This book is a study of the thematic, narrative, and musical structure of Yuanqu xuan [A Selection of Yuan Plays] edition of the Yuan zaju (variety play) Dou E yuan [Injustice to Dou E] originally composed by the highly regarded playwright Guan Hanqing (fl. 1260). Although other authors have studied these three aspects of Dou E yuan separately, this is the first comprehensive treatment of the topic as a scholarly monograph in English. Yumin Ao's analysis is based on the edition of the play in the Yuanqu xuan [A Selection of Yuan Plays] compiled by the Ming publisher Zang Maoxun (ca. 1550-1620). Ao proposes that Dou E yuan, as a dramatic narrative which develops through its enactment on the stage rather than by verbal presentation as a story, displays its integrative structure of narration through its thematic development and within its musical conventions.

Autorentext

Yumin Ao received her PhD in Chinese literature at the University of Otago, New Zealand. She has experience in teaching and conducting research in Chinese language and literature at universities in Mainland China, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. She currently teaches Chinese language, literature, and Asian cultures at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, United States.

Inhalt

Contents: Guan Hanqing, His Zaju Composition and the Editions of Dou E yuan 13 - Modern Criticism of Guan Hanqing and Yuan Zaju - A Study on the Original Story - Thematic Structure - Narrative Structure - Musical Structure (I) - (III).