Scenes for Mandarins: The Elite Theater of the Ming

by Cyril Birch

Overview

The first introduction to the classical Chinese theater of Ming drama contains highlights from six of the best plays of the period and lively commentary on each, providing the context necessary for Western readers to grasp the scope of the genre.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231102636
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	04/01/1999
Series:	Translations from the Asian Classics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	262
Product dimensions:	5.99(w) x 8.91(h) x 0.59(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Cyril Birch is professor emeritus in the Department of East Asian Languages at the University of California at Berkeley. Among the many books he has written, translated, and edited are Stories from a Ming Collection (1968), Studies in Chinese Literary Genres, The Peony Pavilionand, with Donald Keene, Anthology of Chinese Literature (1987).

What People are Saying About This

David D. W. Wang

Historically informative and stylistically compelling, the book represents an outstanding scholar and translator of Chinese literature at his best.

— David D. W. Wang, editor of Running Wild: New Chinese Writers

Patrick Hanan

This book will be a godsend... an imaginative excursion into the world of the drama together with a generous sampling of translated scenes.

— Patrick Hanan, Harvard University

Editorial Reviews

Organized as a delightful mixture that is part anthology of plays, part history, part literary criticism, part textual exegesis, part bibliographical clarification [of the Chinese language and poetry in Ming drama]. . . . Of course what shines forth most brilliantly is Birch´s translation. It is a style pitched to the original text targeted to the poetically-minded mandarin.

Asian Thought and Society

This book will be a godsend . . . an imaginative excursion into the world of the drama together with a generous sampling of translated scenes.

Patrick Hanan

Historically informative and stylistically compelling, the book represents an outstanding scholar and translator of Chinese literature at his best.

David D. W. Wang

Describes the rise and development of Ming theater, the height of classical Chinese theater, developed between 1368 and 1644. Translated highlights from six representational plays of the period are set in historical and cultural context, and fictionalized reenactments show how the plays might have been staged. Includes b&w illustrations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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