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A Couple of Soles : A Comic Play from Seventeenth-Century China / Li Yu.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Yu, Li, Author.
- Series:
- Translations from the Asian classics.
- Translations from the Asian Classics
- Standardized Title:
- Bimuyu. English
- Language:
- Chinese
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Comedy--Drama.
- Comedy.
- China--History--17th century--Drama.
- China.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (361 pages) : illustrations.
- Place of Publication:
- New York, NY : Columbia University Press, [2019]
- Language Note:
- In English.
- Summary:
- A Couple of Soles is a classic comedic romance by the seventeenth-century playwright Li Yu. Tan Chuyu, a poor young scholar, falls in love with the beautiful actress Liu Miaogu. He joins her family's acting troupe, and, in plays within the play, romance ensues. After Liu's family attempts to marry her off to a local country squire, she performs a famous scene in which a heroine drowns herself-and then jumps off the stage into a river, followed by Tan. The local river deity rescues the lovers from death by transforming them into a pair of soles. Li balances their romance with the adventures of a retired upright official involving banditry, bribery, and mistaken identity-and who nets and shelters the two fish when they regain human form.Written at a time when China was beginning to recover from the cataclysmic Ming-Qing dynastic transition, A Couple of Soles displays Li's biting wit as well as his reflections on the concerns of his age, including the dangers of administrative service and the role of theater in society. The play combines witty wordplay and caustic satire with a strong emphasis on traditional moral values. The first major comedy from late imperial China to appear in English translation, A Couple of Soles provides an unparalleled view of the theater in seventeenth-century China. A general introduction and a detailed appendix shed further light on the play and its context.
- Contents:
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION
- INTRODUCTION / Shen, Jing
- DRAMATIS PERSONAE AND THEIR ROLE CATEGORIES
- PREFACE
- SCENES
- A Couple of Soles
- SCENE 1: MAKING A START
- SCENE 2: BURNING EARS
- SCENE 3: ORGANIZING A TROUPE
- SCENE 4: SPECIAL APPRECIATION
- SCENE 5: PUNISHING BANDITS
- SCENE 6: DECIDING ON A PLAN
- SCENE 7: JOINING THE TROUPE
- SCENE 8: THE BANDITS SET OUT
- SCENE 9: DRAFTING A LETTER
- SCENE 10: BECOMING LEADING MAN
- SCENE 11: THE FOX'S MIGHT135
- SCENE 12: LUXURIANT ESCAPE
- SCENE 13: THROWING MONEY AROUND
- SCENE 14: EXTORTION
- SCENE 15: TOGETHER IN DEATH
- SCENE 16: DIVINE PROTECTION
- SCENE 17: SCRAMBLING FOR PROFIT
- SCENE 18: THE RETURN TO LIFE
- SCENE 19: RUSTIC NUPTIALS
- SCENE 20: THE SECRET DISPATCH
- SCENE 21: A PARTING GIFT
- SCENE 22: A CUNNING PLAN
- SCENE 23: THE MAKE- BELIEVE HERMIT
- SCENE 24: DEPARTING IN GLORY
- SCENE 25: A PRETEND DEITY
- SCENE 26: PRESENTING THE BOOK
- SCENE 27: DECIDING ON THE PLAYERS
- SCENE 28: A COINCIDENTAL REUNION
- SCENE 29: GRABBING THE CART SHAFTS
- SCENE 30: WINNING THE BATTLE
- SCENE 31: MISTAKEN ARREST
- SCENE 32: A SHOCKING REUNION
- Appendix. THE PLAYWRIGHT AND HIS ART / Shen, Jing
- NOTES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references.
- Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Feb 2020)
- ISBN:
- 0-231-55036-7
- OCLC:
- 1135589859
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