Wang Yun’s play A Dream of Glory; talks about a woman who wants to become a man and display his powers before the world. Wang Yun, a Chinese dramatist of the eighteenth century, could have been influenced by a number of incidents that took place in China during the century. The patriarchal system must have played a dominant role in eighteenth century China where men had all the liberty to choose the life they wanted while women were confined to domestic roles. As the name of the play signifies, A Dream of Glory can be juxtaposed to the glorious life of men, and she as a woman, wanted to enjoy those glories as well. The only way she could become one was through her dreams, and this she recreated as a play where she takes the form of a man and he not only passes the civil services, but also falls in love with three women and marries them all. The marriage of three women must have hurt Yun the most, as it could have had some form of personal significance to her personal life as well.
Right at the start of the play, in Scene 1, a prologue speaker addresses the scene, where Menglin Wang, the Dream Unicorn, Lady Xie, the Dream Phoenix, and the two Concubines; Hu and Huang are introduced to the audience:
The Son of the Wangs in the Capital and The Daughter of the Xies in Wulin are wedded Together they enjoy twenty years of honor and wealth.
The Wangs are from the higher section of society, and it is but natural for the speakers to address them in such high esteem. By addressing Wang as a scholar, Yun gives Wang an elite status, a position very few commoners in China had during that period. Menglin was from the Capital; his father was a court official, while the Xies were from Wulin. Hu’s father was an imperial officer, and so, both the families were from high societal positions. In addition to Lady Xie, Wang also had Lady Hu, the Dream Lotus, and Lady Huang, the Dream Orchid for company. Why Yun chose to include two pretty women as Wang’s concubines is a mystery, but perhaps it points to the fact that men in the eighteenth century could choose any number of wives they wanted, and there was no way a woman could dispute or argue with her man. Thus, in presenting the case that the four of them lived happily for twenty years together shows that it was customary for men to marry more than once. The stress on ‘honor and wealth’ shows that Wang was well off, and his marriage to three women did not cause any societal taboo.
A lost female knight-errant ventures into the land of illusions; Immortal Magu lets the dream of glory vanish at her fingertip. Here comes Wang Menglin.
Yun brings the audience back to reality as she says that the ‘female knight errant’ who had dared to venture into the land of illusion or dreams, was quickly brought back to earth by Magu, a goddess of clairvoyant powers. Here, Yun acknowledges that all she said till then was a dream that only those who dared could have, and that before long, she was unceremoniously brought back from her dream by Magu. The dream of being a man who could marry three beautiful women and lead a happy and wealthy life was too good to be true or last for her. Thus, she mentions Magu woke her from her sleep.
In Scene 2, Yun lets her audience reflect on her true identity. She as a woman can only pray and be different, but her prayers will never be answered as she was born a girl.
With a clear mind and strong bones She asks Heaven how to realize her ambition
I am not fated to be a Mulan or a Chonggu I can only pour my fantasies into a dream
She was clear in her mind that she wanted to be someone other than a woman, and for this, she had asked the Heavens to show her a way to fulfil her ambitions. Since there was going to be no miracles, the only thing she could do was dream, and that is what she did. Shoe does however, quote from memory two important figures from history who she says were woman disguised as men. She could never be another Mulan or Chonggu; two women who dressed like boys and men and fought battles under the disguise for many years until they were finally recognized. These are things only men could do, and knowing that she could never emulate the two greats, the only possible way of being a man was by dreaming, and that is precisely what she did. To be born a woman was a curse, for they had no role in society, and Yun wanted to do something that could put her name in the books of history like Mulan and Chonggu, and the only way she could was by thinking big. She mentions this explicitly when she talks about herself:
I never went to school, but I have learned to read and write. Yet, simply because I was not born a male, I have been deprived of the opportunity to gain honor for my ancestoral family. Wearing a skirt and hairpins, I have no way to become somebody and achieve fame.
Alas! Thinking of my fate has doubled my resemtments. I suffer endless frustration over failing aspirations.
In Scene 3, when she finally conjures enough strength to dream, Shancai, a Buddhist boy, comes to her and tell her:
Listen, Wang. Following the Bodhisattva’s command, I have transformed you from a woman to a man. From now on, you can have freedom in your scholarly career as well as in the nuptial chamber.
This is when her dream begins. In her dream she sees Shancai who has descended from the Heavens at the command of Buddha to relive her from the earthly pressures of being a woman. As a man, she was free to do whatever he wanted and that he could read as much as he wanted and marry just the way he wanted to. This reveals that Yun was never happy with her own life, and even her marriage may have been done against her wishes. Therefore, in showing that Wang married three women and led a happy and wealthy life, she seems to suggest that she could have been married off to a man who had been married to other women as well. The thought of becoming a man was so exhilirating that Yun just couldn’t suppress the excitement in Wang:
Now indeed I have become a xiucai Now indeed I have become a xiucai
And to top it all, Wang says:
I won first place in the Autumn Examination, How can i ever fall behind with an ink brush?
For Yun, being a man is the ultimate achievement. As a man, Wang won the first place in the autumn examination. Despite never having gone to school, Yun had the inclination to read and write like boys her age did. Studies came naturally for her, and she was so much obsessed by reading and writing she thought that had she been a boy, she would have stood first in any examination she wrote. Therefore, in showing Wang as a man who could come first in the autumn examination, arts couldn’t have been difficult either. Perhaps education and arts were considered to be the qualities attributed to scholars during her time, and so, by showing Wang as an exponent of these two, Yun was portraying Wang as a supreme scholar.
In Scene 5, Yun shows the importance of being a boy. In a conversation between Madam and Master Wang; young Menglin Wang’s parents, Madam Wang is heard saying:
Those mountains and lakes are far away. You are still too young. How can I let you go?
Master Wang replies:
My dear mistress, although our son is still young, we should encourage him to go out and experience the world.
This conversation illustrates the position held by boys and men in eighteenth century China. While mothers protected their boys from leaving them, the men wanted them to grow up and enjoy what the world had to offer them. This was not possible for girls and women, and that is why Yun shows that she would have loved to be born a man, failing which, she could at least dream of being one.
