Page:Hutcheson Macaulay Posnett - Comparative Literature (1886).djvu/352

 Chinese dramatists. The vast range of Indian and Chinese life, contrasted with the petty circle of the Greek city commonwealth, prevented fixity of place from being attended to. Thus, to take some Indian examples, in Vikramórvasí the scene of the first act is on the peaks of the Himalayan Mountains, that of the second and third the palace of Parúravas, that of the fourth the forest of Akalusha, while the fifth shifts again to the palace. So in the Uttara-Rama-Charitra the scene of the first act is in the palace of Ráma at Ayodhya, that of the second act in the forest of Janasthána along the Godáverí, while in the rest of the piece the scene lies in the vicinity of Valmíki's hermitage at Bithúr, on the Ganges. To select some Chinese examples, the scenes of the Sorrows of Han shift from the palace of the emperor to the Tartar encampment and the banks of the Amoor; those of Ho-han-chan from the Sign of the Golden Lion to the Yellow River, thence to the house of the brigand Tchin-hou, next to the monastery of Fô, to the pagoda of the Golden Sand, to the valley of Ouo-kong, finally again to the pagoda; and those of Pi-pa-ki constantly change from the capital to the native village of the family whose fortunes form the subject of the piece.

§ 86. But if there are striking resemblances in the Indian and Chinese theatres, such as natural description and the neglect of the unities, there are differences no less striking. We have already referred to the singing personage of the Chinese drama and the didactic purposes to which this character, and indeed the entire play, is applied; and we have contrasted this didactic moralising with the artistic aims of the Indian theatre. This didactic purpose of the Chinese drama tends to prevent profound analysis of individual character and to concentrate attention on the incidents of the story. But