[
    {
        "id": 205112,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
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        "document_key": "RAS-1966",
        "page_number": 68,
        "title": "RAS-1966",
        "content_text": "SINO-WESTERN CONTACTS\n\n63\n\ntestify to their Oriental origin, such as the lute (from Arabic al-lūt, \"wood”), and even in our century we have witnessed the spread of Negro jazz over the whole world. A similar development took place in China, and there are many passages in Yüan literature where foreign music and musicians are mentioned.15 In this connection we should perhaps save from oblivion the name of one of these musicians from the Near East. We find her name in the Ch'ing-lou chi “Records from the Green Bowers\", an anonymous work dated 1364 which gives a list of the most popular courtesans under the Yüan, together with a description of their accomplishments. Among these ladies of easy virtue we find one solitary girl from the Western Regions mentioned among her many Chinese professional sisters. She was a Mohammedan girl by the name of Miliha (or Maliha) praised for her sweet and clear voice and her skill in singing. She was, alas, not beautiful, but we are told that she was a superb theatrical performer. The author of the book once made her acquaintance and was duly impressed by her acting.16\n\nThere must have been many influences from Near Eastern folklore that reached China under the Yüan. I shall quote here only two examples. A well-known Near Eastern folk-tale motif, that of the honest loser, the greedy finder and the Solomonic judge, can be traced both in European medieval and Chinese literature. It reached Europe via Spain through the Disciplina Clericalis of Petrus Alfonsi of Toledo (thirteenth century A.D.), a work which contains many Arab stories and anecdotes that subsequently became immensely popular in the West. Boccaccio has not a few stories from the Disciplina Clericalis in his Decamerone and also at least one motif in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, that of the three caskets, comes from that source. The story of the loser, the finder and the judge can be found in European literature in many versions, the classical German version being J. P. Hebel's \"Der kluge Richter\". In China we find this story in a text dated 1360. Here the story is set in a typical Chinese environment and being given some additional touches typical of China. The most interesting feature is, however, that the Chinese text does not present the anecdote as a mere story but as a historical event. The clever judge to whom the final solution of the case is entrusted was a perfectly real person, a circuit prefect from Kiangsi Province. This shows the Chinese tendency to attach literary clichés and even,",
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    {
        "id": 206025,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1970",
        "page_number": 105,
        "title": "RAS-1970",
        "content_text": "100\n\nK. M. A. BARNETT\n\nFor a Chinese in particular, and in still more particular a Chinese brought up in Hong Kong, I am going to make myself unpopular and say it would be a miracle if any of them really did obtain a thorough grasp of English without first learning Latin, quite a lot of Latin, and some Greek. He needs the Greek because English has (perhaps unconsciously) borrowed a lot of its flexibility from Greek. Then, building on that foundation, he needs to read and read: some Shakespeare and Milton, of course, for they are two cornerstones of the English language, but still more he should read, whatever his religion, large chunks of the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible, both Old and New Testament. Just as any student of Greek must read Plato, regardless of whether he approves of Plato's philosophy, so any student of English who keeps away from the Bible because he is neither a Christian nor a Jew is throwing away the most fruitful source book: for every English person, even the modern pagans, even those who for Scripture teaching use some other version (e.g., the Revised), still falls back in his ordinary speech on the diction and rhythms of the Authorized Version.\n\nLAT\n\nHaving read and learned by heart the basic speech patterns of the language, it is then safe for him to jump to such modern exponents as G. Bernard Shaw; yes, I would advise jumping all that way, leaping over the 18th and early 19th century writers; you can always go back for them afterwards. But in making this big leap you need an inquiring mind and a patient teacher. Why does Shaw always write ARN'T I? when you have been taught AM I NOT and so forth. At this point I could bewail the lack of an efficient method of writing either (or any) language. Cadmus' alphabet is as unsuitable for any modern language as LI HSIH's: though both were miracles in their day. G. B. Shaw must be grinning wryly at the damp squib his legacy turned out. But although it would be a fine thing if someone would bequeath a few millions to our universities to put a good team working on something of lasting value—a way to record, faithfully, the 15 or so local languages—don't forget that we have a way. The tape recorder makes it possible for the prose or poetry writer of today, in any language whether or not it has a writing, to compose exactly as he wishes it to go. So another piece of advice to the student: ask for a library of recorded radio scripts. But avoid\n\n94\n\nPage 105\n\nPage 106",
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    },
    {
        "id": 209597,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1982",
        "page_number": 254,
        "title": "RAS-1982",
        "content_text": "232\n\nCARL T. SMITH\n\nThe opportunity to give a world premiere came about in this fashion. Early in the year Mr. Sinclair directed students at the University of Hong Kong in two Dunsany plays. They did not attract much public attention, but Sinclair sent photographs of the production along with some newspaper notices to Lord Dunsany. As a result, he wrote a play about the Gold Isles and sent the manuscript to Mr. Sinclair with the intention that it also should be performed by the students. Unfortunately, they were not able to do so, so Sinclair, as one of the popular A.D.C. directors, decided to have a Dunsany evening and include \"The Compromise of the King of the Golden Isles\". It was full of colour, filled with pomp and ceremony. It is interesting to note that the late Noel Croucher served as a bodyguard in one of the crowd scenes and that Sinclair had consulted Sir Robert Kotewall and Mr. Fung Yuk-shum to get authenticity for the Chinese costumes and other details.\n\nIn 1926 the A.D.C. performed Dunsany's most successful play \"If.\" His plays have been described as \"decorative drama\". Many of them had settings in the Near and Far East.\n\nW. Sinclair was both an innovator and a man of cosmopolitan tastes. During the years he produced plays for the A.D.C., the repertoire ranged from Shakespeare to the future and from fantasy to realism.\n\nThe Hong Kong Mummers presented \"Twelfth Night\" in 1913. It was directed by Mr. Siegler, a name assumed by Mr. Sinclair for some of his early productions in Hong Kong. He later abandoned this pseudonym. \"Twelfth Night\" was billed as the first amateur production of Shakespeare in the Far East. This claim was corrected by the Tokyo A.D.C., which had presented \"As You Like It\" in 1906, \"Midsummer Night's Dream\" in 1911, and \"The Merchant of Venice\" in 1912. The Hong Kong A.D.C. had assisted Miss Janet Waldorf and her small company of professionals in \"As You Like It\" in 1899. It was scheduled for an outdoor performance on the Parade Ground, but this was rained out and it was held in the Theatre Royal. Weather did permit a second performance on the Parade Ground. In 1922, the A.D.C. under Sinclair produced \"The Tempest\".\n\n\"The Blue Bird\" by Maeterlinck was given in 1914. It was",
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    },
    {
        "id": 209614,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1982",
        "page_number": 271,
        "title": "RAS-1982",
        "content_text": "249\n\n21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27 Mar. 1912 — \"The Gondoliers\" (Gilbert and Sullivan, 1889)\n\n1912/13 25, 26 Oct. 1912 \"A Pair of Spectacles\" (Sydney Grundy, 1890) given in\n\n1913/14 —\n\n1914/15 —\n\n17, 19, 21 Dec. 1912 \"An Ideal Husband\" (O. Wilde, 1895)\n\n25, 28, 29, 30 Oct., 1 Nov. 1913.\n\nHong Kong Mummers (personnel same as A.D.C.) \"Twelfth Night\" Shakespeare.\n\n21, 26 Feb. 1914 —\n\nCentennial Performance: Three Episodes \"A Privy Council\" (W. Drury and R. Price, 1904). \"Between the Soup and the Savoury\" (Gertrude Jennings, 1910) \"The Open Door\" (Alfred Sutro, 1906)\n\n7, 10, 14 Nov. 1914\n\n—\n\n\"The Blue Bird\" a fairy play (M. Maeterlinck, transl. by A. T. Mattes, performed London 1909)\n\n2, 6, 9 Jan. 1915\n\n\"Snow White and the Frog Prince\" a fairy ballet in 3 parts and 4 tableaux.\n\n1915/16 — 14, 16, 11 Mar. 1916 — \"An Angel in the House\" (B. M. Hastings and E. Phillpotts, 1915):\n\n1916/17 —\n\n15, 16, 18, 30 Dec, 1916 - \"Kismot\" oriental, spectacular (E. Knoblauch, 1911)\n\n1917/18 23 Feb. 1918\n\n1918/19\n\nA.D.C. Mr. A. P. Stokes assisted by members of \"Acid Drops\"\n\n\"Five Birds in a Cage\"\n\n\"The Rest Cure\"\n\n23 Apr. 1918 \"The Witness for the Defence\" (A. E. W. Mason, 1911)\n\n7, 9 Nov, 1918 - \"The Barton Mystery\" a spoofic fantasy (Walter Hackett, 1916)\n\n21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29 Mar. 1919 \"Pinkie and the Fairies\" a fairy play. (W. G. Robertson, music F. Norton, 1909)\n\n1919/20 — apparently no production.\n\n1920/21\n\n28, 30 Oct., 3 Nov. 1920 Four Dunsany Plays\n\n\"The Golden Doom\" (1912)\n\n\"The Glittering Gate\" (1909)\n\n\"The Lost Silk Hat\" (1913)\n\namateur musicians:\n\nInterval Chinese \"Compromise of the King of the Golden Isle\", world premiere",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 209615,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1982",
        "page_number": 272,
        "title": "RAS-1982",
        "content_text": "250\n\nCARL T. SMITH\n\n1921/22\n\n-\n\nno production.\n\n1922/23\n\n1923/24\n\n12, 13, 18, 21 Oct. 1922 - \"I'll Leave it to You\" (N. Coward, 1920)\n\n26, 27, 28, 30 Dec. 1922, 1, 2 Jan. 1923 - \"The Tempest\" (Shakespeare)\n\n8, 10, 12, 15 Dec. 1923 \"R.U.R.\" (Rossum's Universal Robots) (Karel Capek, transl. by P. P. Silver, adapted by N. Playfair, 1922)\n\n1924/25\n\n25, 26, 27, 28 Feb. 1925 - \"French Leave\" (Reginald Berkely) farcial comedy\n\n13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22 Jan. 1925 - \"St. Joan\" (G. B. Shaw, 1923)\n\n1925/26\n\n2, 3, 4, 5 Dec. 1925 - \"A Little Bit of Fluff\" farce\n\n2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Mar. 1926 — “If” (Lord Dunsany, 1921)\n\n1926/27\n\n13, 15, 17, 18, 19 Nov. 1926 Dramatic Medley \"A Matter of Time\" (Ronald Jeans)\n\n\"The First and the Last\" (John Galsworthy, 1921)\n\n\"The Burglar and the Girl\" (Mathew Boulton, 1913)\n\n\"The Man in the Bowler Hat” (A. A. Milne, 1925)\n\n19, 22 Mar. 1927 \"The Last of Mrs. Cheyney\" - Frederick Lonsdale, 1925)\n\n1927/28\n\n19, 21, 22, 23 Nov. 1927 - \"Bulldog Drummond\" (H. C. McNeile and Gerald du Maurier, 1921)\n\n1928/29\n\n16, 20, 24 Nov. 1928 \"The Sport of Kings\" (Ian Hay, 1924) performed at Star Theatre, Kowloon.\n\n19, 21, 22, 23, 26 Feb. 1929 - \"On Approval\" (Frederick Lonsdale, 1926)\n\n1929/30\n\n22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 Mar. 1930 - \"And So to Bed\"\n\n1930/31\n\n12 Nov. 1930 — performance at Helena May Institute \"Snobs\"\n\n\"Half an Hour\"\n\n15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 Nov. 1930 \"The Middle Watch\" a romance of the Royal Navy (Stephen King-Hall and Ian Hay, 1929)\n\n7, 10, 11, 13, 14 Mar. 1931 - \"Art and Mrs. Bottle\" (Benn W. Levy, 1929)\n\n\"Dear Brutus\" (James Barrie, 1917) last A.D.C. performance at the Theatre Royal, City Hall.\n\n14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Nov. 1931\n\n1931/32\n\n―",
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    {
        "id": 211778,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1989",
        "page_number": 193,
        "title": "RAS-1989",
        "content_text": "168\n\nso called Christy's Minstrels --- a famous group in the United States, yet it may be doubted severely whether it was the same one that visited Shanghai.\n\nEight years later, the first company to come down to Shanghai from Hong Kong, where they had also been playing, was the one led by a Mr. C.R. Faylor. On February 10 1864 Lytton's The Lady of Lyons was on the bill as the opening piece, but the Herald thought it a failure in consequence of \"that portion of the company which had been collected in Shanghai and pressed into service\". How this is to be understood is not quite clear. Did Faylor's company consist of only a few actors, who were to be supplemented by local worthies? But then, who else could they be but amateurs, the darlings of the foreign community? However this may be, on May 9 at an evening in which also the \"Royal Shanghai Ballet d'Action\" [so far for fancy names!] participated, the \"celebrated comedy Nature and Philosophy or Eighteen Years Labour Lost” was given. As members of the company were mentioned Mr. and Mrs. C.R. Faylor, Mr. and Mrs. E. Yeamans and Major Pegus. Amateurs almost always adopted stage names in order to hide their real identity, but with professional actors it may be assumed these names were real.\n\n45\n\nA more substantial contribution to the amusement of the Shanghai public was made by Lewis' Dramatic Company. It was of Australian origin and the \"musical director and manager\" was Charles Edouin. Other members of the group were Tilly Earl, Mrs. Gill, Lizzie Naylor, Jenny Nye, T. Andrews, Henry Birch, J.B. Creswick, W.B. Gill and nearly the whole Edouin (or, rather, Bryer) family: Julia, Rose, John and Willie. Rose (1844-1925) married G.B. Lewis and became later an actress at, among others, the Maidan Theatre in Calcutta. Her brother Willie (1846-1908; his real name was John Edward Bryer) first appeared in public when he was six; after the tour to Australia, India, China and Japan he played in Melbourne, California, New York and London.46 In 1862 the \"Lewis' Equestrian Australian Troupe\" had visited the port with \"six of the best horses ever landed in China**,** but in 1864 the company had turned to drama and from October 6 until their departure in December an eight week season provided an unprecedented shower of farces, burlesques and even some quality pieces like Sheridan's The Rivals and the prison scene from Shakespeare's King John (Act IV, sc. 1), in which the role of prince Arthur was played by an actress, Julia Edouin, who took \"the house by storm\".48 The success of the company was apparently so great that they returned in March of the following\n\n47",
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    {
        "id": 211779,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1989",
        "page_number": 194,
        "title": "RAS-1989",
        "content_text": "169\n\nyear after a visit to Hong Kong\" for another run of several weeks. As was usual with repertory companies of this kind their output was vast, ranging from Planché's The Invisible Prince to Shakespeare's Richard III from which the fifth act only (\"A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!\") was given \"somewhat disappointingly\".\n\nOne other touring company is mentioned in the early Shanghai annals: the Thorne Company, which consisted of \"seven gentlemen and two ladies\" whose talents had been \"extolled by the Hong Kong press\", and which came to the Yangtze port in January 1865. Conflicting reports make it difficult to judge whether the group was praised as much in Shanghai as in Hong Kong. According to the Herald it had given a \"successful representation of the Octoroon (by Dion Boucicault, on January 11 1865) and announced a second performance for the 14th\". However, the Shanghai Commercial Record wrote that \"the patronage bestowed on the Thorne Troupe was extremely small. Indeed when they opened on Wednesday evening last (January 11) it was literally to an empty house, for we hear there was actually no one present to view the performance. The company were so disgusted that they left next day for San Francisco\". So many years later there is obviously no way in which we can verify either of these assessments, but it only stresses how unfortunate it is that the sources for the study of early Shanghai are not more abundant.\n\n152x\n\nA special feature of some of these travelling groups should be noticed, namely the existence of benefit performances. Benefits had been known in Britain from the late 17th century; generally speaking the net proceeds of such a performance went to a member of the company, but gradually it was realised that the system had more disadvantages than advantages\n\ne.g. actors were frequently paid low salaries because of the, often highly uncertain, supplementary income that could be derived from the benefits. One of the first to try to abolish them was Madame Vestris in the 1830s, but they existed well into the 1870s. Both the Faylor and Lewis companies had kept the custom. Thus it was announced that on November 26 1864 \"the benefit of J.B. Creswick under the distinguished patronage of the Consular authorities\" would be given; on December 9, \"Mr. H. Birch's benefit took place\", and so on for nearly every member of the company.",
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    {
        "id": 211797,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
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        "document_key": "RAS-1989",
        "page_number": 212,
        "title": "RAS-1989",
        "content_text": "187\n\nless than sixteen of his farces were staged during the years 1850-1865, including of course the maligned Box and Cox which is, ironically, nearly his only piece that is still occasionally seen today. Closely following were the burlesques of Henry James Byron, written in quite a different style from Morton's farces, with many more puns in the text which makes them sometimes awkward reading, although one can feel amazement about the author's inventiveness. Yet, to see well-established works like Verdi's Il Trovatore, with its beautiful music, mangled into !!! Treated Il Trovatore, or Shakespeare's Macbeth and King John into The Babes in the Wood makes one feel a little bit queasy. Of especial interest to the Shanghai residents must have been his Aladdin or the Wonderful Scamp for he had built the entire action **around puns on China tea and he invented widow Twankay as a pun on one of the ports central to the China trade\" [Shanghai presumably — JHJ]. Byron was of course not \n\nthe only one who made himself into a debaser of tragedy. What is one to think of Robert Bough's Medea or the Best of Mothers with a Brute of a Husband, the title alone of which causes one to shudder.\n\nBut then, this was obviously what an overwhelming majority of the public asked for, both in Britain and overseas. The British capital teemed with small, and not so small, theatres that catered for the wishes of the low and lower middle classes and their first demand was to be entertained after a hard day's work: who cared for a complex five-act Shakespearean tragedy people referred to laugh their heads off with Slasher and Crasher and Cool as a Cucumber.\n\nIn British outposts abroad the attitude of the public was not very different, as is shown in this article for Shanghai. A comparison with Singapore and Hong Kong shows that tastes there were also exclusively in the direction of farce and comedy and it is not to be wondered that sometimes the same pieces were chosen, like William Rhodes' Bombastes Furioso (Sh.: 28.1.1851 and 5.5.1858; Hong Kong: 1.12.1848; Singapore: May 1844 and 25.5.1846) and Tom Taylor's Still Waters Run Deep (Sh.: 23.4.1857; 15.3.1860; H.K.: 3.1.1861; Sp.: 1862).\n\nThat not all plays were to the liking of the local paper's critics has already been discussed. Apparently, no efforts were made from among the foreign community to write original comedies, a fact which was deplored by the Herald when it thought that there are certainly men capable of such mental exercise as the writing of burlesque.",
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    },
    {
        "id": 211809,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
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        "document_key": "RAS-1989",
        "page_number": 224,
        "title": "RAS-1989",
        "content_text": "199\n\n-- it may, however, improve on further acquaintance but we had no other opportunity of judging during the evening\". The \"Turkophonini” could be heard in a solo with variations and it was deemed \"by far the most perfect and pleasing instrument of the two`. The Shanghai Redowa Waise (Redowa: a Bohemian dance) which had been \"composed expressly for this Concert and dedicated to the Ladies of Shanghai — as the programme informed us\", also performed on the Turkophonini was not thought of \"very highly”, but it convinced the reporter that \"the instrument is well adopted for that class of music\". Obviously not everyone in the audience was of the same view, for the editor wrote in the Herald of September 27: \"The critique of our reporter has been much discussed in fashionable circles and the correctness of his judgement as to the perfection of these new instruments questioned. Knowing his high attainments as a musician, we defer to his opinion. Matters of taste do not admit of dispute. De gustibus non est disputandum. We may all enjoy our own and as a second glass of wine enables us to pronounce better judgement as to its quality, so will this second performance (on September 29) by familiarizing us with the instruments enable us better to decide upon their excellence\". In Hong Kong the China Mail could not speak \"in very warm terms of praise at least as regards their suitability for solo performances\" (CM 21.8.1856). On the other hand it admitted that \"by men of cultivated taste M. Ali's talents are fully appreciated and it will be long ere those who have had the pleasure of listening to his performances will forget the sweet but powerful tones of the Turkophone or the duleet melody of the Grand Clarionet and Turkophonini\" (CM 16.10.1856). Ali Ben Sou Alle was assisted by local amateurs who played a number of pieces including two Rossini overtures on the piano; and \"very creditably\" sung Mendelssohn's \"The Fairest Flower\".\n\nThe evening was attended by a \"numerous audience, comprising the beauty and fashion of our Settlement'' (NCH 20.8.1856).\n\n29.9.1856 (Mon)\n\nA second concert by Ali Ben Sou Alle.\n\nNo review was published in the Herald, only an announcement (NCH 27.9.1856).\n\n18.2.1857 (Wedn)\n\nD. BOUCICAULT & C. MATHEWS: \"Used Up\" (1846)\n\nT: Comedietta (2 acts)\n\nJ.M. MORTON: “Box and Cox\" (1847)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nC: Amateurs\n\nF: Prologue\n\nTh: N.N. (C)\n\n―\n\nR: The season opened both under the new management of \"Peter PROTEUS\" (again: a stage name, Proteus being an old Greek who could assume different shapes, as some actors are able to; also a character from Shakespeare's \"Two Gentlemen of Verona') and with a new theatrical reviewer in the Herald: \"The Man on the Bund\" (for the current season only). And although some months later he was heavily criticized because of some strictures he made about the choice of plays, in general his articles in a highly personal style were a mere continuation of the \"nothing but praise\" attitude that so prevailed. Thus Used Up was \"rendered with unquestionable ability by Mr. Peter Proteus, the manager\" who himself played Sir Charles Coldstream; and Mr. CLAY gave the part of the forlorn, but blunt and honest blacksmith Ironbrace with much skill and effect\". Making her debut Mrs. NESBIT impersonated Lady Clutterbuck: \"One would not have thought that so much deceit could lurk under so smooth and charming a face\". She brought to this part \"not only much cleverness and knowledge of the feminine heart but a very imposing person and decided good looks; and one could not help thinking the baronet might have stumbled upon a less pretty face in his",
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        "document_key": "RAS-1989",
        "page_number": 248,
        "title": "RAS-1989",
        "content_text": "223\n\nharmonium by D.H. ENGEL\n\n17. \"Eupeidee\" (German student song and chorus) Th: Olympic Theatre (H)\n\nR: An advertisement only was published in the Herald of 29.10.1864. From it we learn that tickets could be obtained at the premises of Hiram Fogg & Co (ship chandlers, general store and auctioneers; one of the oldest foreign firms in Shanghai, located at the southern end of the Bund); Hall & Holtz (see 29.6.1864); A.A. Hayes Jr (Olyphant & Co, Nanking Road, ex Park Lane); and Herbert Cope (Geo Barnet & Co, Kiangsi Road (ex Church Street) and Hankow Road (ex Custom House Road)). It also becomes clear that there were at that moment at least two theatres in the Settlement: the Lyceum and the Olympic. The programme is interesting for the number of composers which have now been forgotten (Silcher, Kücken, Becker, Werner, etc.) and the piano arrangements of well-known opera arias.\n\n12.11-18.11.1864\n\nW. BROUGH: “Conrad and Medora” (1856)\n\nT: Burlesque pantomime (1 act)\n\nJ.B. BUCKSTONE: “Married Life\" (1834)\n\nT: Comedy (3 acts)\n\nJ.W. MARSTON: \"A Hard Struggle\" (1858)\n\nT: Domestic drama (1 act)\n\nW. SHAKESPEARE: “King John”, prison scene (Act IV, scene III)\n\nFurthermore:\n\n“Cinderella”, possibly by H.J. BYRON (1860) or T. TAYLOR (1845).\n\n\"Wonder\"; no contemporary pieces are listed in HED; only: Mrs. S. CENTLIVRE: “The Wonder. A woman keeps a secret” (1714) and H. CAREY: \"A Wonder or an honest Yorkshireman\" (1735).\n\nC: Lewis A.D.C.\n\nTh: N.N. (E)\n\nR: The Lewis company continued to draw large houses and ventured even to put a Shakespeare scene on the programme, from King John. It proved to be \"the hit of the week\". In it starred Miss Julia EDouin and Mr. Henry BIRCH: \"The acting was perfect. Miss Julia EDouin doing the fullest justice to the character of Prince Arthur and indeed taking the house by storm!\" (NCH 19.11.1864).\n\n19.11.1864 Sat\n\nH.J. BYRON: “Aladdin or the Wonderful Scamp” (1861)\n\nT: Burlesque extravaganza (1 act)\n\nC: Lewis A.D.C.\n\nTH: N.N. (U)\n\nN: Benefit of Miss Tilly Earl who played the role of Aladdin\n\nR: NCH 26.11.1864\n\n23.11.1864 (Wedn)\n\nR.B. SHERIDAN: \"The Rivals\" (1775)\n\nT: Comedy (5 acts)\n\nC: Lewis A.D.C.\n\nTH: N.N. (P)\n\nN: Benefit of Mrs. Gill who played the role of Mrs. Malaprop.\n\nR: NCH 26.11.1864\n\n26.11.1864 (Sat)\n\nH.J. BYRON: \"Aladdin or the Wonderful Scamp” (1861)\n\nT: Burlesque extravaganza (1 act)",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 211839,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1989",
        "page_number": 254,
        "title": "RAS-1989",
        "content_text": "229\n\n19.4.1865 (Wedn)\n\nW.B. GILL: \"Aurora Floyd burlesqued\" J. TOBIN: \"The Honeymoon\" (1805)\n\nT: Comedy (5 acts)\n\nN.N.:\n\nA Rourer*\n\nC: Lewis A.D.C.\n\nTh: Lyceum Theatre (1)\n\nN: Mr. W.B. Gill's benefit\n\nR: SCR 22.4.1865; no review\n\n21.4.1865 (Fri)\n\nW. EDQUIN: A Christmas Pantomime\n\nC: Lewis A.D.C.\n\nTh: Lyceum Theatre (1)\n\nN: Mr. Willie Edouin's benefit\n\nR: At a rather odd time of the year there was a Christmas Pantomime written by Willie Edouin, a member of the company (of Survey). Again the Shanghai Commercial Record was enthusiastic: \"This bold venture was completely successful. The local hits were clever and met with great applause. The usual jokes, fun and frolic were duly given and some of the jumping very dexterously gone through. The get up and accessories of the said pantomime deserve all praise and the dresses and costumes were remarkably tasteful. JULIA EDOUIN danced with her usual grace and elegance. Miss NYE was particularly pretty and helped in a great way to make the performance lively and amusing”. All in all it “would be long remembered by those who saw it as a decided hit in the theatrical annals of Shanghai\". About Jenny NYE the Record wrote further: \"The lightness and airiness of her motion and unaffected style did much to relieve some very heavy and stilted acting. Her manner is composed and, never attempting to do too much, always ends in doing well. Simplicity of manner is not a fault and a graceful quietness in acting has often more effect than the lofty dignity of a Tragedy Queen\" (SCR 5.5.1865).\n\n25.4.1865 (Tue)\n\nD. BOUCICAULT: \"The Colleen Bawn\" (1860)\n\nT: Drama (3 acts)\n\nC: Lewis A.D.C.\n\nTh: Lyceum Theatre (1)\n\nR: Tonight Dion Boucicault's most famous Irish play, The Colleen Bawn, was given. The Record (5.5.1865) thought it a \"bold step for any company to attempt in Shanghai\". But the result was a success: \"the actors entered into their parts with a determined earnestness to succeed and on the whole it may be classed as a creditable performance\". Earlier, however, it had stated that the play \"depends much more on scenery than on acting\", a judgement that was hardly likely to please the author as it was not his intention to write a purely melodramatic piece, that indeed often heavily relied on spectacular Stage effects.\n\n26.4.1865 (Wedn)\n\nW. SHAKESPEARE: \"Richard III”, act V\n\nT: Tragedy\n\nN.N.: The Frantic Husband**\n\nand probably:\n\nA. MAYHEW & H.S. EDWARDS: \"The Goose with the Golden Eggs\" (1859) T: Farce (1 act)\n\nC: Lewis A.D.C.\n\nTh: Lyceum Theatre (1)",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 211840,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1989",
        "page_number": 255,
        "title": "RAS-1989",
        "content_text": "230\n\nN: J.B. Creswick's benefit\n\nR: For the second time a scene from Shakespeare could be seen in Shanghai: now it was act V from Richard III in which the king is confronted with the ghosts of his victims, lights his enemies ('A Horse! A Horse! My kingdom for a horse!') and is finally killed. In what kind of version it was played must be a matter of conjecture, although the worst days of adapting, cutting and rewriting Shakespeare's dramas were over. The Record found it \"somewhat disappointing. Richard was too declamatory and an evident appearance of striving for effect predominated\". Who personated the role of Richard III was not stated, but as it was Mr. CRESWICK's benefit it may have been him. The Frantic Husband went off well, with Tilly EARL as the \"Injured wife\". Miss NYE as Mrs. Alibi and Mr. GILL in the leading parts (SCR 5.5.1865).\n\n27.4.1865 (Thur)\n\nNo titles were given, but probably:\n\nJ.H. PAYNE: 'T was (* (1825)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nJ.T. RODWELL: \"The Young Widow\" (1824)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nC: Lewis A.D.C.\n\nTh: Lyceum Theatre (1)\n\nN: Miss Nye's benefit\n\nR: Miss NYE was described by the Commercial Record as a \"ladylike and pleasing actress\" who had a good house. \"The performance was light and amusing. She acted neatly and with pleasing unconsciousness of doing so. This actress will some day occupy a position which will still further develop her as a personifier of light and agreeable parts\" (SCR 5.5.1865).\n\n28.4.1865 (Fri)\n\nM. BARNETT: \"The Serious Family\" (1849)\n\nT: Comedy (3 acts)\n\n\"Cinderella\"; by H.J. BYRON? T. TAYLOR!\n\nC: Lewis A.D.C.\n\nTh: Lyceum Theatre (D)\n\nR: In Cinderella, a burlesque, Miss NAYLOR once again “looked and acted with well assumed demeanour\" one of the ugly sisters of the heroine. The latter part was possibly played by Mrs. GILL, \"the most accomplished of the troupe. She pays great attention to dress (...) and there is a quiet repose in her manner that is not easy to attain and only adds to the effect and spirit of her acting“. Miss Tilly EARL also took one of the parts; she was \"vivacious and fascinating\". Only the singing was \"not so good as usual, but one of the fair warblers was suffering from a cold\" (SCR 5.5.1865).\n\n29.4.1865 (Sat)\n\nH.J. BRYON: \"Aladdin or the Wonderful Scump\" (1861)\n\nT: Burlesque extravaganza (1 act)\n\n\"The Lady of Lyons\". Arthur either LYTTON or BYRON.\n\nC: Lewis A.D.C.\n\nTh: Lyceum Theatre (1)\n\nR: This was the farewell performance of the Company as well as Mr. Henry Birch's benefit. BIRCH was described as \"an old hand on the boards of the theatre. He has acted with many well known celebrities and to a certain extent still retains the manner of a school now almost extinct. The Company had left a good impression, although the Record's critic occasionally thought the actors deficient in making “a lucky hit by the casual introduction of a remark. They depend in some instances too much on the prompter and considering the case they act with one another this should not be\" (of the Herald's\n\nPage 255\n\nPage 256",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt",
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        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 211850,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1989",
        "page_number": 265,
        "title": "RAS-1989",
        "content_text": "240\n\nRODWELL, James Thomas Gooderham (d. 1825)\n\n\"A Race for Dinner\" (15.4.1828). P: Announced in March 1854 but not performed. \"The Young Widow or A Lesson for Lovers\" (1.11.1824), P: 27.4.1865\n\nSELBY, Charles (1802?-1863)\n\n\"The Boots at the Swan\" (5.4.1843). P: 14.12.1865\n\n**A Fearful Tragedy in the Seven Dials\". P: 15.2.1860\n\n**A Lady and a Gentleman in a Peculiarly Perplexing Predicament\" (9.8.1841), P: 13.2.1864\n\n**The Unfinished Gentleman'' (1.12.1834). P: 17.6.1865\n\nSHAKESPEARE, William (1564-1616)\n\n\"King John\" (1594–1596). P: 12.11.-18.11.1864 (Prison scene, Act IV.1 only) **Richard III\" (1592-1593). P: 26.4.1865 (Act V only)\n\nSHERIDAN, Richard Brinsley (1751 1816)\n\n**The Rivals\" (17.1.1775). P: 28.9.1858; 23.11.1864\n\nSUTER, William E. (1812-1882)\n\n? \"Lady Audley's Secret\" (22.2.1863). P: 28.12.1864\n\nTALFOURD, Francis (1827-1862)\n\n\"A Household Fairy\" (24.12.1859), P: 26.11.1864\n\nTAYLOR, Tom (1817-1880)\n\n? \"Cinderella\" (12.5.1845). P: 12.11.-18.11.1864; 28.4.1865 \"Still Waters Run Deep\" (3.3.1856). P: 23.4.1857; 15.3.1860\n\nTOBIN, John (1770-1804)\n\n? \"The Honeymoon\" (31.1.1805). P: 19.4.1865\n\nTOWNLEY, Rev. James (1714-1778)\n\n\"High Life below Stairs\" (31.10.1759), P: 21.4.1851\n\nWEBSTER, Benjamin Nottingham (1797-1882)\n\n? \"Aurora Floyd' (11.3.1863). P: 26.11.1864; 17.4.1865\n\n? \"The Golden Farmer or the Last Crime\" (26.12.1832). P: 8.10.1857\n\nWILLIAMS, Thomas John (1824-1874)\n\n\"Nursery Chickweed\" (12.11.1859), P: 28.3-5.4.1865\n\n\"On and Off\" (6.6.1861). P: 25.4.1864\n\nAPPENDIX II\n\nAn alphabetical list of plays staged in Shanghai 1850-1865\n\nThe Adventures of Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Rising of 1745: N.N.; 13.6.1864.\n\nAladdin or the Wonderful Scamp: H.J. Byron; 2.9.1864, 19.11.1864, 29.4.1865,\n\nAnything for a Change: C.W. Brooks; 15.5.1854.\n\nApartments: W. Brough; 23.3.1853.\n\nThe Area Belle: W. Brough & A. Halliday; 30.9.1865.\n\nAttic Story: J.M. Morton; 6.5.1852.\n\nAurora Floyd: C.S. Cheltnam? C.H. Hazlewood? J.B. Johnstone? B. Webster? 26.11.1864, 17.4.1865.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 211852,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1989",
        "page_number": 267,
        "title": "RAS-1989",
        "content_text": "242\n\nHigh Life below Stairs: J. Townley; 21.4.1851. The Honey Moon: W. Linley? J. Tobin? 19.4.1865. A Household Fairy: F. Talfourd; 216.11.1864.\n\nI couldn't help it: J. Oxenford; 13.4.1865.\n\nIII Treated Il Trovatore: H.J. Byron; 22.6.1864, 29.6.1864. The Infanticidal Farce: J.S. Coyne; 21.2.1856.\n\nThe Invisible Prince: J.R. Planché; 23.3.1865.\n\nThe Irish Tutor: R. Butler; 5.5.1853.\n\nIsabella: J.B. Buckstone; 28.3.-5.4.1865.\n\nI've Eaten My Friend: J.V. Bridgeman; 22.3.1854.\n\nKenilworth: N.N.; 28.3.-5.4.1865.\n\nKing John: W. Shakespeare; 12.11.-18.11.1864.\n\nA Kiss in the Dark: J.B. Buckstone; 26.3.1857.\n\nThe Knights of the Round Table: J.R. Planché; 24.5.1865.\n\nA Lady and a Gentleman in a Peculiarly Perplexing Predicement: C. Selby; 13.12.1864. Lady Audley's Secret: C.H. Hazlewood? G. Roberts? W.E. Suter?; 28.12.1864.\n\nThe Lady of Lyons: E. Bulwer Lytton; 10.2.1864.\n\nThe Lady of Lyons: H.J. Byron?; 22.10.-28.10.1864, 29.4.1865.\n\nLend me Five Shillings: J.M. Morton; see p. 15.\n\nA Lesson for the Ladies: J.B. Buckstone; 8.4.1865.\n\nAs Like as Two Peas: H. Lillo; 16.3.1858.\n\nLittle Toddlekins: C.J. Mathews; 26.5.1864.\n\nLove Laughs at Locksmiths: G. Colman the Younger; 9.5.1864,\n\nLove, Law and Physics: J. Kenney; 28.1.1851.\n\nA Lucky Escape: C.S. Cheltnam; 25.4.1864.\n\nThe Maid and the Magpie: H.J. Byron; 8.10.-14.10.1864, 15.10.-21.10.1864, 15.4.1865. Make your Wills: E. Mayhew; 23.1.1856.\n\nMarried Life: J.B. Buckstone; 12.11.-18.11.1864.\n\nMedea: R.B. Brough; 28.12.1864.\n\nA Most Unwarrantable Intrusion: J.M. Morton; 22.3.1854, 1.4.1864,\n\nNature and Philosophy: N.N.; 9.5.1864.\n\nThe Nigger Doctor and his Patient Patient: N.N.; 14.8.1856.\n\nNo!: W.H. Murray? F. Reynolds?; 23.2.1852.\n\nNo 1 round the corner: W. Brough; 23.1.1856.\n\nNursery Chickweed: T.J. Williams; 28.3.-5.4.1865.\n\nThe Octoroon: D. Boucicault; 7.1.-13.1.1865, 14.1.1865,\n\nOn and Off: T.J. Williams; 25.4.1864.\n\nOur Wife: J.M. Morton; 13.2.1863, 17.2.1863.\n\nPerdita: W. Brough; 8.4.1865.\n\nPoor Pillicoddy: J.M. Morton; 15.3.1860, 26.5.1864.\n\nA Practical Man: W.B. Bernard; 8.3.1854.\n\nPrincess Springtime: H.J. Byron; 10.11.1865, 20.11.1865.\n\nA Race for Dinner: J.T.G. Rodwell; announced but not performed. Raising the wind: J. Kenney; 9.2.1858, 30.3.1864, 4.4.1864.\n\nThe Rendez-vous: R. Ayton; 24.3.1852.\n\nRetained for the Defence: J. Oxenford; 25.4.1864. The Review; G. Colman the Younger; 24.3.1852.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 211853,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1989",
        "page_number": 268,
        "title": "RAS-1989",
        "content_text": "Richard III: W. Shakespeare; 26.4.1865.\n\nThe Rivals: R.B. Sheridan; 28.9.1858, 23.11.1864.\n\nA Roarer: N.N.; 19.4.1865.\n\nRob Roy; C.H. Hazlewood? W.H. Murray? 28.3.-5.4.1865.\n\nA Roland for an Oliver: T. Morton Sr; 23.2.1852. Roofscrambler: G.A.à Beckett; 12.12.1850.\n\nThe Rose of Castille: A.G. Harris; 8.10.-14.10.1864. The Rough Diamond: J.B. Buckstone; 13.4.1865.\n\nThe Serious Family: M. Barnett; 8.10.1857, 2.6.1859, 23.3.1865, 28.4.1865. Siamese Twins: G.A.à Beckett; 5.5.1853.\n\nA Silent Woman: T.H. Lacy; 29.6.1864.\n\nSink or Swim: T. Morton Jr; 16.2.1857.\n\nSlasher and Crasher: J.M. Morton; 21.2.1856.\n\nStill Waters Run Deep: T. Taylor.; 23.4.1857, 15.3.1860. Sweethearts and Wives: J. Kenney; 11.4.1865.\n\nTake that girl away: L.S. Buckingham; 15.2.1860; 3.12.1864. Time tries all: J. Courtney; 5.5.1858, 10.5.1860, 21.3.1865. To Paris and back for £5: J.M. Morton; 10.5.1860, 21.3.1865. The Turned Head: G.A.à Beckett; 27.1.1853.\n\nTurn out!: J. Kenney; 10.11.1865, 20.11.1865.\n\n'T Was I: J.H. Payne; 27.4.1865.\n\nThe Two Bonny Castles: J.M. Morton; 22.3.1854, 8.5.1865.\n\nThe Unfinished Gentleman: C. Selby; 17.6.1865.\n\nUrgent Private Affairs; J.S. Coyne; 5.5.1858.\n\nUsed Up: D. Boucicault & C.J. Mathews; 26.1.1852, 27.1.1853, 18.2.1857.\n\nThe Wandering Minstrel: H. Mayhew; 24.5.1865.\n\nWhere There's a Will There's a Way: J.M. Morton; 26.3.1863.\n\nWhich is which?: W.B. Gill; 27.3.1865.\n\nWhitebait at Greenwich: J.M. Morton; 23.1.1856, 16.2.1859, 26.5.1864.\n\nThe White Horse of the Peppers; S. Lover; March 1863, 16.3.1863.\n\nA Wonder: H. Carey S. Centlivre?: 12.11.-18.11.1864,\n\nWoodcock's Little Game: J.M. Morton; 14.12.1865.\n\nThe Young Widow: J.T.G. Rodwell; 27.4.1865,\n\n243\n\nPage 268",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 213482,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1995",
        "page_number": 78,
        "title": "RAS-1995",
        "content_text": "46\n\nThe Play Writers of the Peking Opera\n\nMost of the early play writers of the Peking Opera were uneducated men with little knowledge of Chinese history. Some of the cues used in the play are risqué, vulgar and very, very rough. We do have our own Shakespeares in the T'ang or Sung Dynasties and their plays are among the best written literature of the times, but the general public would not go to their shows because they could not understand the literature - and the plays died a natural death. It is exactly the rough language of the later age that the people could understand, that made them flock to the theatre to see them.\n\nSome of the Funny Things You See in the Peking Opera\n\nWhy should a man's whiskers be three feet long from his chin almost to his knees? Why should an official, or a warrior, or a country squire wear such clumsy shoes with paper soles about two inches thick? Human nature! Once I heard an American cut an album whose main theme was:\n\n\"Anything you can do, I can do better.\"\n\n11\n\nFrom the very beginning, we didn't have any sharp art critics who would condemn these anomalies. Theatre, like politics, if not held in check at the beginning, can be a dangerous thing.\n\nThe Prop and the Gesture\n\nYou will notice that all Chinese theatres have a scarcity of theatre props. They make use of certain movements of the body or gestures to indicate any situation or event. This is because it is much cheaper. For instance, you cannot bring a horse to the stage, so the actor holds a horse whip (an ornamental one) to indicate that he is riding a horse. The following are more examples of the same:\n\n(1) when the actor enters a house, he lowers his body, and steps over something. That means \"stepping over the threshold.\"\n\n(2) when he enters the room, he makes some movements with both hands in the air. That means \"latch up\" or \"lock up\" his room.\n\n(3) if he holds a candlestick, or if someone else carries a paper lantern, it shows that it is night time.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 214180,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1998",
        "page_number": 38,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "ARTICLES\n\nLAUGHTER ACROSS THE GREAT WALL: A COMPARISON OF CHINESE AND WESTERN\n\nHUMOUR\n\nDAN WATERS\n\nGood humour may be said to be one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society.\n\nWilliam Makepiece Thackery\n\nWith English cooking you boil the chicken, throw away the water and eat the chicken. With Chinese cooking you boil the chicken, throw away the carcass and drink the soup.\n\nAnon.\n\nTerminology and scope of paper\n\nThe word 'humour' harks back to the ancient Greek theory and early Middle-age English when health, disease and human emotion were associated with 'wet' qualities within the body. Depression was said to be brought on by an excess of melancholy, black bile, one of the 'four humours' comprising blood, yellow bile, phlegm and black bile. Black bile, it was believed, could be dispelled by laughter (Muir, 1990; XXVIII)(see Appendices A and B of this paper). It appears the equivalent of the word 'humour' (with a similar meaning) only existed in the English language and the word yau muk (you mo), meaning humour, did not exist in the Chinese language until it was introduced by the Chinese scholar, Lin Yutang, in 1924 (Chen Wangheng and Shu Jianhua 1993:10). Lin Yutang's writing is said to have been greatly influenced by George Bernard Shaw (Chen Wangheng and Shu Jianhua 1993:10).\n\n...\n\nMen and women have been chortling their heads off since prehistoric times. Shakespeare wrote (Twelfth Night, III, I): \"Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun. It shines everywhere.\" Yet in spite of humour being infectious and an important part of everyday life, Dr",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 214183,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1998",
        "page_number": 41,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "4\n\njoke may have lost some of its appeal over the centuries it was supposed to have been a real roof-raiser in its day. How does it compare with the humour enjoyed by pre-Shang dynasty (1600 to 1100 BC) Chinese or primitive man in Britain, who used woad as a body dye, about the same period?\n\nCertainly throughout the Middle Ages in Europe, coarse and crude vernacular humour was common. It was included in the banter of the court jester and in the works of Chaucer and Shakespeare. Ribald and bawdy wisecracks and coarse primitive jokes also made up part of the conversation of the Chinese masses. Risqué jokes and four-letter words, which many consider to be very much a class marker, are still common today both in western and Chinese society and among both men and women (Bolton, 1997; 299, 306). The odd 'streaker' is occasionally seen at the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens and the orgy is still by no means unknown. The author recalls a European on a minibus in Hong Kong informing the driver to stop at block number nine. But he mispronounced the Cantonese equivalent of ‘nine' with a higher tone so that it sounded like a coarse word for penis. While some passengers laughed outright others sniggered or masked a smile.\n\nSypher says (1956; 208), regarding a code of decency, that some psychologists believe any group of men and women, no matter how refined, will laugh at ‘dirty' jokes. The real question is when and which dirty jokes they laugh at.\n\nIt is interesting to compare reactions to the photograph taken of a Black Watch soldier at the cenotaph, in Hong Kong's Central District, when a gust of wind had blown his kilt up exposing bare buttocks. Most Westerners questioned by the author seemed to think, ‘hard luck old chap,' but most believed it was a cleverly taken photograph and good for a laugh. The average Hong Kong Chinese, however, felt that the poor Highlander's privacy had been trespassed upon and they were sorry for him. However, some also remarked, it provided an answer to the question which puzzles so many: 'What does a Scotsman wear under his kilt?'\n\nAlthough the word 'humour' can still be considered 'suspect' in the United States (Muir, 1990; XXXI), it really means the ability to be",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794",
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    },
    {
        "id": 214199,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1998",
        "page_number": 57,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "(d) You cannot applaud with one hand.\n\n(e) One's house is best protected by a wasted garden outside and an ugly wife inside.\n\n(f) A one-foot kick (a jack-of-all-trades).\n\nFor many of these Chinese sayings (like [(a)], 'Melons and pears,' above), as Shakespeare so aptly wrote, 'Brevity is the soul of wit'.\n\nAlthough not always easy for foreigners to comprehend, Chinese humour is in some ways similar to western humour in that it includes satire, farce, punning and sudden juxtaposition. But there are of course differences. A one-liner that Nury Vittachi sometimes uses when he entertains a group of Westerners goes like this: 'If a man speaks in a forest where there is no woman to hear him, is he still wrong?' But when he switches audiences, for Asians he says it sometimes works better if you say, 'If a woman says something in a forest where there is no man to hear her, is she still wrong?' Vittachi was sometimes described by Hong Kong's last British Governor, Chris Patten, as ‘the funniest man in Hong Kong.'\n\nMuch of the difference would appear to be due to social conditioning. The author agrees with Vittachi that jokes based on word-play or societal conventions only work where the language or society allows them to work even if there are also deeper differences. Vittachi also says that he uses a lot of irony when Westerners are present but little, together with sarcasm or sardonic humour, when the audience is largely Asian. Westerners also, quite naturally if the language is English, guess punchlines much faster allowing them to be abandoned entirely in some cases.\n\nA sample opening of the comedy he uses is:\n\n\"Thanks for inviting me to this Women's group. It's not the most mis-directed I've received. Last week I got some junk mail from a sports shoe chain store. The letter began \"Dear Basketball Player ... (Westerners chuckle).... I'm 5 feet 4 inches tall (Asians chuckle).....\" This may be, because they are more familiar with the concept of stand-up comedy.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794",
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    }
]