Guan Hanqing zaju xuan: Selected plays of Guan Hanqing

More about the book

Bilingual in English and Chinese. Guan Hanqing, the Yuan Dynasty dramatist is sometimes referred to as "China's Shakespeare." A playwright of the Northern Drama, Guan Hanqing (1240-1360), worked in Beijing at a time the capital was known as Dadu, an international city visited by many travelers from Europe, including Marco Polo. Guan is credited with more than 64 plays, of which some 15 have survived in complete form. Like Shakespeare, Guan's biographical information is sketchy, but he also is said to have been a theatrical manager and an actor. This is a collection of four of his most well known plays: Snow in Midsummer, The Wife-Snatcher, The Butterfly Dream and Rescued by a Coquette. You will not only enjoy these classic stories, but will also learn about Chinese culture and history. The translation of each English page is printed in Chinese on the opposite page.