Yuan Dynasty opera commentaries on Bao Gong plays

Author: Fan Jiachen
Annotations:
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-12-01
Features: The Yuan Dynasty zaju (a form of Chinese opera) about Bao Gong (Judge Bao), which created a mature image of the incorruptible official Bao Gong and holds an important position in Yuan zaju. This book compiles eleven existing Yuan zaju about Bao Gong, all collected in one volume. Among them, only Tieshaqiu (Substituting for a Wife) is based on Yuan Kan Gujin Zaaju San Shi Zhong (Thirty Ancient Plays from the Yuan Dynasty), while the rest are derived from Yuan Qu Xuan (Selected Yuan Dynasty Qu). It also includes an Index of Yuan Zaju about Bao Gong and Biography of Bao Zheng from The History of Song Dynasty. Each play is preceded by a brief commentary. The annotations focus on naming conventions, institutions, customs, and colloquial phrases, with appropriate references to classical texts. Additionally, dialects, obscure terms, and allusions are lightly annotated. Browsing through the garden of Yuan zaju, we will find it to be a vibrant and magnificent realm, with Bao Gong plays standing out as a particularly striking gem. Together with other outstanding achievements in zaju art, they mark the rise of a new literary genre in China, bringing vitality to the ancient literary scene, creating a more glorious period in the history of Chinese literature, and exerting a profound influence on the development of later literature.