Monks, Bandits, Lovers, and Immortals

"This magnificent collection of eleven early [1250–1450] Chinese plays will give readers a vivid sense of life and a clear understanding of dramatic literature during an extraordinarily eventful period in Chinese history. Not only are the eleven plays in this volume expertly translated into lively, idiomatic English; they are each provided with illuminating, scholarly introductions that are yet fully intelligible to the educated lay reader. A marvelous volume." --Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania

 
"An exciting new resource for undergraduate teaching. The translated plays were clearly chosen for their literary value as well as their significance to the history of Chinese drama, and each is preceded by an introduction providing its historical context. In their lucid introduction, West and Idema describe the historical background of early drama, discussing its urban setting, the theater, the actors, and the sources to trace the transformation of Yuan drama from urban popular performance into an elite reading form by the end of the Ming dynasty." --Kimberly Besio, Colby College, in The Journal of Asian Studies

 
"Much more than a mere collection of translated plays. With a comprehensive introduction to early Chinese theater in general, a brief guide to each play, and a number of useful appendices, the book provides almost everything one needs to know about Chinese theater of the Yuan and early Ming dynasties. . . [West and Idema's] translations are well-known for their emphasis on accuracy and contextualization, trying to render every nuance of the original while providing as much of a context as possible for their reader's sake. The book stand[s] out as one of the best English translations so far of early Chinese plays." --CHINOPERL Papers