La ricezione del Mercante di Venezia in Cina dal 1904 al 1980.

The modern tradition of representing Shakespeare in China started when the most renowned Chinese translator, Lin Shu, adapted ¿Tales from Shakespeare¿ for the Chinese public in 1904. People loved The Merchant of Venice in particular, because it not only promoted moral values such as friendship, generosity and love, but also condemned the wrong use of money. Later, in the 1920s, Shakespeare became very popular and, in addition to some theatrical productions of The Merchant of Venice, was produced a silent movie with the title of ¿The Woman Lawyer¿. During the Cultural Revolution, Shakespeare's fame changed, the government censured his works and the scholars criticized him for being a symbol of capitalism and bourgeoisie. But at the end of this period, Shakespeare reappeared on the stage and he was celebrated with new productions. The most important production of The Merchant of Venice took place in 1980 with the Chinese Youth Art Theatre under the direction of Zhang Qihong. She created a new performance mixing together two theatrical traditions and two cultures, the Chinese and the Western one. Her stylistic decisions changed the original meaning of the play, such as the religious contrast between Christians and Jews. Zhang Qihong simplified the meaning of the play, thus running the risk of creating a simple story that betrayed Shakespeare's intention.