Description
Book SynopsisA Topsy-Turvy World presents English translations of shorter late Ming and early Qing plays. Satirical and often earthy, these mostly one-act plays provide a glimpse of Chinese daily life and mores even as they question or subvert the boundaries of social, moral, and political order.
Trade ReviewThis treasure box of eleven short plays, most available in English for the first time, will delight anyone interested in early modern Chinese drama, culture, and society. Ranging from Buddhist charades to human puppet shows, from sword dances to drag masquerades, these thematically diverse and inventive plays are admirably translated with erudition and panache. -- Judith Zeitlin, author of
The Phantom Heroine: Ghosts and Gender in Seventeenth-Century Chinese LiteratureA splendid expansion of the canon of traditional Chinese drama translations—the short plays offer a riotous deep dive into a world of laughter, while the scholarly commentary succinctly explores some of the fault lines of the early modern imagination. -- Patricia Sieber, coeditor of
How to Read Chinese Drama in Chinese A Language CompanionA brilliant collection of rare and original works that provides a broad and varied view of Chinese performance traditions. The dominant leitmotif of these translations is the ingenuity and audacity with which writers subvert convention while questioning the sociopolitical order. -- Regina Llamas, translator of
Top Graduate Zhang Xie: The Earliest Extant Chinese Southern PlayZaju plays of the Ming and Qing dynasties have long been a neglected area both in China and elsewhere. For that reason, this anthology is a timely translation. It provides new materials not only for general readers interested in premodern Chinese
zaju plays but also for students and scholars to engage in further studies of the genre. -- Hongchu Fu, author of
Chinese DramaTable of ContentsIntroduction
Table of Dynasties
1.
Cracking a Dumb Chan Riddle2.
The Mad Drummer: Thrice-Played Yuyang3.
Chan Master Yu Has a Dream of Cuixiang4.
Real Puppets5.
Sublime Jokes from the Back of Beyond6.
Pinning Flowers in His Coiffure7.
A Song for a Laugh8.
Ramblings with Magicians in Lyrics and Songs
9.
Black and White Donkeys10.
Zaju from the Studio of Singing on the Wind
11.
Song of Dragon Well TeaAppendix: A List of Short Plays from the Period 1400 to 1850 Already Available in English Translation
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