This is an adaptation of the thirteenth-century zaju play Liu Yi Chuan Shu, which was itself based on an eighth-century fairy tale about a failed examination candidate's encounter with a shepherdess in distress who turns out to be the youngest daughter of the Dragon King of Lake Dongting. The young man's help is rewarded with riches, immortality and marriage to the beautiful princess. It is a wish-fulfillment fantasy written with charm and a certain ironical edge. This adaptation consists of the freely-translated lyrics of the zaju with new, original dialogue, including an on-stage narrator. There is a long introduction with synopses of the Chinese text of the zaju and the original story it was based on. There is also an appendix explaining the use of "padding words" in zaju.

Focusing specifically on the stories of the Han Chinese (the largest ethnic group in China, numbering over a billion people), this collection presents more than 50 tales, both well known and obscure—from Monkeys Fishing the Moon and The Butterfly Lovers to Painted Skin and Dragon Princess. These are stories that will enchant listeners of all ages, while providing a glimpse into Chinese traditions and ways of thought. To further enhance cultural understanding, the tales are supplemented with historical and cultural background, notes on storytelling, crafts and games, recipes, proverbs, color photos, a map, a glossary, and more. In the past decades, the doors between China and the West have been flung open. Explosive economic growth and massive increases in travel and immigration have engendered curiosity and interest in this burgeoning nation. Yet modernization has a dark side too, threatening traditional Chinese culture, including stories and storytelling. This new gathering of stories from a variety of sources, captures the fading storytelling traditions of a vast and diverse country. Focusing specifically on the stories of the Han Chinese (the largest ethnic group in China, numbering over a billion people), the collection presents more than 50 tales, both well known and obscure—from Monkeys Fishing the Moon and The Butterfly Lovers to Dragon Princess and Painted Skin. These are stories that will enchant listeners of all ages, while providing a glimpse into Chinese traditions and ways of thought. Tales are organized into seven sections: Animal Tales; Tales of Magic, Love and Romance; Myths, Legends and Immortals; Moral Stories; How Things Came to Be; and Proverbial Tales. To further enhance cultural understanding, the stories are supplemented with historical and cultural background, notes on storytelling and other folk traditions, recipes, proverbs, color photos, a map, a glossary, and more. All grade levels.

Eight studies examine key features of Chinese visual and material cultures, ranging from tomb design, metalware, ceramic pillows, and bronze mirrors, to printed illustrations, calligraphic rubbings, colophons, and paintings on Buddhist, landscape, and narrative themes. Questions addressed include how artists and artisans made their works, the ways both popular literature and market forces could shape ways of looking, and how practices and imagery spread across regions. The authors connect visual materials to funeral and religious practices, drama, poetry, literati life, travel, and trade, showing ways visual images and practices reflected, adapted to, and reproduced the culture and society around them. Readers will gain a stronger appreciation of the richness of the visual and material cultures of Middle Period China.

A history of Chinese literature from its early beginnings through the end of the Qing dynasty, this recent work from Professor Luo Yuming of China’s Fudan University seeks to provide, by adopting new theoretical perspectives and using updated research, a coherent, panoramic description of the development of Chinese literature and its major characteristics. As one of the very few English translations of such works by Chinese authors it seeks to inform the Western audience of the recent viewpoints and scholarship on the topic from a leading Chinese scholar. It may also provide some grounds of comparison and contrast with equivalent works in the West.

Adopting new theoretical perspectives and using updated research, this book by a leading Chinese scholar seeks to provide a coherent, panoramic description of the development of premodern Chinese literature and its major characteristics.

This anthology features translations of ten seminal plays written during the Yuan dynasty (1279Ð1368), 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 ChinaÕs 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.

Zhang Longxi, an internationally renowned scholar of Chinese and comparative literature, is your guide to the three-millennia-long history of Chinese literature from the remote antiquity of oracle bones to contemporary works. Professor Zhang charts the development of the major literary forms in Chinese, including poetry, prose, song lyrics, and plays, and introduces the most famous poets and writers and their representative texts. Taking a period-based approach through the major dynasties, he places these forms, texts, and authors within their historical contexts and tells the fascinating story of Chinese literature with copious examples in English translation. He writes in a clear and accessible style and assumes no prior knowledge of Chinese history or Chinese literature. This book is an ideal introduction for students and the general readers who want to get a broad but thorough overview of Chinese literature in all its richness and diversity.