Chinese Title: 大中华文库—邯郸记
Title: The Handan Dream
ISBN: 9787560038780
Edition: Chinese-English
Publishing Date: 2003-12
Author/translator:Tang Xianzu (the Ming Dynasty)/Wang Rongpei
Publishing House: Foreign Language Press
Format: 16mo
Cover: luxury
Page: 550pp
Spec: 240x160mm
Description:
The Handan Dream, one of the literary masterpieces written by Chinese dramatist Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), is adapted from Shen Jiji's romance story A Tale Within the Pillow.
It was about a scholar who went to the capital for the civil exam and was enlightened by an Immortal. Lu Sheng, the protagonist, is a down-and-out scholar who meets with Lu Dongbin, an immortal on a mission to convert a man into the world of the ever living, at a small inn in the city of Handan. Upon hearing Lu Sheng's complaint about his wretched life, Lu Dongbin lends him a porcelain pillow to sleep on. In his dream, Lu Sheng experience 50 years of vicissitudes of life as a high official, only to wake up to the stark reality that the yellow millet the innkeeper has been cooking for him is not yet done. The drama captures the seamy side of officialdom in the feudal society.
Tang Xianzu (1550 - 1616) was a Chinese playwright of the Ming Dynasty. Tang was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi and his career as an official consisted principally of low-level positions. He retired in 1598 and focused on writing. His major plays are collectively called "the Four Dreams", because of the decisive role dreams play in the plot of each one. All of them are still performed (in scenes, or in adapted full versions) on the Chinese Kun opera (kunqu) stage. Generally considered his masterpiece, Mudan Ting [The Peony Pavilion] is also his only work available in print in English.
This product was added to our catalog on Saturday 24 October, 2009.
