一部全面探討清代京城戲園文化與性愛風氣的專著。從乾隆後期開始，京城逐漸流行一種與男風密切關聯的戲園文化。這不僅是舞臺上的戲曲藝術，也包括伶人、戲班、戲園、觀眾、私寓、花譜、甚至其周邊的酒樓飯莊等諸多因素，它們共同構成了一個具有現代意義的都市公共娛樂空間。作者利用大量的史料、文學作品和圖片，深入考察清代京城獨特的梨園私寓制和演藝體制，闡釋傳統的「倡優並提」觀念在當時現實生活和文學作品中的貫徹和表現，從而展現了一幅與男色服務交織在一起的京城戲園社會生活的生動畫卷，並進一步反思性愛、社會等級和權力在清中後期戲園文化中的實際影響。