Download or read book The Peach blossom Fan Other Qing Dynasty Stories written by Rongyao Li and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Peach Blossom Fan written by K'ung Shang-jen and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2015-07-21 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A tale of battling armies, political intrigue, star-crossed romance, and historical cataclysm, The Peach Blossom Fan is one of the masterpieces of Chinese literature, a vast dramatic composition that combines the range and depth of a great novel with the swift intensity of film. In the mid-1640s, famine sweeps through China. The Ming dynasty, almost 300 years old, lurches to a bloody end. Peking falls to the Manchus, the emperor hangs himself, and Ming loyalists take refuge in the southern capital of Nanking. Two valiant generals seek to defend the city, but nothing can overcome the corruption, decadence, and factionalism of the court in exile. The newly installed emperor cares for nothing but theater, leaving practical matters to the insidious Ma Shih-ying. Ma’s crony Juan Ta-ch’eng is as unscrupulous an operator as he is sophisticated a poet. He diverts resources from the starving troops in order to stage a spectacular production of his latest play. History, however, has little time for make-believe, though the earnest members of the Revival Club, centered on the handsome young scholar Hou Fang-yü and his lover Fragrant Princess, struggle to discover a happy ending.
Download or read book The Peach Blossom Fan written by 1879 Professor of Chinese Literature Wai-Yee Li and published by . This book was released on 2024-08-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interweaving a star-crossed romance with the decline and fall of the Ming dynasty in mid seventeenth-century China, The Peach Blossom Fan by Kong Shangren (1648-1718) is a masterpiece of world literature. This sweeping musical play and historical drama encompasses the pleasures and passions of courtesan culture, the allure and pitfalls of political idealism, court intrigues, and the horrors of war. While the play recounts the death of the Ming dynasty through the love story of its two main characters--Hou Fangyu, a young scholar, and a courtesan named Li Xiangjun (or, "Fragrant Princess")--its cast of characters also includes various military commanders; a villain who is also a playwright; an ambiguous mediator who is also a painter, a storyteller, and a singing teacher; an officer who becomes a Daoist; and a ritual master who is both onstage and a member of the audience. As the play takes the readers inside the choices, dilemmas, and emotional turmoil of its diverse characters, it asks probing questions: How and why did the Ming dynasty, almost three hundred years old, come to an end? In the last decades of the Ming dynasty, China was struck by a series of plagues, famines, and natural disasters. What is the scope of human agency during historical cataclysms? The play is filled with performances of songs, poems, and scenes from other dramas that warn against the impending fall of the dynasty; however, all of their messages went unheeded. What forces shape memory and political judgment? This compelling, readable, and faithful translation of the play includes an introduction on interpretive perspectives and the life and times of the playwright Kong Shangren as well as explanatory notes and a preface for each scene that serve as guides for the reader.
Download or read book The Peach Blossom Fan written by T.L. Yang and published by Hong Kong University Press. This book was released on 1998-11-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story is set in the last days of the Ming Dynasty, when the Manchu invaders were already in close proximity to the capital. Instead of fighting the enemy, the great officials of state devoted themselves to intrigues, corruption and self-aggrandizement. A few concerned individuals, mostly members of the literati, spent time in endless debates and took no practical action. It fell to a courtesan, the Perfumed Lady, to show them the way. Her young lover, Hou Fangyu, however, chose to relinquish the world, in spite of his earlier professions of patriotism. Broken-hearted, she retired to a convent and became a nun. Much of what appears in the book is factual. The principle characters were real people; even the fan existed.
Download or read book Peach Blossom Fan written by 孔尚仁 and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Peach Blossom Fan is a great masterpiece of Kun opera and has been a favorite of Chinese audiences for more than 300 years. It takes the love story between the Revival Society poet Hou Fanyu and the beautiful river courtesan Li Xiangjun as its basis; but as a historical epic, it reflects the brief splendor and fall of the short-lived Southern Ming dynasty. This book, with plain words, intends to help foreign readers understand the story and appreciate classic Chinese opera"--Book jacket.
Download or read book The Peach Blossom Fan written by Shangren Kong and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Peach Blossom Fan written by Shangren Kong and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Peach Blossom Fan is a poetic drama about national cataclysm. More than 300 years ago, the last native Chinese imperial house fell before rebel onslaughts, made a short-lived attempt at restoration in the south, then yielded finally to the invading Manchus. Writing in the 1690s, Kng Shang-jen gathered the recollections of survivors. Out of these and a multitude of documentary accounts, he constructed a great historical play in the elegant Southern Chinese style. With compelling vividness he recreates confrontations between loyalists and those who would sell out to the newest master; nostalgic scenes of dalliance in riverside pavilions, with wine and poetry and beautiful girls; desperate stands on battlements of beleaguered cities; and more. Sir Harold Acton, who collaborated with the late S. H. Chen and Cyril Birch in making this translation, has captured in his lively English the spirit and nuances of the original. Prefatory materials and notes provide both historical and dramaturgical background for the reader full enjoyment of this masterpiece.
Download or read book Peach Blossom Fan written by Shang-jen K'ung and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Peach Blossom Fan is a poetic drama about national cataclysm. More than 300 years ago, the last native Chinese imperial house fell before rebel onslaughts, made a short-lived attempt at restoration in the south, then yielded finally to the invading Manchus. Writing in the 1690s, Kng Shang-jen gathered the recollections of survivors. Out of these and a multitude of documentary accounts, he constructed a great historical play in the elegant Southern Chinese style. With compelling vividness he recreates confrontations between loyalists and those who would sell out to the newest master; nostalgic scenes of dalliance in riverside pavilions, with wine and poetry and beautiful girls; desperate stands on battlements of beleaguered cities; and more. Sir Harold Acton, who collaborated with the late S. H. Chen and Cyril Birch in making this translation, has captured in his lively English the spirit and nuances of the original. Prefatory materials and notes provide both historical and dramaturgical background for the reader full enjoyment of this masterpiece.
Download or read book written by 孔尚仁 and published by . This book was released on 2012-07-01 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Chinese Theories of Theater and Performance from Confucius to the Present written by Faye Chunfang Fei and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first English-language anthology that traces the centuries-long evolution of Chinese thought on theater and performance
Download or read book Area Bibliography of China written by Richard T. Wang and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A combination of scholarly, commercial, and popular interests has generated a large quantity of literature on every aspect of Chinese life during the past two decades. This bibliography reflects these combined interests; it is broken up into sections by subject headings, and cross-references refer the researcher to related topics.
Download or read book A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE CULTURE written by GU WEILIE and published by American Academic Press. This book was released on 2022-05-23 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A General Introduction to Chinese Culture is a book introducing Chinese culture from the perspectives of institutional culture, material culture and spiritual culture by starting from the exploration over implications of culture, backgrounds, and basic characteristics of traditional Chinese culture. Well-documented, rich in materials and rigorous in theory, the book describes and analyzes almost all aspects of traditional Chinese culture both at macro and micro levels. Innovative and thought-provoking ideas can be found in the summary of the basic characteristics of Chinese culture as well as in the analysis of theoretical issues such as traditional Chinese economic thought, political ideas, the patriarchal system, the imperial examination system, science and technology, academics, religions, cultural spirit and aesthetic pursuits of literature and art, etc. With dialectical and scientific argumentation, the interpretation of traditional culture embodies contemporary consciousness, and it well reflects the latest level of research on traditional Chinese culture. This book has also been used as textbook by the Chinese universities for the graduate students to learn about Chinese culture. Awarded the Second Prize of the National University Press Bestseller by Chinese University Press Association and listed top in the recommended bibliography by many libraries, this book has been reprinted many times and well received by all readers.
Download or read book Lifelines in World History written by Ase Berit and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-03-26 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This lavishly illustrated full-color set is organized by the time frames that mirror the National Standards for world history for grades 6-12. An ideal supplement to all the major textbooks, it offers appealing and comprehensive biographies of history's most influential figures - both famous and infamous."Lifelines in World History" features biographies of figures from Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and Southwest Asia, and covers the most significant events and trends in world history. Each volume includes 15-20 biographies, and in addition to biographical information, each entry includes engaging sidebars that feature key dates, more people to know, words from their time, and cultural connections. The set also includes numerous full-color maps.
Download or read book A General History of Chinese Art written by Xifan Li and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-10-03 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume investigates the artistic development during the Qing Dynasty, the last of imperial Chinese dynasties, and shows the importance of opera and playwriting during this time period. Further analysis is dedicated to the development of scroll painting and the revival of calligraphy and seal carving. A General History of Chinese Art comprises six volumes with a total of nine parts spanning from the Prehistoric Era until the 3rd year of Xuantong during the Qing Dynasty (1911). The work provides a comprehensive compilation of in-depth studies of the development of art throughout the subsequent reign of Chinese dynasties and explores the emergence of a wide range of artistic categories such as but not limited to music, dance, acrobatics, singing, story telling, painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, and crafts. Unlike previous reference books, A General History of Chinese Art offers a broader overview of the notion of Chinese art by asserting a more diverse and less material understanding of arts, as has often been the case in Western scholarship.
Download or read book The Qing Dynasty and Traditional Chinese Culture written by Richard J. Smith and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-10-23 with total page 625 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Qing dynasty (1636–1912)—a crucial bridge between “traditional” and “modern” China—was remarkable for its expansiveness and cultural sophistication. This engaging and insightful history of Qing political, social, and cultural life traces the complex interaction between the Inner Asian traditions of the Manchus, who conquered China in 1644, and indigenous Chinese cultural traditions. Noted historian Richard J. Smith argues that the pragmatic Qing emperors presented a “Chinese” face to their subjects who lived south of the Great Wall and other ethnic faces (particularly Manchu, Mongolian, Central Asian, and Tibetan) to subjects in other parts of their vast multicultural empire. They were attracted by many aspects of Chinese culture, but far from being completely “sinicized” as many scholars argue, they were also proud of their own cultural traditions and interested in other cultures as well. Setting Qing dynasty culture in historical and global perspective, Smith shows how the Chinese of the era viewed the world; how their outlook was expressed in their institutions, material culture, and customs; and how China’s preoccupation with order, unity, and harmony contributed to the civilization’s remarkable cohesiveness and continuity. Nuanced and wide-ranging, his authoritative book provides an essential introduction to late imperial Chinese culture and society.
Download or read book Singapore National Bibliography written by and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Sentimental Education in Chinese History written by Paolo Santangelo and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-10-11 with total page 621 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the long-awaited first book-form result of the author’s pioneering interdisciplinary research on a key problem for understanding Chinese texts, and, therewith, China: its ways of expression of emotions and states of mind. Relying on his immense database on (mostly) Ming and Qing sources, the author here presents the first truly solid, source-based survey on the subject. After analysing the methodological problems involved, the volume focuses on contradictions between official values on the one hand, and practical compromises between individual appetitive energies and personal tendencies for wealth and gratification of desires on the other hand. It analyses the negotiating process between the rigid ethical codes and dynamic social changes, as well as how social control influences the cognitive elements of emotions, both in restraining personal passions and promoting the "virtuous sentiments".
