Represented here are examples of various categories of Chinese literary composition-verses, songs, stories, essays, drama, and excerpts from novels from the Y'an and Ching Dynasties, as well as the Republican Period. Highlights include Songs from the Y'an Dynasty, The Temptation of Saint Pigsy by Wu Ch'eng-en, a selection from Peony Pavilion, early Ch'ing lyrics, and "Six Chapters" from A Floating Life by Shen Fu.

Written in 1699 and based on the recollections of survivors, "The Peach Blossom Fan "is a grand historical play about the last days of the Ming dynasty as it fell to the invading Manchus. With compelling vividness, K'ung re-creates confrontations between loyalists and those who sell out to the newest master; nostalgic scenes of dalliance in riverside pavilions; desperate stands on battlements; and rituals of commemoration for the lost empire. Here are gallant generals and sycophantic ministers, court musicians and singing girls, and the love of a talented scholar and a beautiful courtesan. Immensely popular in its own time, "The Peach Blossom Fan" continues to be performed and has been adapted into films, operas, and modern theater pieces. This lively translation has been out of print for almost four decades.

"Mistress & Maid, " one of the greatest tragedies of Chinese drama, is here available for the first time in English. Acclaimed translator Cyril Birch presents the bittersweet tale of Bella, daughter of the Wang family, her maid Petal, and the young scholar Shen Chun. After her father reneges on her marital pact, Bella refuses to renounce her love for Shen, with whom she has vowed to share "in life one room, in death one tomb." The subversion of both conventional morality and the arranged marriage through vivid drama and witty comic scenes makes this seventeenth-century play particularly innovative. Chinese critics have hailed it as essentially revolutionary for its depiction of youthful resistance to latter-day Confucian values, but as Birch notes in the introduction, "the glory of "Mistress & Maid" is the tender delicacy of the lovers' interactions." This depth of feeling also distinguishes the play from others of the "talent-meets-beauty" genre so prevalent during the late-imperial age.

Ming drama represents the classical Chinese theatre at its most mature. Between 1368 and 1644, more than 400 playwrights produced over 1500 plays, ranging from one-act skits to works with 50 scenes or more. As a performing art, Ming theatre includes polished singing, enchanting music, fantastic plotting, and intricate choreography.

This collection of Chinese stories begins with the great legends of how Earth and Heaven came into being, and of how the archer Yi rid the Emperor Yao of the menace of the ten suns. There are folk-tales too, about ghosts and rain-makers, poor students and magicians, and the man who was nearly made into fishpaste. Throughout all these stories the author has kept the subtle oriental flavour of the originals and brings to life all the magic and mystery of China.

The celebrated English translation of this classic work of Chinese literature is now available in an updated paperback edition. Written in 1598 by Tang Xianzu, The Peony Pavilion is one of literature s most memorable love stories and a masterpiece of Ming drama. Cyril Birch has captured all the elegance, lyricism, and subtle, earthy humor of this panoramic tale of romance and Chinese society. When Indiana University Press first published the text in 1981, it seemed doubtful that the work would ever be performed in its entirety again, but several spectacular and controversial productions have toured the world in recent years. For this second edition, which contains a fully revised text of the translation, Cyril Birch and Catherine Swatek reflect on contemporary performances of the play in light of its history."

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.

"Mistress & Maid, " one of the greatest tragedies of Chinese drama, is here available for the first time in English. Acclaimed translator Cyril Birch presents the bittersweet tale of Bella, daughter of the Wang family, her maid Petal, and the young scholar Shen Chun. After her father reneges on her marital pact, Bella refuses to renounce her love for Shen, with whom she has vowed to share "in life one room, in death one tomb." The subversion of both conventional morality and the arranged marriage through vivid drama and witty comic scenes makes this seventeenth-century play particularly innovative. Chinese critics have hailed it as essentially revolutionary for its depiction of youthful resistance to latter-day Confucian values, but as Birch notes in the introduction, "the glory of "Mistress & Maid" is the tender delicacy of the lovers' interactions." This depth of feeling also distinguishes the play from others of the "talent-meets-beauty" genre so prevalent during the late-imperial age.