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牡丹亭
全名《牡丹亭还魂记》，又名《还魂记》、《还魂梦》等。取材于明小说《杜丽娘慕色还魂》。描写了杜丽娘与书生柳梦梅梦中相爱，历经波折结为夫妇的故事。剧作通过杜丽娘这一典型形象，传达了在明代封建专制主义重压下，广大青年男女要求个性解放，争取爱情自由和婚姻自主的呼声。暴露了封建礼教的虚伪和腐朽。具有浓郁的浪漫主义色彩，人物刻画细致深刻，风格“婉丽妖冶，语动刺骨”，在中国戏曲文学史上占有重要地位。
159 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1598
134 people are currently reading
1180 people want to read
About the author
Tang Xianzu
35 books2 followersTang Xianzu (Chinese: 湯顯祖; September 24, 1550 — July 29, 1616), courtesy name Yireng (義仍), was a Chinese playwright of the Ming Dynasty.
Tang was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi and his career as an official consisted principally of low-level positions. He successfully participated in the Provincial examinations at the age of 21 and at the imperial examinations at the age of 34. He held official positions in Nanjing, Zhejiang province, Guangdong province etc.. He retired in 1598 and returned to his hometown where he focused on writing.
His major plays are collectively called the Four Dreams, because of the decisive role dreams play in the plot of each one. All of them are still performed (in scenes, or in adapted full versions) on the Chinese Kun opera (kunqu) stage. Generally considered his masterpiece, the Mudan Ting (The Peony Pavilion) has been translated into English several times; each of the other plays has been translated once.
(from Wikipedia)
Tang was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi and his career as an official consisted principally of low-level positions. He successfully participated in the Provincial examinations at the age of 21 and at the imperial examinations at the age of 34. He held official positions in Nanjing, Zhejiang province, Guangdong province etc.. He retired in 1598 and returned to his hometown where he focused on writing.
His major plays are collectively called the Four Dreams, because of the decisive role dreams play in the plot of each one. All of them are still performed (in scenes, or in adapted full versions) on the Chinese Kun opera (kunqu) stage. Generally considered his masterpiece, the Mudan Ting (The Peony Pavilion) has been translated into English several times; each of the other plays has been translated once.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
February 4, 2017
I remember vividly a time in my childhood when my grandmother used to take me to watch Cantonese operas. A scene from one such opera etched an indelible mark on my young mind: the scene of reincarnation of a beauty who was the subject of a portrait. It just felt shockingly unbelievable to me then! The opera was The Peony Pavilion Dream (牡丹亭驚夢) directed by the iconic Tang Ti-sheng (唐滌生). It was only much later in life that I found out that the opera was based on Ming playwright giant Tang Xianzu's (湯顯祖) famous drama entitled The Peony Pavilion.
The play was written in 1598 (eleven years earlier Tang Xianzu had written the popular drama The Purple Hairpin (紫釵記)), and the setting was in Southern Song. The story is about a cloistered aristocratic young lady's listless pining for true love and freedom from social conventions, her dream of sexual romance with a young scholar in the garden pavilion, her tragic death from unfulfilled longing, the subsequent reincarnation through her own hand-drawn portrait and reunion with the scholar, her father's stubborn refusal to allow their marriage and the final happy ending brought about by the Emperor acting as the arbitrator.
It has taken me over six weeks to finish reading the play as it was written in classical Chinese text and was full of metaphors with historical allusions, which meant that I had to constantly refer to the annotations. Although I had had training in school in reading classical Chinese texts, it has been a long time since I last read anything in the antiquated language, except poetry. Yet it was such a pleasure to savor the lyrical metaphors and the choreography of imagery in the play. What struck me as most incredible was the occasional erotic description. Overall I was greatly impressed by the author's embrace of the idea of youthful optimism and relentless pursuit of freedom.
This literary gem deserves no less than 5 stars.
June 1, 2016
Preface to the Second Edition, by Cyril Birch
Introduction: 'Peony Pavilion' on Stage and in the Study, by Catherine Swatek
A Note on Layout
--The Peony Pavilion: Mudan ting
Index of Aria Patterns
Introduction: 'Peony Pavilion' on Stage and in the Study, by Catherine Swatek
A Note on Layout
--The Peony Pavilion: Mudan ting
Index of Aria Patterns
October 14, 2024
june 2021
3.5 ✳︎ this play made me realize that i'm just not a play/drama person, regardless of it being western or eastern.
april 2021
dnf for now ✳︎ i guess my literature class is only reading the first 12 scenes. i’ll have to find time this summer to finish it.
3.5 ✳︎ this play made me realize that i'm just not a play/drama person, regardless of it being western or eastern.
april 2021
dnf for now ✳︎ i guess my literature class is only reading the first 12 scenes. i’ll have to find time this summer to finish it.
December 20, 2015
This book was a revelation. I'd venture to say that it is one of the masterpieces of world literature that most Westerners have never heard of. As a novice in the realm of Chinese literature, I picked up The Peony Pavilion expecting a dramatic work that would offer a window into the world of late Ming China. I was rewarded in this regard (though the action itself is set in the Southern Song period of some 400 years earlier), but I was also surprised to find myself making comparisons with Shakespeare on every other page. The contemporaneity of the two playwrights is frequently remarked, as are several thematic similarities with both Romeo and Juliet (young love run afoul of the social conventions of the time) and A Winter's Tale (a riff on the earlier work of another author, involving a dream and the resurrection of a loved one). But above all, the modernity of the sensibility that suffuses the work makes me want to explore the vast and mostly untranslated world of late Ming literature, to know this sensibility that seems so remarkably similar, and yet distinctly different, from what is most familiar in Western literature.
Readers of The Peony Pavilion owe an enormous debt to translator Cyril Birch for bringing this text into English. Like all good translators, Birch is a poet in his own right, managing what must have been the enormously difficult challenge of bringing across puns, rhymes, humor and real lyricism well enough so that the text seems to live in its new language. The many layers of scholarly cultural reference are annotated so that the notes themselves provide a thumbnail tour of several thousand years of Chinese legend, history, and philosophy. In this way, Tang's play resembles less Shakespeare than other writers of the European Renaissance anxious to refer everything around them to a classical text, author, or model, even when doubting it. This is the ingrained habit of the Confucian literati to which Tang belonged, and there is no way around it. It is a relief to learn that, even in the original Chinese, the play has traditionally been considered difficult and accessible only to a highly-trained literary elite. One of the virtues of reading in translation, then, is that some of this imposing apparatus falls away, and you can enjoy the story free of the guilty feeling that you're missing half the meaning.
The play is a love-story, but one that is notable for developing between two people who have met only in a dream, one of whom then dies and must continue the romance from beyond the grave. A painted image of the departed young girl acts as a link between the world of the living and the dead. The most moving, and most celebrated scenes of the play center around the formation and evolution of this unusual romance, one described with such straightforward conviction and lyricism that its fantastical element quickly recedes to secondary importance.
It may seem surprising that something so closely resembling a "ghost story" could at the same time be so modern, but from the first pages it is clear that the central character, the eligible young girl of aristocratic lineage, is intent on pursuing her heart's desire to an extent that puts her at odds with nearly every social convention of the period. A woman up against stifling mores, is this not the stuff of great 19th century European novels? What makes this all the more powerful is the almost unimaginable weight of the restrictions imposed upon women of elevated standing: the confinement to 'inner quarters' from which even a short garden stroll is looked on with disapproval; the limited access to learning; the frank indulgence in female sensual desire on the part of Bridal Du, the parental preference for sons over daughters -- all of it is inflammatory. Bridal Du selects her lover without the consent of her father; her lover brings her to life by literally digging her from the grave (a capital punishment); and neither Bridal nor her new husband Liu Mengmei can rest assured in their marriage until it is deemed legitimate in audience with the Emperor himself.
Along the way there is much else of interest and beauty, chiefly involving the complications arising from the lovers' 'unconventional' relationship. The historical span of reference, the geographic scope, and the range of characters drawn from all ranks of Chinese society, combining in a distinctly Chinese version of 'humanism', suggest that here as much as in Shakespeare or Montaigne or anywhere else, modern literature has its roots.
Readers of The Peony Pavilion owe an enormous debt to translator Cyril Birch for bringing this text into English. Like all good translators, Birch is a poet in his own right, managing what must have been the enormously difficult challenge of bringing across puns, rhymes, humor and real lyricism well enough so that the text seems to live in its new language. The many layers of scholarly cultural reference are annotated so that the notes themselves provide a thumbnail tour of several thousand years of Chinese legend, history, and philosophy. In this way, Tang's play resembles less Shakespeare than other writers of the European Renaissance anxious to refer everything around them to a classical text, author, or model, even when doubting it. This is the ingrained habit of the Confucian literati to which Tang belonged, and there is no way around it. It is a relief to learn that, even in the original Chinese, the play has traditionally been considered difficult and accessible only to a highly-trained literary elite. One of the virtues of reading in translation, then, is that some of this imposing apparatus falls away, and you can enjoy the story free of the guilty feeling that you're missing half the meaning.
The play is a love-story, but one that is notable for developing between two people who have met only in a dream, one of whom then dies and must continue the romance from beyond the grave. A painted image of the departed young girl acts as a link between the world of the living and the dead. The most moving, and most celebrated scenes of the play center around the formation and evolution of this unusual romance, one described with such straightforward conviction and lyricism that its fantastical element quickly recedes to secondary importance.
It may seem surprising that something so closely resembling a "ghost story" could at the same time be so modern, but from the first pages it is clear that the central character, the eligible young girl of aristocratic lineage, is intent on pursuing her heart's desire to an extent that puts her at odds with nearly every social convention of the period. A woman up against stifling mores, is this not the stuff of great 19th century European novels? What makes this all the more powerful is the almost unimaginable weight of the restrictions imposed upon women of elevated standing: the confinement to 'inner quarters' from which even a short garden stroll is looked on with disapproval; the limited access to learning; the frank indulgence in female sensual desire on the part of Bridal Du, the parental preference for sons over daughters -- all of it is inflammatory. Bridal Du selects her lover without the consent of her father; her lover brings her to life by literally digging her from the grave (a capital punishment); and neither Bridal nor her new husband Liu Mengmei can rest assured in their marriage until it is deemed legitimate in audience with the Emperor himself.
Along the way there is much else of interest and beauty, chiefly involving the complications arising from the lovers' 'unconventional' relationship. The historical span of reference, the geographic scope, and the range of characters drawn from all ranks of Chinese society, combining in a distinctly Chinese version of 'humanism', suggest that here as much as in Shakespeare or Montaigne or anywhere else, modern literature has its roots.
November 13, 2014
A love story set during the Song dynasty, there's also a sort of subplot of the war between the chinese and jurchen. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this 'libretto' of the play.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3gvMLDT7RYw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3gvMLDT7RYw
October 20, 2019
Pensé que por ser una obra clásica china, escrita siglos atrás (su autor es contemporáneo de Shakespeare y de Cervantes) tendría un tono muy serio y épico, pero no; yo la calificaría como comedia en buena parte de ella. Realmente me sorprendió.
February 28, 2013
Der Liebe wegen
Ein Traum - wenige Völker haben sich in ihrer Literatur dermaßen ausgiebig mit diesem Phänomen beschäftigt wie die Chinesen. Vom weltbekannten Schmetterlingstraum Zhuangzis, über Baoyus Traumbegegnung mit seinem Zwilling im Hongloumeng bis hin zu den allgegenwärtigen Träumen in Pu Songlings Liaozhai Zhiyi zieht sich dieses Thema auffallend stark durch alle Epochen und Stile der klassischen chinesischen Literatur. Der Traum ist dabei immer mehr als nur die Illusion, die uns unser verarbeitendes Gehirn vorspiegelt; Träume sind Omen, der Kanal zur Geisterwelt und haben direkte Auswirkungen auf den Träumenden auch in der realen Welt. So wie in diesem Theaterdrama Tang Xianzus aus dem 16. Jahrhundert.
Das junge Mädchen Bridal Du verliebt sich unsterblich in einen Unbekannten, der ihr nur in einem Traum begegnet ist. Die Liebe ist so groß, dass sie es letztlich nicht mehr erträgt, nicht mit dieser Person vereint zu sein, und verzehrt sich bis zum Tode. Wie sich die Liebenden dann doch finden, und Bridal Du aus der Unterwelt wieder mit ihrer Familie und ihrem Geliebten, der es inzwischen zu Ruhm und Ehren gebracht hat, vereint wird, erzählt "Mudan Ting".
Auch wenn es viel um die Liebe der Hauptpersonen geht, so ist dies doch kein liebestriefendes Stück: Voller Humor, witzigen Karikaturen von Offiziellen und einfachen Leuten und doch einiges an Spannung bietet dieses Stück ein Kaleidoskop der chinesischen Kultur. Dabei erhält man in den Szenen hin und wieder ganz göttliche Einblicke in die chinesisch-konfuzianistische Weltanschauung für das Leben nach dem Tode:
"I am Judge Hu of the staff of the Infernal Prince Yama. There used to be ten princes, but then in the mortal world the Song imperial house of Zhao began its strife with the Jin barbarians. Terrible losses resulted, the population was decimated. Observing this reduction in numbers, the Jade Emperor ordered staffing cuts. Nine princes where left for the nine regions of China." (Szene 23)
Unerwartet für die Zeit, in der das Stück geschrieben wurde, wird stellenweise die vierte Wand durchbrochen: Als ein Darsteller beispielsweise die Beerdigungsgesetze der Ming-Dynastie aufzählt, mahnt ihn ein anderer Darsteller, dass er als Gelehrter der (mehrere Jahrhunderte früheren) Song-Dynastie dies ja eigentlich gar nicht wissen könne. Auch die völlig fehlgeschlagenen Kommunikationsversuche mit den nördlichen "Barbaren" mit ihrer fremden Sprache in Szene 47 sind urkomisch und sehr lebensnah.
Sogar die Nebencharaktere wie die freche Göre Spring Fragrance, der Tunichtgut Scabby Turtle oder der pedantische Tutor Chen sind wunderbar ausgearbeitet und bleiben einem lange im Gedächtnis.
Die Cheng&Tsui-Ausgabe wartet mit dickem weißem Papier, einem kontrastreichen Druck und einem knappen Vorwort des Übersetzers Cyril Birch auf. Die Übersetzung ist modern und flüssig lesbar. Über Typographie und Einrückungen werden die unterschiedlichen Typen von Vortragsarten wie Arien gekennzeichnet.
Und so bleibt dem Rezensenten vor seinem Exit nur noch zu bedauern, dass er es wohl nie erleben können wird, dieses humorvolle Drama live aufgeführt zu sehen.
Ein Traum - wenige Völker haben sich in ihrer Literatur dermaßen ausgiebig mit diesem Phänomen beschäftigt wie die Chinesen. Vom weltbekannten Schmetterlingstraum Zhuangzis, über Baoyus Traumbegegnung mit seinem Zwilling im Hongloumeng bis hin zu den allgegenwärtigen Träumen in Pu Songlings Liaozhai Zhiyi zieht sich dieses Thema auffallend stark durch alle Epochen und Stile der klassischen chinesischen Literatur. Der Traum ist dabei immer mehr als nur die Illusion, die uns unser verarbeitendes Gehirn vorspiegelt; Träume sind Omen, der Kanal zur Geisterwelt und haben direkte Auswirkungen auf den Träumenden auch in der realen Welt. So wie in diesem Theaterdrama Tang Xianzus aus dem 16. Jahrhundert.
Das junge Mädchen Bridal Du verliebt sich unsterblich in einen Unbekannten, der ihr nur in einem Traum begegnet ist. Die Liebe ist so groß, dass sie es letztlich nicht mehr erträgt, nicht mit dieser Person vereint zu sein, und verzehrt sich bis zum Tode. Wie sich die Liebenden dann doch finden, und Bridal Du aus der Unterwelt wieder mit ihrer Familie und ihrem Geliebten, der es inzwischen zu Ruhm und Ehren gebracht hat, vereint wird, erzählt "Mudan Ting".
Auch wenn es viel um die Liebe der Hauptpersonen geht, so ist dies doch kein liebestriefendes Stück: Voller Humor, witzigen Karikaturen von Offiziellen und einfachen Leuten und doch einiges an Spannung bietet dieses Stück ein Kaleidoskop der chinesischen Kultur. Dabei erhält man in den Szenen hin und wieder ganz göttliche Einblicke in die chinesisch-konfuzianistische Weltanschauung für das Leben nach dem Tode:
"I am Judge Hu of the staff of the Infernal Prince Yama. There used to be ten princes, but then in the mortal world the Song imperial house of Zhao began its strife with the Jin barbarians. Terrible losses resulted, the population was decimated. Observing this reduction in numbers, the Jade Emperor ordered staffing cuts. Nine princes where left for the nine regions of China." (Szene 23)
Unerwartet für die Zeit, in der das Stück geschrieben wurde, wird stellenweise die vierte Wand durchbrochen: Als ein Darsteller beispielsweise die Beerdigungsgesetze der Ming-Dynastie aufzählt, mahnt ihn ein anderer Darsteller, dass er als Gelehrter der (mehrere Jahrhunderte früheren) Song-Dynastie dies ja eigentlich gar nicht wissen könne. Auch die völlig fehlgeschlagenen Kommunikationsversuche mit den nördlichen "Barbaren" mit ihrer fremden Sprache in Szene 47 sind urkomisch und sehr lebensnah.
Sogar die Nebencharaktere wie die freche Göre Spring Fragrance, der Tunichtgut Scabby Turtle oder der pedantische Tutor Chen sind wunderbar ausgearbeitet und bleiben einem lange im Gedächtnis.
Die Cheng&Tsui-Ausgabe wartet mit dickem weißem Papier, einem kontrastreichen Druck und einem knappen Vorwort des Übersetzers Cyril Birch auf. Die Übersetzung ist modern und flüssig lesbar. Über Typographie und Einrückungen werden die unterschiedlichen Typen von Vortragsarten wie Arien gekennzeichnet.
Und so bleibt dem Rezensenten vor seinem Exit nur noch zu bedauern, dass er es wohl nie erleben können wird, dieses humorvolle Drama live aufgeführt zu sehen.
December 17, 2012
This was an enjoyable translation. It seemed accurate enough that when I went to look up a translated passage in the original Chinese I found it immediately. It was nice to read the whole story and find out what happened in the scenecs that were missing from the production that I saw the week before. It turned out that my favorite night, in addition to being about ghosts and hell, also had the fewest missing scenes, and the night I found the weakest, the last night, had the most. I got this copy from the SOAS library, but will buy my own so I can use it to help me read the original, as it is such a poetic piece it really does need to be read in the original language.
December 27, 2009
First I read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - which I loved. Then I read Peony in Love by the same author,Lisa See. Peony in Love was centered around an opera called The Peony Pavillion. This book is the story told by that opera.
September 12, 2017
Thoroughly enchanting and highly recommended, this drama epitomizes classical China with its appreciation of nature, ethics, the purpose of government, family and true love. Well worth the read. One of my favorites.
April 19, 2019
This is the first Chinese Kun Opera that I've ever read. Unfortunately, I've never seen a Chinese Opera and would love to see one live or retransmitted live. This classic opera is well written about the usual subjects suc as romance, love, traditions, drama,... This concise and interesting story is well written and the leading characters adequately developed.
The story of Romeo and Juliette is the most well known around the world and most of us have at least either read the story and/or seen a/the movie. In addition, I've seen transmitted live on cinemas the Met Opera version, the Bolchoi Ballet version, and the French theater version. It's no spoiler anymore to say that at the climax end both lovers die by suicide.
Another story, maybe less known of 'Giselle", which I've only seen live at the St Petersburg Marinskii Opera. In this story, the deceased women is still in love with her still alive prince lover.
I put this Chinese classic story and opera on the same level of these two well known stories because in the story the man's love for the woman is strong enough to ressuscitate her from the dead 3 years after the woman's death. This is a very strong fairy tale love. It is a great story, fairy tale, and love fable, but it is the end that is a turn off as it is about the father in law suspicious of everything and everyone.
The story of Romeo and Juliette is the most well known around the world and most of us have at least either read the story and/or seen a/the movie. In addition, I've seen transmitted live on cinemas the Met Opera version, the Bolchoi Ballet version, and the French theater version. It's no spoiler anymore to say that at the climax end both lovers die by suicide.
Another story, maybe less known of 'Giselle", which I've only seen live at the St Petersburg Marinskii Opera. In this story, the deceased women is still in love with her still alive prince lover.
I put this Chinese classic story and opera on the same level of these two well known stories because in the story the man's love for the woman is strong enough to ressuscitate her from the dead 3 years after the woman's death. This is a very strong fairy tale love. It is a great story, fairy tale, and love fable, but it is the end that is a turn off as it is about the father in law suspicious of everything and everyone.
May 28, 2025
Китайская драма, знаете ли, как индийский фильм: там и танцуют, и поют, а уж какие стихи сочиняют… Интересно, сохранилась ли у современных китайцев страсть к стихосложению?
Автор — современник Шекспира, и его герои столь же обуреваемы разными страстями, вот только решение проблем имеет специфический китайский колорит: девушка в прямом смысле умирает от любви, но чувства ее настолько сильны, что она просто не может не воскреснуть ))
… и это еще не конец!
За “Пионовую беседку” я взялась, чтобы лучше прочувствовать “Сон в красном тереме”, а оказалось, чтобы лучше прочувствовать “Пионовую беседку”, нужно проштудировать с десяток древних китайских поэтов (каждый из них великий, разумеется). Порочный литературный клубок этот не удивляет, но в эти дебри я уже не стала забираться.
Полное незнание китайской поэзии не помешало мне насладиться сюжетными поворотами и иногда даже волнительными сценами 🤭 Мне показалось, что в юмор они не очень умеют, хотя стараются: как и в европейской драме того периода источник комического — слуги и нелепости их поведения, а благородным (хотя и не всегда богатым) господам достаются высокие отношения и душевные страдания.
The brush of a man of true learning
Can restore peace to the empire
Этими бы китайскими словами да богу в уши
Автор — современник Шекспира, и его герои столь же обуреваемы разными страстями, вот только решение проблем имеет специфический китайский колорит: девушка в прямом смысле умирает от любви, но чувства ее настолько сильны, что она просто не может не воскреснуть ))
… и это еще не конец!
За “Пионовую беседку” я взялась, чтобы лучше прочувствовать “Сон в красном тереме”, а оказалось, чтобы лучше прочувствовать “Пионовую беседку”, нужно проштудировать с десяток древних китайских поэтов (каждый из них великий, разумеется). Порочный литературный клубок этот не удивляет, но в эти дебри я уже не стала забираться.
Полное незнание китайской поэзии не помешало мне насладиться сюжетными поворотами и иногда даже волнительными сценами 🤭 Мне показалось, что в юмор они не очень умеют, хотя стараются: как и в европейской драме того периода источник комического — слуги и нелепости их поведения, а благородным (хотя и не всегда богатым) господам достаются высокие отношения и душевные страдания.
The brush of a man of true learning
Can restore peace to the empire
Этими бы китайскими словами да богу в уши
December 15, 2017
This book never leaves my top three favorite from the time I read it—when I was 15, one year younger than Liniang. I was a "good" student in high school
, that means I devote nearly all my time studying. This book reminded me the beauty other than study and accompanied through my Zhongkao. I don't consider it as a pure love story. When Liniang dies, she even doesn't know the man she loves really exist. She dies for a desire inspired by the spring, dies for the desperately realization that she is so young now but youth and beauty never lasts for long. She thinks she deserves something before that. The feeling of being shutted in a boudior is very much like the feeling of studying for almost all day, days after days. So, to some degrees I understand her.
And it was from that time when I began to love Kun Opera. Poeny Pavilion is a play, a play is only completed on the stage. Zhangjiqing is the best performer of Liniang in my mind ever. I intended to paste a stage photo here, but clearly I can't. So I just recommend these who rated the high to watch it.
I read the book in Chinese—because I am a Chinese(you can tell from my terrible English) and I am a kind of classic lover, but still, I was trapped by my ancestor's allusions and metaphors. I have no idea about what the translator is like, but I am sure he must be a great linguistic, in both English and Chinese.
Maybe most foreigners don't know, according to Kun Opera's tradition, the play is an extract of the first twenty chapters, that is, from the beginning to the plot when DuLiniang dies. I think that is really appropriate arrangement. The first half is undoubtedly masterpiece., and is as poetic and modern as , but the rest is what we chinese call a conventional pattern: the young scholar got the beauty and magically became the first in the palace examination and both of them lived a happy life forever. Maybe it's applealing for foreigners, but if you have read a whole load of stories, watched numerous operas having the same plot, you would had also got tired of it. Liniang was so brave and active in pursuing her love in the dream and as a ghost, but when she came back to life again, i felt her liveness shrinks. She became more submissive which I don't like. That is what a traditional Chinese man would hope, a lover can be canning and fearless, but they expect three obediences and four virtues from a wife. Moreover, although LiNiang is a beautiful and brave girl, the scholar she loved, LiuMengmei, is very stale and pedantic. Such story pattern is also common in China, a highborn lady marries a poor scholar. For example, in .And this kind of story, is often exactly written by these poor scholars, they write their dream life in their books, yet I don't think they deserve such fortune( I don't mean love between different classes is bad, I just want to say some writers write this just to dally with their dreamed beauty).
Finally, just to mention, some Chinese scholar mention Tangxianzu and Shakespeare in the same breath, but I don't think our playwright is as great as him. I also read Shakespeare in high school, around 20 of his plays and some sonnets. He overweighs Tang even purely from the amount of work(Tang only has four works extant. )Shakespeare writes more deeply, and he cares about a broader class of people than Tang, too. And anyway, what is the point to compare western writers to chinese writer? we have too different aesthetic system.
, that means I devote nearly all my time studying. This book reminded me the beauty other than study and accompanied through my Zhongkao. I don't consider it as a pure love story. When Liniang dies, she even doesn't know the man she loves really exist. She dies for a desire inspired by the spring, dies for the desperately realization that she is so young now but youth and beauty never lasts for long. She thinks she deserves something before that. The feeling of being shutted in a boudior is very much like the feeling of studying for almost all day, days after days. So, to some degrees I understand her.
And it was from that time when I began to love Kun Opera. Poeny Pavilion is a play, a play is only completed on the stage. Zhangjiqing is the best performer of Liniang in my mind ever. I intended to paste a stage photo here, but clearly I can't. So I just recommend these who rated the high to watch it.
I read the book in Chinese—because I am a Chinese(you can tell from my terrible English) and I am a kind of classic lover, but still, I was trapped by my ancestor's allusions and metaphors. I have no idea about what the translator is like, but I am sure he must be a great linguistic, in both English and Chinese.
Maybe most foreigners don't know, according to Kun Opera's tradition, the play is an extract of the first twenty chapters, that is, from the beginning to the plot when DuLiniang dies. I think that is really appropriate arrangement. The first half is undoubtedly masterpiece., and is as poetic and modern as , but the rest is what we chinese call a conventional pattern: the young scholar got the beauty and magically became the first in the palace examination and both of them lived a happy life forever. Maybe it's applealing for foreigners, but if you have read a whole load of stories, watched numerous operas having the same plot, you would had also got tired of it. Liniang was so brave and active in pursuing her love in the dream and as a ghost, but when she came back to life again, i felt her liveness shrinks. She became more submissive which I don't like. That is what a traditional Chinese man would hope, a lover can be canning and fearless, but they expect three obediences and four virtues from a wife. Moreover, although LiNiang is a beautiful and brave girl, the scholar she loved, LiuMengmei, is very stale and pedantic. Such story pattern is also common in China, a highborn lady marries a poor scholar. For example, in .And this kind of story, is often exactly written by these poor scholars, they write their dream life in their books, yet I don't think they deserve such fortune( I don't mean love between different classes is bad, I just want to say some writers write this just to dally with their dreamed beauty).
Finally, just to mention, some Chinese scholar mention Tangxianzu and Shakespeare in the same breath, but I don't think our playwright is as great as him. I also read Shakespeare in high school, around 20 of his plays and some sonnets. He overweighs Tang even purely from the amount of work(Tang only has four works extant. )Shakespeare writes more deeply, and he cares about a broader class of people than Tang, too. And anyway, what is the point to compare western writers to chinese writer? we have too different aesthetic system.
April 8, 2020
This is such an incredible work! With fun, interesting characters, a fantastic story, a number of laugh out loud moments, and some beautiful, beautiful writing, the Peony Pavilion definitely stands as one of the greatest literary works in history.
Unfortunately, it's exam season and it's also due back at the library in a few days, so I had to speed read it.
That's not the way to do it with The Peony Pavilion though. This is actually a play, with some incredibly well written dialogue and a fascinating story. It requires a reader to take the time to really appreciate the language the characters use (they often speak in poetry) and the story, which is heavily influenced by Chinese mythology.
In terms of the language, this is an English translation. As I was reading, I could only imagine how much more powerful it would have been in the original Mandarin. Not just in terms of the words chosen, but reading Mandarin is a visual treat in itself, the written characters conveying the language's depth and subtlety in a way we lack in written English with our alphabet.
I highly recommend this to anyone interested in China, literature or anyone who just wants a good story. I'm definitely going to reread this when I have a bit more time to distill everything. Wow!
5/5 Stars
Unfortunately, it's exam season and it's also due back at the library in a few days, so I had to speed read it.
That's not the way to do it with The Peony Pavilion though. This is actually a play, with some incredibly well written dialogue and a fascinating story. It requires a reader to take the time to really appreciate the language the characters use (they often speak in poetry) and the story, which is heavily influenced by Chinese mythology.
In terms of the language, this is an English translation. As I was reading, I could only imagine how much more powerful it would have been in the original Mandarin. Not just in terms of the words chosen, but reading Mandarin is a visual treat in itself, the written characters conveying the language's depth and subtlety in a way we lack in written English with our alphabet.
I highly recommend this to anyone interested in China, literature or anyone who just wants a good story. I'm definitely going to reread this when I have a bit more time to distill everything. Wow!
5/5 Stars
April 17, 2012
Mudan Ting is arguably the "classic" of Chinese drama, with a complex storyline and characterization that spans Daoism, Biddhism, Confucianism and in the end a plain old love story. An additional joy of this edition is that Cyril Birch is that rare talent who is both a translator and a good writer in English. In particular, his english prose versions of the Chinese song couplets work well. Where other translations of Chinese classics can stumble over some pretty rough rocks when in the poetic sections- Birch guides the ship to a happy destination.
I took off one star only because I would have loved further documentation on the chorus melodies
I took off one star only because I would have loved further documentation on the chorus melodies
July 25, 2015
好迂的一位主人公！白面書生柳夢梅之酸之腐，堪比掉書包的多情種子段譽，有過之而無不及。柳夢梅勝段譽在忠貞不渝、始終如一，敗在貪戀麗娘玉軀、精蟲衝腦、慾深如淵。《牡丹亭》是我除了金庸作品和西遊記、三國演義以外，讀的第一部章回小說，也是我所閱的第一本古代言情讀物，使我訝然於古時兒女風情之開放、纏綿，又或此情自古皆然？劇情疊湊，諸位角色的奇遇環環相扣、一氣呵成，無怪乎成就《牡丹亭》流芳千古的不朽地位。論筆觸，更是婉轉流利、字字珠璣，不管是詠嘆美景瀲灩亦或歌頌美人娉婷，皆是引經據典，頗有於泥古之中尋創新之意，倒於繾綣豔情中增添了典雅韻味。如果最末能讓所有角色相互因應，至少打個照面、寒喧幾句，必然大大增色！就拿柳夢梅的拜把兄弟李春來說，落了個不了了之，好生可惜。最後，我不敢苟同湯顯祖描繪春香清麗可人，卻硬要強調她不及麗娘，一如他聲明韓子才雖才貌兼備，卻也俊不過柳夢梅，好似審美有個統一的標準，且一定非得分個高下才善罷甘休。柳杜的生死之戀也被捧得高尚無比、絕代無雙，這並無不妥，但湯顯祖唾棄凡夫俗子的愛情，謂之「庸俗」，不免使成熟之人不快，使稚氣之人嚮往起死回生。據說，柳杜橫跨生死的千古愛情在當時引得許多少女思春而亡哩！如此鉅作，縱有輕視平凡中的高貴之嫌，仍不失為一部傳奇的曠世傑作！
January 26, 2017
爲了深讀紅樓夢開始讀牡丹亭...結果用詞比紅樓夢更書面更古典不説，發現還有詞牌名，生旦净末丑，各種介，下場詩什麽的種種需要理解...感覺木有盡頭 _(:з)∠)_
但是感覺確實以前對戲劇低估了啊，畫面用詞真的很美，而且還不確定是我低級趣味了還是確實是幽默，有些地方還很是搞笑，比方説什麽“能鑿壁，會懸梁，偷天妙手綉文章”之類的。
话说这牡丹亭的尺度真是比我想象的大好多啊。。。林妹妹能看绝对是。。。。
因为个人水平问题看起来还是有些吃力了，而且到后面中状元啥的感觉还是有些俗套
但是感覺確實以前對戲劇低估了啊，畫面用詞真的很美，而且還不確定是我低級趣味了還是確實是幽默，有些地方還很是搞笑，比方説什麽“能鑿壁，會懸梁，偷天妙手綉文章”之類的。
话说这牡丹亭的尺度真是比我想象的大好多啊。。。林妹妹能看绝对是。。。。
因为个人水平问题看起来还是有些吃力了，而且到后面中状元啥的感觉还是有些俗套
April 4, 2017
A stunningly gorgeous translation of one of the truly great romantic, dramatic, and occasionally bawdy works of Chinese theatre and literature. I've read numerous Chinese opera librettos in translation, and Birch and Swatek's version of The Peony Pavilion is the most eminently enjoyable.
Read
June 19, 2008I loved this book -- it was very strange, all about the after life as the chinese believed it to be in this time period. Despite it's strangeness, I was unable to put it down. It was fascinating.
April 15, 2020
永谦剧场看的昆曲，汤老先生写下“不在梅边在柳边”“如花美眷，似水流年”“良辰美景奈何天”“行来春色三分雨，睡去巫山一片云。” 柳梦梅与杜丽娘的故事与唱词总有些匪夷所思，他们的故事很像 Tim Burton的《 Corpse Bride 》了，类似的“游园惊梦”的桥段、杜丽娘因为“此人与你有姻缘之分。”而死而复生，艾米莉选择放手成全变成蝴蝶
September 20, 2020
读了好久……��面用词用典真是讲究。以前没想到，这个故事除了柳杜二人，其他人物的性格也很值得讨论
September 23, 2020
Mudan ting (o «El pabellón de las peonías o Historia del alma que regresó», como se conoce en nuestro idioma) es una de las obras de teatro más conocidas de la china clásica. Su autor, Tang Xianzu, ha sido llamado «El Shakespeare chino» por los críticos especializados. Sin embargo, su producción es prácticamente desconocida en nuestras tierras.
En esta oportunidad, nos presenta la historia de Bridal Du, una joven de 16 años, hija de un importante oficial de la corte. Cierto día, ella tiene un sueño en el que mantiene una aventura romántica con un extraño misterioso. Este suceso la afecta de tal forma que ya no puede pensar en otra cosa, y así su vida termina consumiéndose tras unos meses. Tras su muerte, debe enfrentarse a la corte del inframundo: sus jueces deciden darle la oportunidad de una resurrección, teniendo en cuenta las circunstancias y su origen noble. Pero, ¿podrá encontrar al muchacho con quien soñaba? ¿Aceptará su familia este hecho, o pondrán precio a su cabeza por considerarla un espíritu maligno o una saqueadora de tumbas?
Debo reconocer que esperaba encontrarme con una obra formal y "acartonada", más que nada por su antigüedad (fue escrita en 1598): grande fue mi sorpresa al tratarse de todo lo contrario. No solo que su escritura es bellísima y de una sensibilidad dramática muy intensa, sino que el desarrollo se vuelve muy dinámico (sobretodo en la segunda mitad del libro), y hasta se permite varios momentos de comedia muy bien logrados. Aquí es donde brillan los personajes secundarios; en especial Spring Fragance, la criada de Bridal Du, de entre las más ocurrentes de la literatura clásica.
Puedo imaginar cómo este título pudo haber sido motivo de reprobación en su época. De hecho, lo conocí leyendo el prólogo del traductor de «La casa de las mansiones rojas», el gran (en todo sentido) clásico chino; allí se menciona a «El pabellón de las peonías» como una de las obras vistas con malos ojos entre la gente de alcurnia. Sí, se exploran ampliamente conceptos del budismo y del confucianismo, pero al fin de cuentas, es la vieja y conocida historia de amor.Y es que no estaba muy bien visto eso de contraponer el amor a la lógica.
Mención especial para el trabajo de traducción de la edición que leí, a cargo de Cecil Birch. Una labor realmente titánica: no solo es necesario conocer a la perfección el idioma, sino también cuidar las múltiples referencias literarias que en su momento hacían a este libro accesible solo a una élite bien instruida. Imaginen que hay cerca de 300 notas al final del libro señalando dichas referencias (algunas de fuentes tan vagas como "viene de una antigua antigua leyenda que ..."). Y más importante aún, se ha logrado mantener el lirismo de manera impecable: una clara muestra de que la traducción literaria también exige ser buen escritor.
En esta oportunidad, nos presenta la historia de Bridal Du, una joven de 16 años, hija de un importante oficial de la corte. Cierto día, ella tiene un sueño en el que mantiene una aventura romántica con un extraño misterioso. Este suceso la afecta de tal forma que ya no puede pensar en otra cosa, y así su vida termina consumiéndose tras unos meses. Tras su muerte, debe enfrentarse a la corte del inframundo: sus jueces deciden darle la oportunidad de una resurrección, teniendo en cuenta las circunstancias y su origen noble. Pero, ¿podrá encontrar al muchacho con quien soñaba? ¿Aceptará su familia este hecho, o pondrán precio a su cabeza por considerarla un espíritu maligno o una saqueadora de tumbas?
Debo reconocer que esperaba encontrarme con una obra formal y "acartonada", más que nada por su antigüedad (fue escrita en 1598): grande fue mi sorpresa al tratarse de todo lo contrario. No solo que su escritura es bellísima y de una sensibilidad dramática muy intensa, sino que el desarrollo se vuelve muy dinámico (sobretodo en la segunda mitad del libro), y hasta se permite varios momentos de comedia muy bien logrados. Aquí es donde brillan los personajes secundarios; en especial Spring Fragance, la criada de Bridal Du, de entre las más ocurrentes de la literatura clásica.
Puedo imaginar cómo este título pudo haber sido motivo de reprobación en su época. De hecho, lo conocí leyendo el prólogo del traductor de «La casa de las mansiones rojas», el gran (en todo sentido) clásico chino; allí se menciona a «El pabellón de las peonías» como una de las obras vistas con malos ojos entre la gente de alcurnia. Sí, se exploran ampliamente conceptos del budismo y del confucianismo, pero al fin de cuentas, es la vieja y conocida historia de amor.Y es que no estaba muy bien visto eso de contraponer el amor a la lógica.
Mención especial para el trabajo de traducción de la edición que leí, a cargo de Cecil Birch. Una labor realmente titánica: no solo es necesario conocer a la perfección el idioma, sino también cuidar las múltiples referencias literarias que en su momento hacían a este libro accesible solo a una élite bien instruida. Imaginen que hay cerca de 300 notas al final del libro señalando dichas referencias (algunas de fuentes tan vagas como "viene de una antigua antigua leyenda que ..."). Y más importante aún, se ha logrado mantener el lirismo de manera impecable: una clara muestra de que la traducción literaria también exige ser buen escritor.
November 6, 2021
Wow. Wow wow wow. This is an enormous, and enormously important, kunqu play, and we are lucky to have this English translation along with the excellent accompanying essay by Catherine Swatek that details the play's history of performance. The play itself is obviously very, very long (55 scenes in total and 340 pages of text), but it's filled with gorgeous language and memorable characters. The really special scenes, to my mind, are in the early part of the play, when Bridal Du dreams of her lover, and a bit later when she spends time with him as a ghost. I also adored the scene with Bridal's father, in which he helps speed the plow in his village, and I love the comic scene of Bridal's judgment in the underworld. There is lots of great stuff here; the translation is beautiful; and the footnotes are very helpful.
May 18, 2025
3,5 estrellas.
Tengo opiniones encontradas con este libro: la historia en sí no me parecía mala en absoluto, es más, me hubiera parecido aún mejor quizás en formato novela en vez de teatro. Pero aún contando el hecho de que no estoy muy familiarizado con el teatro, hay partes que se me han hecho pesadísimas de leer.
En cambio hay partes con las que hasta me he llegado a reir como cuando juzgan en el infierno a Zhao, Qian, Sun y Li o el hecho de que el juicio de Du Liniang se aplazara 3 años porque había falta de personal.
Lo dicho tiene partes buenas pero también partes muy aburridas y creo que esto se debe a que el "Pabellón de las peonías" es una obra que es muchísimo mejor para ver que para leer.
Tengo opiniones encontradas con este libro: la historia en sí no me parecía mala en absoluto, es más, me hubiera parecido aún mejor quizás en formato novela en vez de teatro. Pero aún contando el hecho de que no estoy muy familiarizado con el teatro, hay partes que se me han hecho pesadísimas de leer.
En cambio hay partes con las que hasta me he llegado a reir como cuando juzgan en el infierno a Zhao, Qian, Sun y Li o el hecho de que el juicio de Du Liniang se aplazara 3 años porque había falta de personal.
Lo dicho tiene partes buenas pero también partes muy aburridas y creo que esto se debe a que el "Pabellón de las peonías" es una obra que es muchísimo mejor para ver que para leer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 25, 2020
The plays of the Chinese playwright, Tang Xianzu (1550-1616), are like Shakespeare plays in China. His words are peotic:
- 情不知所起，一往而深。生者可以死，死可以生。生而不可與死，死而不可復生者，皆非情之至也。
- 如花美眷，似水流年
- 梦回莺啭，乱煞年光遍。 人立小庭深院。
- 这一霎，天留人便，草籍花眠。则把云鬓点，红松翠偏。
- 我欲去还留恋，相看俨然，早难道好处相逢无一言。
- 執湘管，調丹青，春山淡掃，細點櫻桃，渲雲聚煙霧靄飄
- Unfortunately, the story plot does not align with modern values such as independence. There are better ways to deal with such situations. Also remind that beauty (i.e., 才子佳人) is not the most important in successful marriage and life.
More resources:
- Book in Wikisource
- 昆曲
- 青春版牡丹亭
- 婉约派宋词
- 元曲
- 《三生三世十里桃花》
- 情不知所起，一往而深。生者可以死，死可以生。生而不可與死，死而不可復生者，皆非情之至也。
- 如花美眷，似水流年
- 梦回莺啭，乱煞年光遍。 人立小庭深院。
- 这一霎，天留人便，草籍花眠。则把云鬓点，红松翠偏。
- 我欲去还留恋，相看俨然，早难道好处相逢无一言。
- 執湘管，調丹青，春山淡掃，細點櫻桃，渲雲聚煙霧靄飄
- Unfortunately, the story plot does not align with modern values such as independence. There are better ways to deal with such situations. Also remind that beauty (i.e., 才子佳人) is not the most important in successful marriage and life.
More resources:
- Book in Wikisource
- 昆曲
- 青春版牡丹亭
- 婉约派宋词
- 元曲
- 《三生三世十里桃花》
October 19, 2025
從前講「傳奇」，似乎僅限於唐代傳奇，形式跟短篇小說一樣。但我現在看的中國文學史中，「傳奇」已經成為明清中長篇「南戲」的總稱，也就是與「雜劇」並稱的，戲曲的一種。而這本《牡丹亭》，就屬於明代傳奇，形式也是戲曲式的。所以，我既看不懂，也沒耐心看，於是就翻看一些介紹。當然，文學史中的介紹也只偏重在故事內容，沒有關於戲曲唱腔之類的。
介紹中極力贊揚劇中女主突破傳統禮教束縛的個性解放與精神自由。但在我看來，古代中國小說因被舊社會所限，思想都是很不健康的。例如女主因為做了個夢，竟然在夢醒之後，因為思念夢中情郎，鬱鬱而終。如此執著於虛幻的春夢，難道健康嗎？再來就是變成鬼之後，繼續與男主歡好，這種人鬼戀的偏好，又難道健康嗎？我總認為，對某些不合理，壓抑或束縛，應該用更合理，更理性的態度去衝決網羅，而不是像明代一些作家，用那些希奇古怪，不健康的「浪漫」思維去對抗傳統。或許，這是那個時代的不得不然。但舊社會已去，所以我用不著再去舊形式的精神解放裡作夢了。
此外，作品裡有不少文彩堪稱美妙，也膾炙人口。如：「良辰美景奈何天，賞心樂事誰家院！」
介紹中極力贊揚劇中女主突破傳統禮教束縛的個性解放與精神自由。但在我看來，古代中國小說因被舊社會所限，思想都是很不健康的。例如女主因為做了個夢，竟然在夢醒之後，因為思念夢中情郎，鬱鬱而終。如此執著於虛幻的春夢，難道健康嗎？再來就是變成鬼之後，繼續與男主歡好，這種人鬼戀的偏好，又難道健康嗎？我總認為，對某些不合理，壓抑或束縛，應該用更合理，更理性的態度去衝決網羅，而不是像明代一些作家，用那些希奇古怪，不健康的「浪漫」思維去對抗傳統。或許，這是那個時代的不得不然。但舊社會已去，所以我用不著再去舊形式的精神解放裡作夢了。
此外，作品裡有不少文彩堪稱美妙，也膾炙人口。如：「良辰美景奈何天，賞心樂事誰家院！」
January 29, 2022
Hermoso libro y excelente traducción.
Hay una combinación de poesía y teatro en esta obra. Se me escapan demasiados detalles por tratarse de una cultura y época tan ajenas a la mía. Sin embargo, me sorprendió la increíble comicidad de la obra, tiene pasajes realmente divertidos, especialmente el de la impartición de penas en el infierno.
Hay una combinación de poesía y teatro en esta obra. Se me escapan demasiados detalles por tratarse de una cultura y época tan ajenas a la mía. Sin embargo, me sorprendió la increíble comicidad de la obra, tiene pasajes realmente divertidos, especialmente el de la impartición de penas en el infierno.
September 6, 2022
"O pity one whose beauty is a bright flower, when life endures no longer than leaf on tree"
Story of Bridal Du how she dreamed herself a scholar of willow and apricot and died and then returned to life for his love. A war and a exam also add much to the story.
Although long and some less important characters and details seems to be thrown around, all in all it is a very solid story. Translators did a superb job of both carrying over word plays and of giving contexts to allusions.
Story of Bridal Du how she dreamed herself a scholar of willow and apricot and died and then returned to life for his love. A war and a exam also add much to the story.
Although long and some less important characters and details seems to be thrown around, all in all it is a very solid story. Translators did a superb job of both carrying over word plays and of giving contexts to allusions.
November 11, 2023
Although its language is already relatively simple, it is still somewhat hard to read. I can see why this story is so influential. Many elements are widely borrowed by later books like A Dream Of Red Mansions. The story has all the typical elements of Chinese folklore: fighting for the Han race, romance from a godly manner, and obscure student reaching high class through studying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2025
I mean it's a condensed (?) chinese classic. The story itself was pretty nice, with some moral at the end (check for yourself for evidence before shunning and arresting people left and right). A pretty short but interesting story with nice little illustrations.
The only thing I really didn't like was the typos and grammar mistakes.
The only thing I really didn't like was the typos and grammar mistakes.
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