The Reciprocal Relationship between Literary Works and Cultural Imagination in Cultural Travels of The Great Revenge of the Orphan of Zhao

李天白

With the increasingly interest in the orient in the 18th century Europe， western intellectuals begin to concern about China， an exotic and mysteries country. In this background， China and Europe for the first time communicate with each other. The Great Revenge of the Orphan of Zhao， a prominent play written by Ji Junxiang in the 13th century Yuan Dynasty， is circulated and transformed in Europe. This process stimulates Europeans cultural imagination towards the image of China. Meanwhile， the cultural imagination further gives rise to literary works. The translation and adaptation of The Orphan of Zhao are remarkable instances in cultural travels.

Western readers were familiar with The Orphan of Zhao in two phrases. The first one is Father Premares translation， and the second is Voltaires adaptation， The Orphan of China. Premares translation firstly introduces The Orphan of Zhao to the French audience. Due to the limitation of understanding， Premare deletes songs in the original. He explains the songs are difficult for Europeans to understand because of cultural difference. Deleting songs weakens the aesthetic value in the original. However， Premare keeps the plot of the original. The reason why Premare decides to translate this play is that he understands the moral virtues embedded in the original. Voltaire is touched after reading Premares translation. Respecting for the moral virtues embodied in the original， Voltaire adapt it based on French aesthetic paradigm and cultural mode.

The main conflict of The Orphan of Zhao lies in the antagonism between Tuan and Zhaos family. Tuan grabs the emperors power and sets up the loyal official. Zhaos is loyal to the emperor. Voltaire intends to depict cultural conflicts between two nations instead of internal dispute in one country. In the original， Tuans searching for the orphan aims to kill Zhaos descendants， while Chens rescuing the orphan aims to save the Zhaos only survivor. In Voltaires adaptation， Genghis Khans searching for the orphan aims to kill the Chinese descendant and conquer the civilization of Song dynasty. Zamti and Idame couple protect the orphan so as not to surrender themselves to Tartars civilization.

In the aspect of theme， The Orphan of Zhao suggests the incompatible fight between the good and the evil. At the end of the original， the orphan kills Tuan and takes revenge for the Zhao family. Ji Junxiang exalts the loyalty， righteousness and the good over the evil. Voltaire adapts it to praise benevolence， love and reconciliation. Through describing the dispute between civilized nation and barbaric nation， Voltaires adaptation expresses the justice triumphs over violence and rational triumphs over cruelty. Both Voltaires and Jis play highlight the moral virtue. Jis play emphasizes penalizing evil and advising to be good. Voltaires adaptation suggests the power of reconciliation.

The literary works and cultural imagination in the cultural travels of The Orphan of Zhao is a circular process rather than a linear process. For one， The Orphan of Zhao， as the starting point of its literary travel route in the world， influences Voltaires The Orphan of China. For another， Voltaires The Orphan of China stimulates Chinese enthusiasm to reconsider the world position and cultural value of their native culture. The dissemination of literary works inspires peoples cultural imagination. At the same time， the cultural imagination encourages people to create numerous literary works. In the circulation process， the eastern culture and the western culture rediscover the elements that are beneficial to themselves， and they contribute to the culture of world.

Edward Said points out the importance of theories travelling from one culture to another， “Like people and schools of criticism， ideas and theories travel—from person to person， from situation to situation， from one period to another. Cultural and intellectual life are usually nourished and often sustained by this circulation of ideas， and whether it takes the form of acknowledged or unconscious influence， creative borrowing， or wholesale appropriation， the movement of ideas and theories from one place to another is both a fact of life and a usefully enabling condition of intellectual activity” （227）. Observing from the traveling route of The Orphan of Zhao， there are also literary travels that are the same as theories traveling. In the traveling process， because of the discovery and absorbing of heterogeneity， the original texts and the transformed texts enrich the value of each other. The Orphan of Zhao departs from its original place and transcends time and space and its translation and adaptation are widespread in the whole world. The literary travels of The Orphan of Zhao make available of what we call World Literature.