Opera Stories – A Must-Read Series on Chinese Traditional Culture for Students

Author: Shi Yanbo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Chinese opera has achieved great success both in terms of ideological content and artistic form. Some plays not only had positive progressive significance at the time but also serve as valuable references even today. Therefore, understanding the content of classical opera is a necessary process for improving cultural literacy. This book selects and adapts 12 classic plays from classical opera. These stories expose the darkness of feudal society and the corruption of local administration; some criticize the oppression and destruction of women by feudal morality and ethics; some praise the traditional virtues of Chinese women and the sincere love between young men and women; and others satirize and mock those who are indiscriminate, pedantic, and greedy. These opera stories reflect rich life content from families to society, from common people to high officials, and remain popular in performances even today. It should be noted that since these classical operas were produced in feudal society, they are subject to class and historical limitations. Therefore, there may be some negative feudal elements in the plays to some extent. Readers are encouraged to discern and extract the essence while reading.