Drama

Author: Wang Bin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: The Classics of Chinese Literature, a selected collection of Chinese literary works. The works span from the pre-Qin period to 1949, divided into four sections: fiction, poetry, prose, and drama. Each section is further divided into ancient and modern volumes. Fiction and prose each have upper and lower volumes. Modern works are included in the ancient section and are not further subdivided. Every thing has a process of occurrence and development, and literature is no exception. For example, Chinese fiction originated from street talk and tales, belonging to zhu yu (a type of folk literature), and differs greatly in concept from modern fiction. Another example is that in ancient China, all texts outside of rhyming verse (excluding fiction) were collectively referred to as prose, which also differs greatly. How to grasp this? The usual approach is to respect both history and literature. In short, history and literature are given equal importance. This book also adopts this principle. Following traditional editorial conventions, the book organizes works by associating them with authors and then by specific works. Standalone works are listed separately. In terms of arrangement, works are ordered by the birth year of the authors, with those who died young appearing first. For authors whose birth and death years are unknown or uncertain, the arrangement is based on their lifespan or the time of composition. This book does not conduct textual criticism. For works with variant versions, the best version is chosen, and the original publication details are omitted to simplify the text. Many ancient fictions are attributed to false authors, and this book retains this tradition but provides brief explanations in the prefaces. To facilitate reading, each original text is followed by interpretive notes.