Complete Quan Ming Sanqu (Complete 5 Volumes)

Author: Xie Boyang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1994-03-01
Features: Sanqu (a form of song and music) developed from the "folk ballads and rustic songs" of the Song and Jin dynasties, and under the influence of other narrative arts. This new literary form, originating from the folk, underwent long-term incubation and development, reaching its full glory during the Yuan Dynasty. As a "Yuanqu" (Sanqu and Zaju) that has endured for a long time in Chinese classical poetry while maintaining its unique characteristics, it achieved a status second only to "Tang Poetry" and "Song Ci," standing shoulder to shoulder with them. It was only in the last six or seven decades that Sanqu secured its place in the history of Chinese literature. Among the various classical poetic forms in China, Sanqu emerged the latest and held the lowest status. Both Sanqu and Zaju were long discriminated against by feudal rulers, often dismissed as mere "minor arts" and "trifles"! After Sanqu reached its zenith during the Yuan Dynasty, it flourished even more in the Ming Dynasty, with both the number of writers and works far exceeding those of the Yuan Dynasty.