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Playwriting in many forms flourished during the late Ming and early
Qing dynasties. Shorter theatrical genres in particular offered
playwrights opportunities for experimentation with both dramatic
form and social critique. Despite their originality and wit, these
short plays have been overshadowed by the lengthy masterpieces of
the southern drama tradition. A Topsy-Turvy World presents English
translations of shorter sixteenth-to-eighteenth-century plays,
spotlighting a lesser-known side of Chinese drama. Satirical and
often earthy, these mostly one-act plays depict deceit,
dissembling, reversed gender roles, and sudden upending of
fortunes. With zest and humor, they portray henpecked husbands,
supercilious and lustful monks, all-too-human sage kings,
disgruntled officials, and overreaching young scholars. These plays
provide a glimpse of Chinese daily life and mores even as they
question or subvert the boundaries of social, moral, and political
order. Each translation is preceded by a short introduction that
describes the play’s author, context, formal qualities, and
textual history. A Topsy-Turvy World offers a new view of a
significant period in the development of the Chinese theatrical
tradition and provides insight into the role of drama as cultural
critique.
Playwriting in many forms flourished during the late Ming and early
Qing dynasties. Shorter theatrical genres in particular offered
playwrights opportunities for experimentation with both dramatic
form and social critique. Despite their originality and wit, these
short plays have been overshadowed by the lengthy masterpieces of
the southern drama tradition. A Topsy-Turvy World presents English
translations of shorter sixteenth-to-eighteenth-century plays,
spotlighting a lesser-known side of Chinese drama. Satirical and
often earthy, these mostly one-act plays depict deceit,
dissembling, reversed gender roles, and sudden upending of
fortunes. With zest and humor, they portray henpecked husbands,
supercilious and lustful monks, all-too-human sage kings,
disgruntled officials, and overreaching young scholars. These plays
provide a glimpse of Chinese daily life and mores even as they
question or subvert the boundaries of social, moral, and political
order. Each translation is preceded by a short introduction that
describes the play’s author, context, formal qualities, and
textual history. A Topsy-Turvy World offers a new view of a
significant period in the development of the Chinese theatrical
tradition and provides insight into the role of drama as cultural
critique.
The saga of the Three Kingdoms-which recounts the dramatic story of
the civil wars (ca. 180--220 CE) that divided the old Han Empire
into the Shu, Wei, and Wu states-remains as popular as ever in
China, having served as the basis of not only traditional operas
and ballads, but also, in more recent years, of movies, television
dramas, and video games. Translated into English for the first time
here, the Sanguozhi pinghua (thirteenth century CE) provides a
complete and fast-paced narrative account of the events of the
period, from the beginning of the civil wars to the demise of the
Three Kingdoms and the short-lived reunification of the realm by
the Jin dynasty. Shorter, clearer, and more accessible to Western
audiences than Luo Guanzhong's later, greatly expanded Romance (
Sanguo yanyi )-and beautifully rendered in this edition by two
modern-day masters of the art of Chinese literary translation-the
Records of the Three Kingdoms in Plain Language provides an ideal
introduction to one of the foundational Chinese epic traditions.
Tables of major Chinese dynasties and reigns, a guide to
understanding formal Chinese naming conventions, a glossary of
Chinese names and terms, and reproductions of some woodcuts from
the original edition of the text are included.
No cycle of historical legends has enjoyed greater or more enduring
popularity in China than that of the Three Kingdoms, which recounts
the dramatic story of the civil wars (c. AD 180-220) that divided
the old Han empire into the Shu-Han, Wei, and Wu states, and the
eventual reunification of the realm under the Western Jin in AD
280.
This is the first anthology of Yuan-dynasty "zaju"
(miscellaneous comedies) to introduce the genre to English-speaking
readers exclusively through translations of the plays'
fourteenth-century editions. Almost all previous translations of
Yuan-dynasty "zaju" are based on late-Ming regularized editions
that were heavily adapted for performance at the Ming imperial
court and then extensively revised in the seventeenth century for
the reading pleasure of Jiangnan literati.
These early editions are based on scripts for the leading actor
and provide the reader with the arias, prose dialogue, and cue
lines. They depict a fascinating range of subject matter, from high
political intrigue to commoner life and religious conversion.
Crackling with raw emotion, violent imagery, and colorful language
and wit, the "zaju" in this volume explore the consequences of
loyalty and betrayal, ambition and enlightenment, and piety and
drunkenness. The collection features seven of the twenty-six
available untranslated "zaju" published in the fourteenth century,
with a substantial introduction preceding each play and extensive
annotations throughout. The editors also include translations of
the Ming versions of four of the included plays and an introductory
essay to the book that synthesizes recent Chinese and Japanese
scholarship on the subject.
No cycle of historical legends has enjoyed greater or more enduring
popularity in China than that of the Three Kingdoms, which recounts
the dramatic story of the civil wars (c. AD 180-220) that divided
the old Han empire into the Shu-Han, Wei, and Wu states, and the
eventual reunification of the realm under the Western Jin in AD
280.
This magnificent collection of eleven early [1250--1450] Chinese
plays will give readers a vivid sense of life and a clear
understanding of dramatic literature during an extraordinarily
eventful period in Chinese history. Not only are the eleven plays
in this volume expertly translated into lively, idiomatic English;
they are each provided with illuminating, scholarly introductions
that are yet fully intelligible to the educated lay reader. A
marvelous volume.--Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania
China's most important love comedy, Wang Shifu's "Xixiangji," or
"The Story of the Western Wing," is a rollicking play that
chronicles the adventures of the star-crossed lovers Oriole and
Student Zhang. Since its appearance in the thirteenth century, it
has enjoyed unparalleled popularity. The play has given rise to
innumerable sequels, parodies, and rewritings; it has influenced
countless later plays, short stories, and novels and has played a
crucial role in the development of drama criticism. This
translation of the full and complete text of the earliest extant
version is available in paperback for the first time. The editors'
introduction will inform students of Chinese cultural and literary
traditions.
This book offers a complete translation of four early plays of the
Yang Family Generals. The story of the Yang Family Generals,
particularly its female generals, was a perennial favorite on the
Chinese stage in the 19th and 20th centuries. In detailing the role
of this military family in the Song-Khitan wars of the late 10th
and early 11th centuries, these four plays are all in the form of
zaju, a type of play that originated in the 13th century. These
plays are from the 15th and 16th centuries and allow a glimpse into
earlier renditions of the Yang Family saga, which is a decidedly
more male-centered tradition than that performed in the Qing
dynasty.This volume offers the only complete English-language
translation of these early plays. These plays allow access to the
earliest phase in the development of the Yang Family saga. The
plays provide information on the staging of large battle scenes on
the stage and have considerable literary and cultural value.
This magnificent collection of eleven early [1250--1450] Chinese
plays will give readers a vivid sense of life and a clear
understanding of dramatic literature during an extraordinarily
eventful period in Chinese history. Not only are the eleven plays
in this volume expertly translated into lively, idiomatic English;
they are each provided with illuminating, scholarly introductions
that are yet fully intelligible to the educated lay reader. A
marvelous volume.--Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania
The saga of the Three Kingdoms-which recounts the dramatic story of
the civil wars (ca. 180--220 CE) that divided the old Han Empire
into the Shu, Wei, and Wu states-remains as popular as ever in
China, having served as the basis of not only traditional operas
and ballads, but also, in more recent years, of movies, television
dramas, and video games. Translated into English for the first time
here, the Sanguozhi pinghua (thirteenth century CE) provides a
complete and fast-paced narrative account of the events of the
period, from the beginning of the civil wars to the demise of the
Three Kingdoms and the short-lived reunification of the realm by
the Jin dynasty. Shorter, clearer, and more accessible to Western
audiences than Luo Guanzhong's later, greatly expanded Romance (
Sanguo yanyi )-and beautifully rendered in this edition by two
modern-day masters of the art of Chinese literary translation-the
Records of the Three Kingdoms in Plain Language provides an ideal
introduction to one of the foundational Chinese epic traditions.
Tables of major Chinese dynasties and reigns, a guide to
understanding formal Chinese naming conventions, a glossary of
Chinese names and terms, and reproductions of some woodcuts from
the original edition of the text are included.
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