明刊閩南戲曲絃管選本三種 The Classical Theatre & Art Song of South Fukien (English-Chinese Edition)

Piet van der Loon
ISBN: 978-957-638-107-2
SMC Publishing Co.
298 pag. hardcover 18 x 24 cm 1992

This is a comprehensive study of three rare Ming editions. The first is an illustrated anthology, dating from 1604 and consisting of complete acts and separate arias from plays of the same type as the classical drama, the Li-yüan hsi, still perfomed today. The other two are collections of arias printed in the same period. Together they make it possible to trace twenty-six plays, several no longer extant and some not recorded anywhere else in China. A large number of the arias have been preserved, virtually without change, in the nan-kuan tradition of the local musical societies. In addition to a photographic reproduction of the three texts, the book provides a survey of literature in the Min-nan language, an historical account of the classical theatre of Southern Fukien, and an analysis of the songs, based on the musical catagories used in the Ming period. Each of the plays represented is carefully examined for details of plot and provenance.

The author is Emeritus Professor of Chinese at Oxford University.