Master Tung's Western Chamber Romance

By Wang Shifu

Book Overview

This twelfth-century masterpiece suffered virtual oblivion from the late fourteenth century until 1912, when it was rediscovered by the great sinologist Wang Kuo-wei who helped restore it to its preeminent position in Chinese literature. Comprising 184 prose passages and 5,263 lines of verse to be narrated and sung by a performing singer-storyteller, it is an elaboration of the T'ang dynasty love story, The Story of Ying-ying, by Yuan Chen (779-831)

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231101198
• ISBN13: 9780231101196
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.8"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Beautiful, Historical, Racy!

Master Tung's Western Chamber Romance is a lovely example of the vernacular story in traditional Chinese Literature. Written in stunning verse interspersed with prose, the story chronicles the seemingly ill-fated love affair of the scholar Chang and his love, Ying-Ying. The pair endure many of the same hardships as modern couples: miscommunication, forbidding mothers, and family influence among them. In addition to the lovers' travails, the story includes intrigue, an attempted attack by rebels, and deception, all told lilting verse and clever prose. The characters are well rounded for an older piece of Chinese literature, and story flows easily. Despite being several hundred years old, this piece from the 12th century has endured time and is still a lively, interesting and relatable story today.