Monks, Bandits, Lovers, and Immortals

 "This magnificent collection of eleven early [1250–1450] Chinese plays will give readers a vivid sense of life and a clear understanding of dramatic literature during an extraordinarily eventful period in Chinese history. Not only are the eleven plays in this volume expertly translated into lively, idiomatic English; they are each provided with illuminating, scholarly introductions that are yet fully intelligible to the educated lay reader. A marvelous volume."
     —Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania

SKU
26957g

Eleven Early Chinese Plays

Edited and Translated, with Introduction, by Stephen H. West & Wilt L. Idema

2010 - 522 pp.

Grouped product items
Format ISBN Price Qty
Cloth 978-1-60384-201-3
$49.00
Paper 978-1-60384-200-6
$18.00
Instructor Examination (Review) Copy 978-1-60384-200-6
$4.00

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Click here to download a PDF of the Chinese classified glossary for Monks, Bandits, Lovers, and Immortals.

 "This magnificent collection of eleven early [1250–1450] Chinese plays will give readers a vivid sense of life and a clear understanding of dramatic literature during an extraordinarily eventful period in Chinese history. Not only are the eleven plays in this volume expertly translated into lively, idiomatic English; they are each provided with illuminating, scholarly introductions that are yet fully intelligible to the educated lay reader. A marvelous volume."
     —Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania

"West and Idema's Monks, Bandits, Lovers, and Immortals represents a milestone in the reception of early Chinese drama in the West. Not only do the translations of eleven plays take precision, readability, and range to new heights, but the substantial yet accessible Introduction, together with a number of useful appendices, illustrations, and tables, make it the anthology of choice for courses in Chinese literature, world literature, and theater."
     —Patricia Sieber, Ohio State University

 

"An exciting new resource for undergraduate teaching. The translated plays were clearly chosen for their literary value as well as their significance to the history of Chinese drama, and each is preceded by an introduction providing its historical context.
    "In their lucid introduction, West and Idema describe the historical background of early drama, discussing its urban setting, the theater, the actors, and the sources to trace the transformation of Yuan drama from urban popular performance into an elite reading form by the end of the Ming dynasty."
     —Kimberly Besio, Colby College, in The Journal of Asian Studies

“Much more than a mere collection of translated plays. With a comprehensive introduction to early Chinese theater in general, a brief guide to each play, and a number of useful appendices, the book provides almost everything one needs to know about Chinese theater of the Yuan and early Ming dynasties. . . [West and Idema’s] translations are well-known for their emphasis on accuracy and contextualization, trying to render every nuance of the original while providing as much of a context as possible for their reader’s sake.
    “The book stand[s] out as one of the best English translations so far of early Chinese plays.”   
     —CHINOPERL Papers

"West and Idema's Monks, Bandits, Lovers, and Immortals is to date the most comprehensive anthology of and the best guide to early Chinese drama. This marvelous collection includes lively translations of eleven plays written in the period from 1250 to 1450. Prepared by the two foremost scholars in the field of Chinese drama, this book offers much more than an anthology of translated plays. It includes a wealth of up-to-date and meticulously researched information which enhances the reader's understanding of these early Chinese plays in their literary and socio-cultural contexts.
    "The selection strikes a nice balance between canonical works and plays that may be lesser known to the general readers but which are certainly no less charming.
     "The translation is reliable, sensitive, and highly readable. Faithful to the original texts, it captures the lively and, admittedly, at times vulgar language of early Chinese drama. [The] present translation . . . does not attempt to omit 'offensive' passages or refine 'vulgar' lines. Hence, thankfully, the true spirit, direct voice, and colloquial language of these early plays have been preserved perfectly in this anthology.
    "Each translated play is introduced by a short scholarly guide and analysis. A more comprehensive 'Introduction' at the beginning of the book discusses various aspects of early Chinese theatre, such as its historical background, urban setting, and actors, which the support of contemporaneous descriptions in song-suites and visual evidence in a temple wall painting. The section on 'Editions and Social Background' tackles the complex issue of the textual  production and transformation of Northern drama with admirable command and clarity, and will be especially helpful to students and scholars of Chinese drama.
     "If the formal features of a Chinese dramatic text might appear daunting to a reader who is new to he genre, the editors have thoughtfully included a very useful note on 'Conventions' which helps the reader to navigate the text. It guides us masterfully through a complex web of the various kinds of texts within a Chinese play—stage directions, plain speech, recited verse and lyric songs, with those words used as padding carefully differentiated—it also defines role-types and mode and tune titles all with the aid of a sample page from one of the plays.
     "Two other appendices contain information on the translation of early Chinese drama. . . . This is a magnificent book."
     —Tian Yuan Tan, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society


About the Authors:

Stephen H. West is Foundation Professor of Chinese, Arizona State University.

Wilt L. Idema is Professor of Chinese Literature, Harvard University.