Three Hundred Yuan Qu Poems

Author: Ren Zhongmin, edited by Lu Qianxuan, annotated and analyzed by Pan Tianning / New Edition
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-02-01
Features: Yuanqu is a treasure of ancient Chinese traditional art. This book is a selection and compilation based on ancient qu poetry, arranged in chronological order. In addition to the original qu, it includes author biographies, annotations, colloquial translations, and analyses, each with its own focus while complementing each other, hoping to provide some assistance to readers. The selected Yuan qu in this book primarily consists of xiaoling (short qu), supplemented by a few examples of tugu (overlapping qu) and zhongtou qu (repeated qu), with no qu sets included. The selected items are based on a slight adjustment of the selection from Ren Zhongmin and Lu Qian's "Three Hundred Yuan Qu," with over 300 pieces in total. In terms of arrangement, the authors are arranged in chronological order as much as possible. For those whose era is uncertain, they are arranged based on the chronological order of their associated authors, with anonymous works placed at the end. Each author is accompanied by a short biography to help readers understand them. Due to the vast distance in time from the Yuan Dynasty, centuries of ethnic integration and linguistic development have made some words an obstacle for modern readers to understand Yuan qu. Therefore, the author has provided annotations and analyses after each qu. The principle of annotations is to give concise and clear explanations of the original meanings of the words. The analysis text may provide hints on the main theme of the qu, elaborate on its writing characteristics, or summarize the overall meaning of the qu, with varying lengths depending on the content, avoiding overly verbose descriptions.