Yuánkān Záju Sānshí Zhǒng 元刊雜劇三十種
Thirty Yuan Dynasty Zaju Plays (Yuan Woodblock Edition)
About the work
A corpus of 30 záju 雜劇 (variety plays) preserved in Yuan-dynasty woodblock printed editions — the oldest surviving printed texts of Yuan drama. These Yuan-printed editions antedate the major Ming anthologies (notably Zang Maoxun’s 臧懋循 Yuánqū xuǎn 元曲選, 1615–16) and preserve earlier, less-edited readings of individual plays. They are essential for textual criticism of Yuan záju and constitute one of the most important primary sources for Chinese theatrical history. The Kanripo corpus appears to contain the full-text content of these plays along with the editorial apparatus of a modern collated edition.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
The original Yuan-printed editions of the 30 plays were preserved primarily in the Naikaku bunko 内閣文庫 (Tokyo) and other Japanese libraries, having been transmitted to Japan during the late Ming and early Edo periods. These early prints differ in significant ways from the standard Ming-dynasty anthologized text: they lack many of the literary elaborations and stylistic polishing that Zang Maoxun and other Ming editors imposed on the plays, and they preserve archaic stage directions (kē 科), dialogue forms, and aria sequences closer to Yuan performance practice.
The 30 plays include works by major Yuan playwrights including Guān Hànqīng 關漢卿 (see KR4k0037), Wáng Shífǔ 王實甫 (see KR4k0039), and others, alongside works by lesser-known authors. The collection thus serves as a critical comparandum for modern editions of individual plays, which typically follow the Zang Maoxun recension.
Stephen West’s research on the Ming editorial transformation of Yuan drama is particularly relevant here; West (2003) has argued systematically that Ming editors substantially altered Yuan plays to suit literati tastes, and the Yuan-printed editions provide the baseline against which to assess those alterations.
Translations and research
- Idema, Wilt, and Stephen West. 1982. Chinese Theater 1100–1450: A Source Book. Steiner. Fundamental reference.
- West, Stephen. 2003. “Text and Ideology: Ming Editors and Northern Drama.” In The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition in Chinese Culture, ed. Paul Smith and Richard von Glahn. Harvard Asia Center.
- Crump, James I. 1990. Chinese Theater in the Days of Kublai Khan. Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan.
- Sieber, Patricia, and Regina Llamas, eds. 2022. How to Read Chinese Drama: A Guided Anthology. Columbia UP.
Links
- Wikidata: Yuankan zaju sanshi zhong