The Story of the Western WingChina's most important love comedy, Wang Shifu's Xixiangji, or The Story of the Western Wing, is a rollicking play that chronicles the adventures of the star-crossed lovers Oriole and Student Zhang. Since its appearance in the thirteenth century, it has enjoyed unparalleled popularity. The play has given rise to innumerable sequels, parodies, and rewritings; it has influenced countless later plays, short stories, and novels and has played a crucial role in the development of drama criticism. This translation of the full and complete text of the earliest extant version is available in paperback for the first time. The editors' introduction will inform students of Chinese cultural and literary traditions. |
Contents
Author and Authorship | 19 |
The Pedigree of the Materials | 29 |
Exceptions to the Rules | 42 |
An Introduction to the World of The Western Wing | 52 |
TRANSLATION | 90 |
Book the Second | 189 |
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Common terms and phrases
abbot affair arias beauty brother Cao Xueqin century Chang'an characters Chinese Chucklehead speaks clouds Clown speaks Coda Crimson sings Crimson speaks Dharma Dharma Wit Dong Jieyuan's drama dynasty enters and speaks Female lead sings Female lead speaks flowers Flying Tiger Flying Tiger Sun genre girl Grand physician speaks Guan Hanqing guben heart heaven Hezhong Hongzhi Hongzhi edition horse Idema incense jade jiaozhu Jieyuan Jin Shengtan Junrui leaves letter ling Liu Bang lovers Luoyang lute boy madam Male lead acts Male lead speaks marriage Ming Ming dynasty missy monastery monks moon mother night Offstage interjects Old lady speaks Onole Oriole Oriole's play poem recites scholar sexual Sima Xiangru simurgh sister sorrow spring Story Student sings Student speaks Student Zhang talent Tang translation Wang Shifu Western Wing Xiang xiqu Xixiang ji young Yuan zaju Zhang Gong Zheng Heng zhuan Zhuo Wenjun zither