The Butterfly Lovers: The Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai: Four Versions with Related Texts - Softcover

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9781603841948: The Butterfly Lovers: The Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai: Four Versions with Related Texts
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1603841946 ISBN 13: 9781603841948
Publisher: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2010

Synopsis

The late-imperial legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the Butterfly Lovers--a story as central to Chinese culture as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is to Western culture--also relates a tale of two lovers help apart by social strictures. To audiences of the many Chinese ballads, plays, and films based on the story, the tragic ending offers proof that equality and happiness can only be achieved in a China freed from the traditional family system.

This volume offers translations of the earliest versions of the popular ballad along with later literary reinventions of the tale; a variety of related documents reveal the historical and cultural origins of the legend. In his Introduction, Wilt L. Idema provides essential contextual information and discusses how the story of the Butterfly Lovers fits into modern Chinese concepts of gender roles and sexual freedom.

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About the Author

Wilt L. Idema is Professor of Chinese Literature, Harvard University.

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Publisher
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Publication date
2010
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1603841946
ISBN 13 
9781603841948
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
256
Rating
  • 4.07 out of 5 stars
    30 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781603841955: The Butterfly Lovers: The Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai: Four Versions with Related Texts

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  1603841954 ISBN 13:  9781603841955
Publisher: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2010
Hardcover