Readings in Chinese Literature: Chinese Theater, 900-1900

An introduction to Chinese opera from the Song until the Republican period. Opera texts are read in conjunction with issues pertinent to cultural history: the architectural history of the stage, the urban and rural environment of opera, the global circulation of opera, the relationship between religious ritual and literary performance, as well as issues of physicality, sexuality, gender, patronage, and class. Primary texts include the Yuan opera Zhao shi gu er (and the Voltaire play Orphelin de la Chine), Tang Xianzu's Mudan ting, Li Yu's Qingzhong pu, Kong Shangren's Taohua shan, and Chen Sen's novel Pinhua baojian.