Six Yuan Plays: The Orphan of Chao / The Soul of Ch'ien-Nu Leaves Her Body / The Injustice Done to Tou Ngo / Chang Boils the Sea / Autumn in Han Palace / A Stratagem of Interlocking Rings

Editorial: Penguin • 1988

• Firma y fecha en página de respeto. En inglés. Traducción e introducción: Liu Jung-en. Although their Mongol overlords (beginning with the founding of the Yuan dynasty by Kublai Khan in 1280) tyrannized the Chinese in nearly every area of life, the arts enjoyed a new-found freedom. On the one hand oppressed, on the other released from the straight-jacket of Confucianism, the Chinese made the most of recent developments in poetry and drama. Yuan plays were a tonic, an amazing spectacle-colorful outbursts of singing, dancing, music, acting and mime. They poured new life into old stories-oppressors were ridiculed, servants became masters, scenes changed, day followed night in the twinkling of an eye-and audiences flocked to enjoy what must have been complete entertainment. This volume contains six of the best Yuan plays, with an introduction and brief essay on each play.