Description: A Topsy-Turvy World presents English translations of shorter late Ming and early Qing plays. Satirical and often earthy, these mostly one-act plays provide a glimpse of Chinese daily life and mores even as they question or subvert the boundaries of social, moral, and political order.
Brief description: Stephen G. West is professor of Chinese at Arizona State University. He is the author of Monks, Bandits, Lovers, and Immortals: Eleven Early Chinese Plays (with Wilt Idema). (Cambridge: Hackett Press, 2010); Battles, Betrayals, and Brotherhood: Early Chinese Plays on the Three Kingdoms (with Wilt Idema). (Cambridge: Hackett Press, 2012); The Generals of the Yang Family: Four Ming Plays (with Wilt Idema) (Singapore: World Scientific Press, 2013); and others.
Review Quotes: Zaju plays of the Ming and Qing dynasties have long been a neglected area both in China and elsewhere. For that reason, this anthology is a timely translation. It provides new materials not only for general readers interested in premodern Chinese zaju plays but also for students and scholars to engage in further studies of the genre.--Hongchu Fu, author of Chinese Drama