How to Read Chinese Drama in Chinese

This book is at once a guided primer on Chinese drama and an innovative textbook. A companion to How to Read Chinese Drama designed for Chinese-language learners, it provides a versatile introduction to traditional Chinese plays for readers who want to experience Chinese drama in the original language.

Guo Yingde is professor of Chinese language and literature in the Institute of Chinese Language and Literature at Beijing Normal University.

Wenbo Chang is lecturer in Chinese language and literature in the Department of Comparative Literature and Intercultural Studies at the University of Georgia.

Patricia Sieber is associate professor of Chinese literature and director of the Translation and Interpreting program at Ohio State University as well as coeditor of How to Read Chinese Drama: A Guided Anthology (2022).

Xiaohui Zhang (1985–2020) was a PhD candidate in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Ying Wang, cotranslator of The Fragrant Companions: A Play About Love Between Women:
The very first of its kind, this carefully crafted primer on classical Chinese drama offers a pleasant and informative reading of the best works of Chinese theater and helps the reader to appreciate the beauty and musicality of the original Chinese language.

David Rolston, author of Inscribing Jingju/Peking Opera: Textualization and Performance, Authorship and Censorship of the “National Drama” of China from the Late Qing to the Present:
Chinese theater synthesizes a great variety of performance modes rather than separating them out. This makes it both difficult and very rewarding to learn and to teach. Comprising a stellar group of scholars, How to Read Chinese Drama in Chinese is extraordinary scholarship of the highest quality that will benefit students greatly.

Emily Wilcox, coeditor of Corporeal Politics: Dancing East Asia:
This well designed coursebook will allow Chinese language instructors and students to approach advanced Chinese language learning through traditional drama. The selected plays are iconic and do a good job of introducing students to different types of drama, which unfortunately is currently rarely taught in classical Chinese courses.