Orphan of Zhao and Other Yuan Plays

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 leading actor scripts and contain arias, prose dialogue, and cue lines. They encompass 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 essay that synthesizes recent Chinese and Japanese scholarship on the subject.

The most important contribution to studies on Yuan drama in recent years and a book that will raise and set the bar for future work in this field. -- Tian Yuan Tan, SOAS, University of London This anthology, together with original introductory segments, opens a new window onto the urban milieu of the formative period of early Chinese theater. For anyone interested in not only the literary but also the performance aesthetics of traditional Chinese drama, this collection is indispensable. -- Patricia Sieber, Ohio State University These translations and introductory essays present the distillation, in a single volume, of decades of study by two leading scholars on the traditions of performance and textual reproduction and adaptation of Yuan drama. Their erudition and deep conversancy with these traditions is presented here in an accessible and engaging form that will benefit both specialists and general readers alike. -- Yuming He, University of California, Davis This collection provides modern readers with both a means to better appreciate the formative period of Chinese theater and an opportunity to imagine how the plays were actually performed in Yuan dynasty China... Highly recommended. Choice

Stephen H. West is Foundation Professor of Chinese at Arizona State University and professor emeritus in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Berkeley. With Wilt L. Idema, he recently has edited three collections of Chinese drama: Monks, Bandits, and Lovers: Eleven Early Chinese Plays; Battles, Betrayals, and Brotherhood: Early Chinese Plays on the Three Kingdoms Period; and The Generals of the Yang Family: Four Early Plays. Wilt L. Idema is Research Professor of Chinese literature at Harvard University and has published widely in both English and Dutch, especially on Chinese drama and fiction. Among his publications are A Guide to Chinese Literature; The Red Brush: Writing Women in Imperial China; Meng Jiangnu Brings Down the Great Wall: Ten Versions of a Chinese Legend; and The Resurrected Skeleton: From Zhuangzi to Lu Xun.