'' by
Tilly Kettle, 1765. A portrait of
Mary Ann Yates as Mandane in
Arthur Murphy's tragedy
The Orphan of China The Orphan of Zhao was the first Chinese play to be translated into any European language. The Jesuit father
Joseph Henri Marie de Prémare translated the play, which he titled ''L'Orphelin de la Maison de Tchao'', into French in 1731. He translated the dialogue but not the songs in his work. The story caught the imagination of European minds at a time when
chinoiserie was in vogue and this translation was the basis for adaptations over the next few decades. Premaré sent the translation to be delivered to
Étienne Fourmont, a member of the
French Academy. However,
Jean Baptiste Du Halde took possession of it instead and published it in his ''Description Géographique, Historique, Chronologique, Politique et Physique de l'Empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie Chinois'' in 1735, which was done without permission from Prémare or Fourmont. which was a revision of Green and Guthrie. In his book, Du remarked: "There are Plays the Songs of which are difficult to be understood, because they are full of Allusions to things unknown to us, and Figures of Speech very difficult for us to observe." The play was well-received throughout Europe with the vogue of
chinoiserie at its height. In its essence, his play was written as a political attack on Sir
Robert Walpole, It was never produced and, in the words of
John Genest, "totally unfit for representation." :"As the Chinese are a wise discerning People, and much fam'd for their Art in Government, it is not to be wonder'd at, that the Fable is political: Indeed, it exhibits an amazing Series of Male-administration, which the Chinese Author has wrought up to the highest Pitch of Abhorrence, as if he had been acquainted with the Inflexibility of your Grace's Character in that respect. It's certain, he has exaggerated Nature, and introduced rather a Monster than a Man; but perhaps it is a Maxim with the Chinese Poets to represent Prime Ministers as so many Devils, to deter honest People from being deluded by them." In Vienna, the Italian playwright
Pietro Metastasio received a request from
Empress Maria Theresa to write a drama for a court performance. Therefore, in 1752, he produced ''L'Eroe cinese'' inspired from the Chinese play, mentioning specifically the story in Du Halde's book. Metastasio's play had a simple plot, because he was restricted by the number of actors (namely five) and duration. In 1753,
Voltaire wrote his adaptation titled ''
L'Orphelin de la Chine''. He praised the Confucian morality in the Chinese play, However, he still considered the Chinese play's violation of the
unities of time, action, and place as problematic, likening it to some of
Shakespeare and
Lope de Vega's "monstrous farces" as "nothing but a heap of incredible stories". The story of the orphan is retained in Voltaire's play, but the orphan is placed in the setting of invading Tartars. At the
Comédie Français, Paris, in August 1755, ''L'Orphelin de la Chine'' was performed on stage for the first time. In 1756, the Irish playwright
Arthur Murphy wrote his
The Orphan of China. He stated that he had been attracted by Prémare's work, but his play resembles Voltaire's ''L'Orphelin de la Chine'' more. In his 1759 edition, Murphy criticized Voltaire for adding a theme of love, which he thought was unsuitable, and for having a "scantiness of interesting business". In Murphy's play, the virtuous people killed the leader of the Tartars. The 2010 film
Sacrifice directed by
Chen Kaige is based on the Chinese play.
James Fenton adapted the Chinese play for a
Royal Shakespeare Company production directed by
Gregory Doran and played in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in 2012 and 2013. Fenton wrote four additional songs for the play. ==See also==