Download or read book The White Snake and Her Son written by and published by Hackett Publishing. This book was released on 2009-09-01 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A cornerstone of Chinese popular culture, the legend of the White Snake--the admirable demon who loves her victim--has been continually rewritten, reinterpreted, and readapted for over five hundred years. The Precious Scroll of Thunder Peak was one of the most popular nineteenth-century versions of the legend. In bringing together translations of the Scroll, four anonymous youth books, and other texts related to the development of the White Snake legend, this volume opens a window into the richness and variety of premodern Chinese popular literature. It also illustrates the ways in which traditional and modern Chinese societies have treated a host of vital cultural issues, including the role of women in society, perceptions of sexuality, and folk religion. Wilt L. Idema's Introduction traces the evolution of the legend and places the translated texts in the history of Chinese popular literature and culture. Annotations explaining terms and references that may be unfamiliar to Western readers, a glossary, and a thorough bibliography further enhance the value of this book for both scholars and students.

Download or read book The Global White Snake written by Liang Luo and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2021-08-09 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tracing the history and adaptation of one of China's foundational texts

Download or read book The Adventurer s Son written by Roman Dial and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-02-18 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Destined to become an adventure classic." —Anchorage Daily News Hailed as "gripping" (New York Times) and "beautiful" (Washington Post), The Adventurer's Son is Roman Dial’s extraordinary and widely acclaimed account of his two-year quest to unravel the mystery of his son’s disappearance in the jungles of Costa Rica. In the predawn hours of July 10, 2014, the twenty-seven-year-old son of preeminent Alaskan scientist and National Geographic Explorer Roman Dial, walked alone into Corcovado National Park, an untracked rainforest along Costa Rica’s remote Pacific Coast that shelters miners, poachers, and drug smugglers. He carried a light backpack and machete. Before he left, Cody Roman Dial emailed his father: “I am not sure how long it will take me, but I’m planning on doing 4 days in the jungle and a day to walk out. I’ll be bounded by a trail to the west and the coast everywhere else, so it should be difficult to get lost forever.” They were the last words Dial received from his son. As soon as he realized Cody Roman’s return date had passed, Dial set off for Costa Rica. As he trekked through the dense jungle, interviewing locals and searching for clues—the authorities suspected murder—the desperate father was forced to confront the deepest questions about himself and his own role in the events. Roman had raised his son to be fearless, to be at home in earth’s wildest places, travelling together through rugged Alaska to remote Borneo and Bhutan. Was he responsible for his son’s fate? Or, as he hoped, was Cody Roman safe and using his wilderness skills on a solo adventure from which he would emerge at any moment? Part detective story set in the most beautiful yet dangerous reaches of the planet, The Adventurer’s Son emerges as a far deeper tale of discovery—a journey to understand the truth about those we love the most. The Adventurer’s Son includes fifty black-and-white photographs.

Download or read book Folk Art and Modern Culture in Republican China written by Felicity Lufkin and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2016-01-21 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Folk art is now widely recognized as an integral part of the modern Chinese cultural heritage, but in the early twentieth century, awareness of folk art as a distinct category in the visual arts was new. Internationally, intellectuals in different countries used folk arts to affirm national identity and cultural continuity in the midst of the changes of the modern era. In China, artists, critics and educators likewise saw folk art as a potentially valuable resource: perhaps it could be a fresh source of cultural inspiration and energy, representing the authentic voice of the people in contrast to what could be seen as the limited and elitist classical tradition. At the same time, many Chinese intellectuals also saw folk art as a problem: they believed that folk art, as it was, promoted superstitious and backward ideas that were incompatible with modernization and progress. In either case, folk art was too important to be left in the hands of the folk: educated artists and researchers felt a responsibility intervene, to reform folk art and create new popular art forms that would better serve the needs of the modern nation. In the early 1930s, folk art began to figure in the debates on social role of art and artists that were waged in the pages of the Chinese press, the first major exhibition of folk art was held in Hangzhou, and the new print movement claimed the print as a popular artistic medium while, for the most part, declaring its distance from contemporary folk printmaking practices. During the war against Japan, from 1937 to 1945, educated artists deployed imagery and styles drawn from folk art in morale-boosting propaganda images, but worried that this work fell short of true artistic accomplishment and pandering to outmoded tastes. The questions raised in interaction with folk art during this pivotal period, questions about heritage, about the social position of art, and the exercise of cultural authority continue to resonate into the present day.

Download or read book A World History of Chinese Literature written by Yingjin Zhang and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-07-25 with total page 553 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing a broad introduction to the area, A World History of Chinese Literature maps the field of Chinese literature across its various worlds, looking both within – at the world of Chinese literature, its history, linguistic, cultural, local, and regional specificities – and without – at the way Chinese literature has circulated throughout the world. The thematic focus allows for a broad number of key categories, such as authors, genres, genders, regions, as well as innovative explorations of new topics and issues such as inter-arts performativity and transmediation. The sections cover the circulation and reception of China in world literature, as well as the worlds of: Chinese literature across the globe Borders, oceans, and rainforests Comparative literary genres Translingual writers and scholars Gender configurations Translation and transmediation With a focus on the twentieth and twenty-first century, this collection intervenes in current debates on global Chinese literature, Sinophone and Sinoscript studies, and the production and reception of literary works by ethnic Chinese in non-Sinitic languages, as well as Anglophone literature inspired by Chinese literary tradition. It will be of interest to anyone working on or studying Chinese literature, language and culture, as well as world literatures in relation to China.

Download or read book Mulan written by and published by Hackett Publishing. This book was released on 2010-09-14 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The legend of Mulan--the daughter who disguises herself as a man, dons her father's armor, and heads off to war in his place--remains one of the most popular Chinese folktales despite (or because of) its lack of supernatural demonstrations or interventions. This volume offers lively translations of the earliest recorded version of the legend and several later iterations of the tale (including the screenplay of the hugely successful 1939 Chinese film Mulan Joins the Army), illustrating the many ways that reinterpretations of this basic story reflect centuries of changes in Chinese cultural, political, and sexual attitudes. An Introduction traces the evolution of the Mulan legend and its significance in the history of Chinese popular culture. Annotation explaining terms and references unfamiliar to Western readers, a glossary, and a comprehensive bibliography further enhance the value of this volume for both scholars and students.

Download or read book Chinese Shock of the Anthropocene written by Kwai-Cheung Lo and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines China’s role and its cultural productions in the process of environmental destruction and transformation, focusing on how various cultural media play a significant role in shaping and reproducing Chinese subject formation in relation to changing ecological conditions. It argues that China under the leadership of Xi Jinping vowed in 2017 to play a leading role in preserving the planet for the future, but many of its actions such as its “Belt and Road” initiative have aroused apprehension rather than inspired confidence. Against this backdrop of environmental concern, this volume brings together a cutting-edge critical analysis of Chinese literature, music and cinema, offering a transdisciplinary and comprehensive vision of Chinese arts and literature under the current conditions of the Anthropocene. This volume sets a high scholarly standard in the field, and constitutes a valuable reference for scholars and students of Chinese cultural studies, Chinese studies and Anthropocene studies. ​

Download or read book The Recorded Sayings of Master Fenyang Wude Fenyang Shanzhao Vol 2 written by Randolph S. Whitfield and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2022-07-05 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The eminent Song Dynasty Chan Master Fenyang Shanzhao (947-1024 CE) had the distinction of an entry in the canonical Jingde Chuandeng Lu, (Records of the Transmission of the Lamp) whilst still alive. This second volume of the master’s recorded sayings (T 1992) is a translation of the third fascicle, containing the master’s poetry as recorded by his Dharma-heir, Shishuang Chuyuan (986-1309 CE).

Download or read book A New Literary History of Modern China written by David Der-wei Wang and published by Belknap Press. This book was released on 2017-05-22 with total page 1033 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Literature, from the Chinese perspective, makes manifest the cosmic patterns that shape and complete the world—a process of “worlding” that is much more than mere representation. In that spirit, A New Literary History of Modern China looks beyond state-sanctioned works and official narratives to reveal China as it has seldom been seen before, through a rich spectrum of writings covering Chinese literature from the late-seventeenth century to the present. Featuring over 140 Chinese and non-Chinese contributors from throughout the world, this landmark volume explores unconventional forms as well as traditional genres—pop song lyrics and presidential speeches, political treatises and prison-house jottings, to name just a few. Major figures such as Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, Eileen Chang, and Mo Yan appear in a new light, while lesser-known works illuminate turning points in recent history with unexpected clarity and force. Many essays emphasize Chinese authors’ influence on foreign writers as well as China’s receptivity to outside literary influences. Contemporary works that engage with ethnic minorities and environmental issues take their place in the critical discussion, alongside writers who embraced Chinese traditions and others who resisted. Writers’ assessments of the popularity of translated foreign-language classics and avant-garde subjects refute the notion of China as an insular and inward-looking culture. A vibrant collection of contrasting voices and points of view, A New Literary History of Modern China is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of China’s literary and cultural legacy.

Download or read book China from the Ruins of Athens and Rome written by Chris Murray and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fascinated and often baffled by China, Anglophone writers have turned to classics to provide interpretative paradigms and narrative shape to inform their understanding. This volume reveals key insights into British cosmopolitanism, which sought its bearings in the ancient past in encounters with Qing Dynasty China.

Download or read book Meng Jiangn Brings Down the Great Wall written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meng Jiangnü Brings Down the Great Wall brings together ten versions of a popular Chinese legend that has intrigued readers and listeners for hundreds of years. Elements of the story date back to the early centuries B.C.E. and are an intrinsic part of Chinese literary history. Major themes and subtle nuances of the legend are illuminated here by Wilt L. Idema's new translations and pairings. In this classic story, a young woman named Meng Jiang makes a long, solitary journey to deliver winter clothes to her husband, a drafted laborer on the grandiose Great Wall construction project of the notorious First Emperor of the Qin dynasty (BCE 221-208). But her travels end in tragedy when, upon arrival, she learns that her husband has died under the harsh working conditions and been entombed in the wall. Her tears of grief cause the wall to collapse and expose his bones, which she collects for proper burial. In some versions, she tricks the lecherous emperor, who wants to marry her, into providing a stately funeral for her husband and then takes her own life. The versions presented here are ballads and chantefables (alternating chanted verse and recited prose), five from urban printed texts from the late Imperial and early Republican periods, and five from oral performances and partially reconstructed texts collected in rural areas in recent decades. They represent a wide range of genres, regional styles, dates, and content. From one version to another, different elements of the story--the circumstances of Meng Jiangnu's marriage, her relationship with her parents-in-law, the journey to the wall, her grief, her defiance of the emperor--are elaborated upon, downplayed, or left out altogether depending on the particular moral lessons that tale authors wished to impart. Idema brings together his considerable translation skills and broad knowledge of Chinese literature to present an assortment of tales and insightful commentary that will be a gold mine of information for scholars in a number of disciplines. Haiyan Lee's essay discusses the appeal of the Meng Jiangnü story to twentieth-century literary reformers, and the interpretations they imposed on the material they collected.

Download or read book Old Shanghai and the Clash of Revolution written by X. L. Woo and published by Algora Publishing. This book was released on 2013 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life in Shanghai played out against a backdrop of shifting political maneuvers until World War II burned off the patina that had made ''Old Shanghai'' a world unto itself. In this personal history we follow one man through JapanOCOs conquest of Shanghai in 1937 to the Chinese civil war and Communist takeover, MaoOCOs desperate attempts to modernize a medieval country and Deng XiaopingOCOs opening the economy but not social freedoms. The protagonist lees burgeoning corruption and makes it to the United States to see for himself what the tales of freedom and democracy might offer."

Download or read book The Metamorphosis of Tianxian pei written by Wilt L Idema and published by The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. This book was released on 2014-12-15 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is the most extensive social and cultural history of twentiethcentury Huangmei Opera to date. A regional Chinese theater originating in the Anqing countryside, Huangmei Opera gained popularity with the success of the 1950s play and movie, Tianxian pei 天仙配 (Married to a Heavenly Immortal). Through a case study of this work, the author juxtaposes the complex process of rewriting and revising the play and movie against the rapidly changing cultural and ideological climate of the Communist theater reform movement. As a result, the traditional theme of filial piety becomes a struggle over class and free love. This volume features a full translation of the original play and its revision in the 1950s, as well as selected articles by scriptwriters, directors, performers, and critics. These primary sources allow readers to gain access to inside views of the contemporaries and their political and artistic concerns. "Wilt Idema is one of the most important scholars in Chinese literary and cultural studies. Few in the academia can emulate him in both the spectrum of specializations and the depth of scholarship. From Yuan drama to Ming fiction, and traditional folk culture to modern performing arts, Idema’s work demonstrates a Sinologist's dedication, erudition, and originality at its best. Tianxian pei is arguably the most popular play in midtwentieth century China. In his book, Idema discusses the play’s roots and ramifications, its incarnations in multiple genes and medial forms, and its significance in modern Chinese cultural politics. His critical insight is illuminating and his translational expertise impeccable. The Metamorphosis of Tianxian pei is a major contribution to the studies of Chinese folklore, literature, theatre, and media." by David Derwei Wang, Harvard University

Download or read book Shadow Woman written by Grant Hayter-Menzies and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kansas-born Pauline Benton (1898-1974) was encouraged by her father, one of America's earliest feminist male educators, to reach for the stars. Instead, she reached for shadows. In 1920s Beijing, she discovered shadow theatre (piyingxi), a performance art where translucent painted puppets are manipulated by highly trained masters to cast coloured shadows against an illuminated screen. Finding that this thousand-year-old forerunner of motion pictures was declining in China, Benton believed she could save the tradition by taking it to America. Mastering the male-dominated art form in China, Benton enchanted audiences eager for the exotic in Depression-era America. Her touring company, Red Gate Shadow Theatre, was lauded by theatre and art critics and even performed at Franklin Roosevelt's White House. Grant Hayter-Menzies traces Benton's performance history and her efforts to preserve shadow theatre as a global cultural treasure by drawing on her unpublished writings, the recollections of her colleagues, the testimonies of shadow masters who survived China's Cultural Revolution, as well as young innovators who have carried on Benton's pioneering work.

Download or read book Journey of a Goddess written by and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2017-10-27 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers the first translation into English of the Chinese novel Haiyouji, as well as excerpts of a marionette play based on the cult lore of the goddess Chen Jinggu (766–790), a historical shaman priestess who became one of Fujian's most important goddesses and the Lüshan Sect's chief deity. The novel, a 1753 reprint of what is possibly a Ming dynasty novel, was both a popular fiction and a religious tract. It offers a lively mythological tale depicting combat between the shaman goddess and a snake demon goddess. Replete with the beliefs and practices of the cult of this warrior goddess, the novel asserts the importance of Shamanism (i.e., local religious beliefs) as one of the four religions of China, along with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. To further develop the links between literature and local religion, Fan Pen Li Chen includes translations of two acts from a Fujian marionette play, Biography of the Lady, featuring the goddess.

Download or read book Japanese and Hong Kong Film Industries written by Yau Shuk-ting, Kinnia and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-09-11 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focuses on the cooperation between Hong Kong and Japanese cinema from the Sino-Japanese War, which broke out in the 1930s, up until the early 1970s, to re-evaluate the significance of this event in the context of Asian film history.

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Chinese Theater written by Tan Ye and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-03-04 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a sense of timelessness in the Chinese theater: ever since its maturation, its format has not changed in any significant way. Chinese Theater matured into its final format in the 13th century and flourished during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. It is a unique, exclusive, and self-sufficient system, whose evolution has received little influence from the West and whose influence on Western theaters has been minimal and often misinterpreted. It is essentially a performer's theater; the actors attract the audience with splendid performances perfected through many years of rigorous training. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Chinese Theater contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1,500 cross-referenced entries on performers, directors, producers, designers, actors, theaters, dynasties, and emperors. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Chinese theater.