Japanese

Graduate School Faculty of Arts and Letters Tohoku University

Profiles

Professor TSUCHIYA Ikuko

Affiliations :

What Chinese plays reflect

I study popular novels that belong to Chinese classical literature. I am particularly interested in plays, that is, scripts for stage performance. For instance, there are plays based on The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin and Journey to the West, just like Japanese Noh and Kabuki plays are based on popular tales and legends. It should be easy even for those unfamiliar with Chinese theatre to imagine what I am talking about. Noh and Kabuki plays are symbols of Japanese culture – Chinese plays, too, epitomize the culture of China.
Popular entertainment thrived from the end of the Tang Dynasty throughout the Song Dynasty, leaving us a rich collection of works. Back then, people from all classes enjoyed watching those plays or reading them in printed form, and texts kept changing according to the tastes and preferences of their audiences. Incidentally, those plays were also exported to Japan and appreciated by local viewers. I believe that these works of popular literature with their accumulated transformations function like a mirror that reflects Chinese society and culture in the clearest way possible.

  • Research, History
  • Books, papers, etc.
  • Courses
    Chinese Literature (General Lecture); Chinese Literature (Introductory Reading); Chinese Literature (Seminar); Chinese Language and Literature (Advanced Seminar)
    Personal History
    Born Nagano Prefecture.
    Completed the doctoral program (without a doctoral degree) at Kyoto University
    Exchange student at Peking University (2 years)

    Career:
    Associate Professor, Faculty of Culture and Education, Saga University
    Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University (current position)
    Degree
    Ph.D. (Literature)
    Field
    Chinese Literature (plays and dramas; novels)
    Research Subject
    Textual analysis of Chinese plays
    Keywords
    Chinese literature; play and drama; popular novel
    Affiliation
    The Sinological Society of Japan; The Toho Gakkai (The Institute of Eastern Culture); The Chinese Linguistic Society of Japan; Chinese Classic Novels Research Society; Chinese Literature Association (Kyoto University); Society for the Study of Chinese Literature, History, Philosophy; The Sinological Society of Kyushu; The Sinological Society of Kyushu University
    Database of Researchers Information
    https://www.r-info.tohoku.ac.jp/ja/8c1f9d85af265ba3f2eda65966a76fb1.html
  • Books
    『中国戯曲テキストの研究』汲古書院、2013年。
    『和学知辺草【翻刻・注釈・現代語訳】』（中尾友香梨・白石良夫・中尾健一郎・村上義明編　小城鍋島文庫研究会校注）文学通信、2023年。
    『小城鍋島文庫の古典籍たち　書物は語る』（中尾友香梨・白石良夫・二宮愛理編。執筆担当箇所：「孔子さまの物語　『聖蹟図説諺解』」、「楊貴妃物語の翻案と艶笑小説　『通俗明皇後宮伝』」）文学通信、2025年。
    Academic Papers
    論文：
    「元雑劇テキストの明代以降における継承について」『日本中国学会報』第56集、2004年。
    「弘治本西廂記について」『中国文学報』第68冊、2004年。
    「『通俗明皇後宮伝』の成書について」『集刊東洋学』第133号、2025年。
    翻刻・訳注：
    「『孔子事跡図解』翻字と解題」、『東北大學中國語學文學論集』第28号、2023年。
    「古名家本関漢卿『包待制三勘蝴蝶夢』第一折・第二折訳注稿」（髙崎駿士・室貴明両氏と共著）『東北大学文学研究科研究年報』第75号、2026年。

Research

Japanese