Fig. 1. The top document shows the style of repertoire records kept between 1949 and 1958; the top notes the year and genres (in this case, a mix of Peking and Kun opera troupe repertoires from 1957), while the left sidebar notes the troupes. The bottom document is a “bird’s eye view” of the repertoire. While the categories and precision of those categories change over time, the format remains relatively consistent. From left to right, the columns denote genre, number of troupes active, overall number of scripts, number of plays on contemporary themes, number of traditional plays, foreign plays, and then the percentage of the repertoire made up of plays on contemporary themes. Source: SMA B172-4-917 & SMA B172-1-326.

Fig. 2. Four popular science pamphlets from the mid-1950s debunking superstition. Clockwise from upper left: Daodi youmeiyou guishen (Are there supernatural beings or not), Beijing: Jiefangjun bao chubanshe, 1959; Jilin sheng kexuezhishu puji, ed., Zhen you shengui ma? (Are there really gods and ghosts?), Changchun: Jilin renmin chubanshe, 1956; Chen Cisheng, You meiyou gui? (Are there ghosts or not?), Nanjing: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 1956; Guangdong sheng kexuezhishu puji xiehui, ed., Tan “shen” jiang “gui” (Talking of “spirits” and speaking of “ghosts”), Guangdong: Guandong renmin chubanshe, 1958.

Fig. 3. Glossy photo pages from Northern Kun Opera Theatre commemorative book. Kang Sheng’s calligraphy is prominently displayed alongside a photograph from him. Source: Beifang kunqu juyuan, ed., Jicheng yu fazhan kunqu yishu ([Beijing?]: Dongdan yinshuachang, n.d.), 3, 7. In author’s personal collection.

Fig. 4. Glossy photo pages from Northern Kun Opera Theatre’s commemorative book. (R) The top photograph features (L-R) Bai Yunsheng, Han Shichang, and Mei Lanfang. The bottom photograph features (L-R) Li Shujun (the actress who would bring Meng Chao’s Li Huiniang to life), Mao Dun, Mei Lanfang, Kang Sheng, Chen Yi, Han Shichang, Bai Yunsheng, Cheng Yanqiu, and Qian Junduan. Source: Beifang kunqu juyuan, ed., Jicheng yu fazhan kunqu yishu ([Beijing?]: Dongdan yinshuachang, n.d.), 3, 7. In author’s personal collection.

Fig. 5. Images from the Northern Kun Opera Theatre. Li Shujun playing Li Huiniang before and after death. Source: Meng Chao, Li Huiniang (Shanghai: Shanghai wenyi chubanshe, 1961).

Fig. 5. Images from the Northern Kun Opera Theatre. Li Shujun playing Li Huiniang before and after death. Source: Meng Chao, Li Huiniang (Shanghai: Shanghai wenyi chubanshe, 1961).

Fig. 6. Practice edition from the Northern Kun Opera, dated May 12, 1961. The line that would become rather contentious: “Righteous youth! Handsome youth!” (underlined heavily in pencil—the only such marking in the text). This is in the practice edition and the 1962 book publication, but not the July–August printing of Play Monthly. In the author’s personal collection.

Fig. 7. On the left, a February 1966 compilation on the “Li Huiniang problem”: Zhongguo yuyan wenxuexi ziliaoshi, ed., Guanyu Li Huiniang wenti ziliao xuanbian (A selection of materials relating to the Li Huiniang problem), Changchun: Jilin Normal University, 1966; on the right, a contemporaneous volume dealing with Hai Rui, Xie Yaohuan, and Li Huiniang (Hanyuyan wenxue jiaoyanshi, ed., Hai Rui Baguan, Xie Yaohuan, Li Huiniang ziliao xuanji ), Selected materials of Hai Rui Dismissed from Office, Xie Yaohuan, Li Huiniang, (N.p.: Hubei sheng hanshou xueyuan, 1966). In author’s personal collection.

Fig. 8. Defaced practice edition of Li Huiniang, from the Beijing Kun Opera. In author’s personal collection.

Fig. 9. From the Wenyi zhanbao discussion of the “ghost play problem” in Shanghai. On the left, part of the list and explanation of various “ghost plays” performed; a chart listing the numbers of “ghost plays” performed between 1949 and 1963; on the right, partial lists of plays performed in 1962 and 1963. In author’s personal collection.

Fig. 10. Four of the numerous versions of Li Huiniang staged in 1979 and 1980 (from upper left, clockwise: December 1980 Hebei bangzi, January 1979 Xiang gaoxiang, May 1979 Chu opera, December 1979 Dian opera). In author’s personal collection.

Fig. 11. Two pages from the Li Huinaing lianhuanhua, using stills from the 1981 film. On the top, Hu Zhifeng’s entrance as Li Huiniang; on the bottom, the slain Li Huiniang’s head in a box. In the next frame, the head has disappeared—signaling Li Huiniang’s “rebirth” as a ghost (Sha Jie, ed. Li Huiniang (Beijing: Zhongguo dianying chubanshe, 1982).