West Story

Author: Qiu Xiaojuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: Cai Xiangji, a love story that has been sung for nearly a thousand years. From Yuan Zhen's The Story of Yingying in the Tang Dynasty, to Dong Jieyuan's Cai Xiangji in Zugu Zongdiao in the Jin Dynasty, to Wang Shifu's Cai Xiangji in the Yuan Dynasty, the love story of Cui Yingying and Zhang Sheng has been performed for hundreds of years and has become a masterpiece in the history of Chinese opera. It is also a pinnacle work in Chinese literary history, comparable to Dream of the Red Chamber. This book is adapted from Wang Shifu's Cai Xiangji in the Yuan Dynasty. The purpose of the adaptation is to transform the love story of Cui and Zhang from the form of legend and script into a text that is easier for contemporary readers to read. During the adaptation process, some new content was added based on historical and related materials. Therefore, this book not only features delicate and lingering love descriptions but also political struggles, the interests of personal fate and national security, the social conditions of eunuch domination and regional military autonomy during the reign of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, and more. As a result, the story's content is richer, the characters' personalities are more vivid, and the plot twists and turns, giving Cui and Zhang's love story a broader social background. A thousand-year legend, reborn in a new light.