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    A Study Guide for Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion"
    A Study Guide for Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion"
    A Study Guide for Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion"
    Ebook45 pages33 minutes

    A Study Guide for Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion", excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateApr 19, 2019
    ISBN9780028671239
    A Study Guide for Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion"

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion" - Gale

      19

      The Peony Pavilion

      Tang Xianzu

      1598

      Introduction

      The Peony Pavilion (Mudan ting) is perhaps the greatest of the Chinese operas. It is the one singled out by Western performers as well as the Chinese government as the prime representative of the operatic stage in the Western world as well as in modern China, where the genre has lost popularity in much the same way Western opera has in Europe and America. The text of The Peony Pavilion was written in 1598 by Tang Xianzu, who is often compared to his exact contemporary in Europe, William Shakespeare. (The music of Chinese opera is drawn from tradition rather than composed new for each opera.) The Peony Pavilion is a love story between the young student Liu and his beloved, Bridal Du, whom he first meets in a dream and later marries after she has died of longing for him and then been raised from the dead by the power of their love. The tale is heavily satirical of contemporary Chinese society. Indiana University Press published The Peony Pavilion in 2002.

      Author Biography

      Tang Xianzu (also known as Yireng) was born in Linchuan in the Jiangxi province of China on September 24, 1550. His family belonged to the local gentry and probably had a history of government service. He followed the standard career path for aristocrats and passed the first round of provincial examinations at the age of twenty-one, making him eligible to work in the government bureaucracy, the most prestigious career in China. He advanced rapidly and passed the imperial examinations when he was thirty-four. He was promoted to be in charge of the Ministry of Rites, the commission that oversaw religion, in Nanjing, the southern capital. Tang soon became involved in a dispute with one of the imperial secretaries over the issue of free speech. He wrote a memorandum criticizing efforts to suppress honest criticism of the administration by officials, in particular, the habit of secretaries to keep such documents away from the eyes of the emperor. The emperor did see this document and considered it showed a lack of faith in his appointment of his own staff. Accordingly, Tang was demoted to be jail warden in Guangdong. Under the circumstances, Tang retired in 1598 and devoted himself to writing.

      Tang had already written two plays: The Purple Flute and The Purple Hairpin. He finished The Peony Pavilion in 1598, originally for production in his own household, personally training the singers for their roles. The troupe soon spread the play, and it became a popular work. It underwent many editions, especially in the next century, and was produced in several different versions in various operatic styles, and became the subject of many commentaries. The most important commentary is known as The Three Wives

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