This seven-volume set of previously out-of-print books focuses on the arts in China. With books on the country’s literature, folk tales, ballads, theatre and art, this reference resource spans Chinese traditions and artforms to provide in-depth analysis of some of China’s great cultural treasures.
By Alan Ayling, Duncan Mackintosh
October 15, 2023
This book, first published in 1969, builds on the authors’ first selection and contains a selection of Chinese lyrics (tz’u) mainly from Sung Dynasty poets who made this verse-form lastingly popular. Two of these poets, Su Shih and Hsin Ch’i Chi, add a fresh and robust note to the traditional theme...
By Roberta Helmer Stalberg, Ruth Nesi
October 15, 2023
This book, first published in 1981, provides a comprehensive appraisal of China’s crafts. Its historical approach and numerous illustrations not only reveal the ancient origins of many of China’s arts, but also offer the means for evaluating modern crafts in light of past achievements....
By Wolfram Eberhard
October 15, 2023
This book, first published in 1937, collects together traditional Chinese fairy tales, taken down word for word as they were related to the author by one of China’s foremost scholars....
Edited
By Robert Payne
October 15, 2023
This book, first published in 1947, is an anthology of Chinese poetry from a period when it was entering an entirely new world, where all or nearly all the ancient poetic traditions were being cast aside. No longer could Chinese poetry be regarded as the graceful accomplishment of retired sages: ...
By Roger Howard
October 15, 2023
Chinese theatre underwent a great experiment under the cultural revolution. Using the reformed Beijing operas as models, the whole range of theatre arts, from straight plays to acrobatics and from ballet to ballads saw a profound transformation. Alongside the professional theatre, an upsurge of ...
Edited
By Charles R. Metzger, Richard F.S. Yang
October 15, 2023
This book, first published in 1967, gives us a rich sampling of ch’ü, the characteristic poem of the time of Yüan, when China was under Mongol rule. The ch’ü was a popular form of poetry in the sense that although it was written by literati, they wrote in the vernacular rather than in Classical ...
By Anne Birrell
October 15, 2023
This book, first published in 1988, compiles 77 songs and ballads (yüeh-fu) of early imperial China (200 BC – AD 300). Each song-text is newly translated and fully annotated and explicated. Dr Birrell deals systematically with problems of the earliest sources, dating, attribution, textual variants,...
By Robert Tung
October 15, 2023
This book, first published in 1976, is a collection of essays by Chinese scholars, all of whom have been criticised by the Chinese Communist Party or by the Government. The work of these authors constitutes an important part of Chinese literature, and these essays are placed in context by ...
By James J.Y. Liu
October 15, 2023
This book, first published in 1962, is a majestic survey of the whole structure of Chinese poetry. It is a critical introduction to the field as well as an exposition of Chinese views on the nature of poetry. It discusses the Chinese language as a poetic medium from various angles – visual, ...
By John Blofeld
October 15, 2023
This book, first published in 1968, examines the I Ching, one of the oldest books in the world and certainly the most influential in Chinese thought. This modern translation features extensive explanatory material, and is the product of the author’s great experience in the field and of close ...
By Henry McAleavy
October 15, 2023
This book, first published in 1961, is a translation of an anonymously-written Chinese work first written in 1913 and published in Shanghai in serial form with illustrations. It is an excellent example of the popular Chinese literature featuring romances between foreigners and the Chinese, and ...
By James J.Y. Liu
October 15, 2023
This book, first published in 1967, is a comprehensive study of knight-errantry in Chinese history and literature from the fourth century BC to the twentieth century. After discussing the social and intellectual backgrounds of knight-errantry, it gives examples of historical knights and describes ...