A study and translation of Tou O Yüan, a traditional Chinese drama by Kuan Hanch'ing, the leading playwright of the Yüan period (1279-1368). The play remained a popular favourite and is still performed in the Peking opera theatres in a revised version, under the title Snow in Midsummer. In her very full introduction Professor Shih discusses the literary and historical background to the play - the language and conventions of Yüan drama and its remarkable emergence under Mongol rule. The format used for the play itself represents an innovation in the presentation of materials for the students of Chinese literature and language. Each section of text (in Chinese characters) has an interlinear transliteration and literal translation, with a free translation, notes and commentary on the facing page.

In this first full-fledged intellectual biography of the brilliant and multifaceted Chinese scholar Wang Kuo-wei (1877-1927), Joey Bonner throws important new light on the range and course of ideas in early twentieth-century China. Coincidentally, she illuminates the nature of Wang's intimate, thirty-year personal and professional association with the well-known Chinese scholar Lo Chen-y (1866-1940) and provides a most comprehensive and compelling account of her biographee's posthumously controversial career in the years following the 1911 Revolution. Pursuing her subject across the whole spectrum of his many scholarly interests, Bonner critically examines Wang's essays on German philosophy and philosophical aesthetics; his poetry, literary criticism, and aesthetic theory; and his works on ancient Chinese history, particularly of the Shang dynasty. Insightfully relating his strenuous intellectual search in the fields of philosophy, literature, and history to his very personal quest for truth, beauty, and virtue, Bonner shows in this finely crafted book how Wang's unhappiness in later life as well as his suicide can be understood only within the context of his humanistic concerns in general and his extreme commitment in the postimperial period to the Confucian ethicoreligious tradition in particular. Without compromising the clearheaded critical detachment that characterizes her analysis of the intricacies of his thought, Bonner has produced a portrait of Wang Kuo-wei suffused with warmth and sympathetic respect.

This updated fourth edition of Theatre Histories offers a critical overview of global theatre, drama, and performance, spanning a broad wealth of world cultures and periods, integrating them chronologically or thematically, and showing how they have often interacted. Bringing together a group of scholars from a diverse range of backgrounds and approaches to the history of global theater, this introduction to theatre history places theatre into its larger historical contexts and attends to communication’s role in shaping theatre. Its case studies provide deeper knowledge of selected topics in theater and drama, and its “Thinking Through Theatre Histories” boxes discuss important concepts and approaches used in the book. Features of the fully updated fourth edition include: Deeper coverage of East Asian and Latin American theater. Richer treatment of popular culture. More illustrations, photographs, and information about online resources. New case studies, include several written by authoritative scholars on the topic. Pronunciation guidance, both in the text and as audio files online. Timelines. An introduction on historiography. A website with additional case studies, a glossary, recordings of the pronunciation of important non-English terms, and instructor resources. A case studies library listing, including both those in print and online, for greater instructor choice and flexibility. This is an essential textbook for undergraduate courses in theatre history, world theatre and introduction to theatre, and anyone looking for a full and diverse account of the emergence, development, and continuing relevance of theatre to cultures and societies across the world.

Are women fighting over the same issues and for the same rights all around the world? What are the gains that have been made for women in different cultures over the past 200 years? Students will find answers to these and similar questions in this unique resource of fifteen case studies exploring the problems surrounding the fight for women's rights in different countries, ranging from Argentina to Zimbabwe. The history, the public perceptions, contemporary problems, the future of women's rights, and the roles of activists concerning these rights are examined. The detailed explorations provide readers with the opportunity to discover the different cultural attitudes toward women. In order to facilitate comparisons, each chapter follows a similar outcome. The countries were chosen to represent every region of the world and to provide as broad a picture as possible of the issues presented by women's struggles for equality. Each case study asks how national, cultural, class, racial, and religious differences have influenced women's rights. These different views of ways in which women have sought their rights around the world will help students to understand the fight for women's rights in a broad sense as a social issue that affects all of humanity.