Marionette Plays from Northern China

eISBN-13: 9781438464855

eBook Features

Rent or Buy from $ 36.95 USD
Note: We do not guarantee supplemental material with textbooks (e.g. CD's, Music, DVD's, Access Code, or Lab Manuals)

Additional Book Details

Marionette puppet theater has a rich and ancient history in China, extending back to the Han dynasty and reaching its heyday in the Qing dynasty. While this art form is nearly extinct in northern China today, a handful of troupes in Heyang County in Shaanxi Province, which claims to be the birthplace of marionette theater, continue to perform skits and scenes from Heyang's earlier, broader marionette theater repertoire. In this book, Fan Pen Li Chen has collected and translated rare transcriptions of some of the most popular of these plays. Her insightful translations include a rich variety of genres and highlight memorable characters that range from manipulative aristocrats, poor Confucian scholars, and a woman warrior to Baldy Guo, the iconic clown of puppet theater. As the only work in English about the puppet theater of northern China, these translations provide valuable information about the history, religion, social roles, and popular culture of that region. Detailed introductions and annotations for each play, as well as an extensive bibliography, are also included.

ISBNs 9781438464855, 1438464851, 9781438464831
Language English