This paper aims to explore the biggest intercultural adaptation current during the second half of eighteenth century, whereby the Chinese play ＂Zhaoshiguer＂ (The Orphan of Zhao) became 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. Another Jesuit Jean Baptiste Du Halde published it in his ＂Description Géographique＂, ＂Historique＂, ＂Chronologique＂, ＂Politique et Physique de l'Empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie Chinois＂ in 1735. Prémare's translation would soon be translated into English for two distinct English editions of Du Halde's book, which appeared in 1736 and 1741 respectively. The story then 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. The relative success of ＂Zhaoshiguer＂ may also be seen to be related to the status of the original text in Chinese. Yuan drama has not gone out of fashion in China or in Western Sinological circles; as the earliest form of Chinese drama extant, it is a well studied genre and a ‘must’ in survey courses of Chinese literature. In 1741, William Hatchett wrote and published the earliest adaptation of the play, which was in English; it was titled The Chinese Orphan: An Historical Tragedy In 1752, the Italian librettist Pietro Metastasio composed ＂L'eroe cinese＂, a three-act dramatic poem, for Empress Maria Theresa. The particular appropriation of China in ＂L'eroe cinese＂ emerges most clearly when one examines the work as a patriarch opera, that is, as a drama that showcases the beneficent character and actions of an elder male protagonist. Although Metastasio's poem had often received negative criticism due to its simple plot, these characteristics correspond virtually with the core values of the original Chinese play.
