Jung-en Liu (1908–2001)

In this edition, Jung presents translations of six plays from the Yuan Dynasty by a varied selection of playwrights including the well-known The Injustice Done to Tou Ngo, The Orphan of Chao, and Autumn in the Han Palace. An interesting introduction to the background of the plays is also included.

These plays were developed during a societal and cultural shift that occurred during the Yuan Dynasty and represent the finest Classical drama in Chinese literature.

However, these are not the Yuan originals for many of them were lost to time; extant copies of Yuan plays rarely date from the Yuan period but rather from the Ming. This is because drama then became a scholarly pursuit rather than a popular entertainment. This does not impinge on the enjoyment of these plays because during the Ming dialogue and stage directions were also preserved, giving more context to the song suites that often only survived the Yuan.… (altro)