The Peony Pavilion

by Xianzu, Tang

• ISBN13: 9780253215277
• ISBN10: 0253215277
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-03-01
• Publisher: INGRAM
• More Book Details
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Summary

The celebrated English translation of this classic work of Chinese literature is now available in an updated paperback edition. Written in 1598 by Tang Xianzu, The Peony Pavilion is one of literature's most memorable love stories and a masterpiece of Ming drama. Cyril Birch has captured all the elegance, lyricism, and subtle, earthy humor of this panoramic tale of romance and Chinese society. When Indiana University Press first published the text in 1981, it seemed doubtful that the work would ever be performed in its entirety again, but several spectacular and controversial productions have toured the world in recent years. For this second edition, which contains a fully revised text of the translation, Cyril Birch and Catherine Swatek reflect on contemporary performances of the play in light of its history.

Author Biography

Cyril Birch is Professor Emeritus of East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Berkeley. His other publications include the two-volume Anthology of Chinese Literature, Chinese Narrative, Scenes for Mandarins, Mistress and Maid, and Tales from China.

Catherine Swatek is Associate Professor of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia, and author of Peony Pavilion Onstage: Four Centuries in the Career of a Chinese Drama (forthcoming).

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	ix
Cyril Birch
Introduction: Peony Pavilion on Stage and in the Study	xv
Catherine Swatek
A Note on Layout	xxxi
(Scene)
Legend	1	(2)
Declaring Ambition	3	(3)
Admonishing the Daughter	6	(5)
Pedant's Lament	11	(3)
Engaging the Tutor	14	(4)
Despairing Hopes	18	(6)
The Schoolroom	24	(6)
Speed the Plough	30	(8)
Sweeping the Garden	38	(4)
The Interrupted Dream	42	(11)
Well-meant Warning	53	(2)
Pursuing the Dream	55	(8)
In Search of Patronage	63	(3)
The Portrait	66	(6)
A Spy for the Tartars	72	(3)
The Invalid	75	(4)
Sorceress of the Tao	79	(9)
Diagnosis	88	(7)
The Brigandess	95	(2)
Keening	97	(13)
The Interview	110	(6)
Traveler's Rest	116	(4)
Infernal Judgment	120	(15)
The Portrait Recovered	135	(4)
Maternal Remembrance	139	(4)
The Portrait Examined	143	(4)
Spirit Roaming	147	(8)
Union in the Shades	155	(10)
Gossip	165	(5)
Disrupted Joy	170	(6)
Defensive Works	176	(4)
Spectral Vows	180	(11)
Confidential Plans	191	(6)
Consultation	197	(2)
Resurrection	199	(5)
Elopement	204	(10)
The Alarm	214	(3)
The Scourge of the Huai	217	(3)
Hangzhou	220	(4)
In Search of the Master	224	(5)
Delayed Examination	229	(7)
Troop Transfer	236	(5)
The Siege of Huaian	241	(7)
Concern for the Besieged	248	(5)
A Spy for the Rebels	253	(4)
The Rebels Countered	257	(6)
Raising the Siege	263	(10)
Mother and Daughter Reunited	273	(8)
Moored before Huaian	281	(6)
Uproar at the Banquet	287	(9)
The Lists Proclaimed	296	(4)
The Search for the Candidate	300	(5)
Interrogation under the Rod	305	(12)
Glad News	317	(7)
Reunion at Court	324	(17)
Index of Aria Patterns	341