Full Description
This anthology features translations of ten seminal plays written during the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), a period considered the golden age of Chinese theater. By turns lyrical and earthy, sentimental and ironic, Yuan drama spans a broad emotional, linguistic, and stylistic range. Combining sung arias with declaimed verses and doggerels, dialogues and mime, and jokes and acrobatic feats, Yuan drama formed a vital part of China's culture of performance and entertainment in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. To date, few Yuan-dynasty plays have been translated into English. Well-known translators and scholars have supervised the making of this collection and add a short description to each play. A general introduction situates all selections within their cultural and historical contexts.
Contents
Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1. Historical Plays 1. Ji Junxiang, The Zhao Orphan, translated by Pi-twan Huang and Wai-yee Li The Zhao Orphan in Yuan Editions, by Wai-yee Li 2. Anonymous, Tricking Kuai Tong, translated by Wai-yee Li Part 2. Crime and Punishment 3. Anonymous, Selling Rice in Chenzhou, translated by Richard C. Hessney 4. Meng Hanqing, The Moheluo Doll, translated by Jonathan Chaves Part 3. Folly and Consequences 5. Qin Jianfu, The Eastern Hall Elder, translated by Robert E. Hegel and Wai-yee Li 6. Li Zhifu, The Tiger Head Plaque, translated by Yoram Szekely, C. T. Hsia, Wai-yee Li, and George Kao Part 4. Female Agency 7. Guan Hanqing, Rescuing a Sister, translated by George Kao and Wai-yee Li 8. Shi Junbao, Qiu Hu Tries to Seduce His Wife, translated by John Coleman, James M. Hargett, Kuan-fook Lai, Gloria Shen, and Wang Ming Part 5. Romantic Love 9. Bai Pu, On Horseback and Over the Garden Wall, translated by Jerome Cavanaugh and Wai-yee Li 10. Li Haogu, Scholar Zhang Boils the Sea, translated by Allen A. Zimmerman Bibliography
