金圣叹批本西厢记

by Wang Shifu, 王实甫

金批本《西厢记》是近三百年间流传最广的本子。他砍掉了《西厢记》的第五本，以“惊梦”终结全篇，使大团圆的《西厢记》变成震撼人心的古典悲剧，清除了旧本宣扬夫荣妻贵、衣锦还乡的正统观念，提高了旧本的文学性、艺术性和思想性。

55 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 20, 2017

About the author

Wang Shifu, (born c. 1250, Dadu [now Beijing], China—died 1337?, China), leading dramatist of the Yuan dynasty (1206–1368), which saw the flowering of Chinese drama.

Of 14 plays attributed to Wang, only three survive, of which Xixiangji (The Story of the Western Wing, also published as The Romance of the Western Chamber) is widely regarded as the best northern play of the period. The work is an amplified zaju (a then-popular theatrical form) containing several of Wang’s innovations—such as giving singing parts to all, instead of only one, of the important characters. Despite the rigid conventions of the stock actor, Wang also succeeded in creating a convincing character in the maid, Hongniang; the dialogue is also excellent. With five acts, the Xixiangji is several times the length of a regular zaju, foreshadowing the chuanqi, the dominant dramatic form of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1664–1911/12) dynasties.