Features of the first translations of N. V. Gogol’s satirical play «The government inspector» into Chinese in the context of the influence of Beijing opera

The article is devoted to the reception of N. V. Gogol’s satirical play “The Government Inspector” in China in the first half of the 20th century. We have analyzed the translations of He Qiming (1921) and Shen Peiqiu (1937) in the context of the national cultural and historical process, which allows us to understand the position of the translators, taking into account the peculiarities of the perception of theater by the Chinese audience. The study pays attention to the reform of Chinese drama (Peking Opera) from the 1910s to the 1930s, as well as to the correlation between the concepts of “role” and “profession”, analyzes the typical plots and images of officials in Peking opera of the first half of the 20th century. We have considered the features of the translation of character names, positions, everyday environment, special components of the composition in N. V. Gogol’s satirical play “The Government Inspector”, images of such characters as Khlestakov, mayor Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, mayor's wife Anna Andreyevna, landowners Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky. It is concluded that the traditional character system of Beijing Opera influences the translation of Gogol's play. Compared with the original Gogol's work, there are some more positive and negative official images in the translation.