The Novel and Theatrical Imagination in Early Modern China PDF Download

Author: Felicia Wu Song
Publisher: Peter Lang
ISBN: 9781433103957
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
Does contemporary Internet technology strengthen civic engagement and democratic practice? The recent surge in online community participation has become a cultural phenomenon enmeshed in ongoing debates about the health of American civil society. But observations about online communities often concentrate on ascertaining the true nature of community and democracy, typically rehearsing familiar communitarian and liberal perspectives. This book seeks to understand the technology on its own terms, focusing on how the technological and organizational configurations of online communities frame our contemporary beliefs and assumptions about community and the individual. It analyzes key structural features of thirty award-winning online community websites to show that while the values of individual autonomy, egalitarianism, and freedom of speech dominate the discursive content of these communities, the practical realities of online life are clearly marked by exclusivity and the demands of commercialization and corporate surveillance. Promises of social empowerment are framed within consumer and therapeutic frameworks that undermine their democratic efficacy. As a result, online communities fail to revolutionize the civic landscape because they create cultures of membership that epitomize the commodification of community and public life altogether.

Author: Chia-yee Yung Teng
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780887101205
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description
One of the most famous episodes from Water Margin, a traditional Chinese novel, is here retold in simple Chinese. This text is the fifth volume designed to supplement the Intermediate Chinese Reader by John DeFrancis. It is presented in simplified characters, with pinyin romanization, and an accompanying audio program is available.

Author: Vibeke Børdahl
Publisher: Philip's
ISBN: 9788776941093
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The focus of Chinese literary studies has long been on the written word even though Chinese fiction and drama have strong oral roots and have been shaped by an interplay between oral and written traditions. The culmination of decades working on this issue--and using as its lens the story about how the legendary hero Wu Song killed a tiger with his bare hands--this volume explores Chinese oral professional storytelling and its relations with literary culture in the past and present.

Author: Chun Mei
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004191666
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Using the concept of theatricality to study Water Margin and Journey to the West, this study illustrates how writing and reading in early modern China became fused with a theatrical imagination in response to destabilizing social and political forces.

Author: James mcFee
Publisher: Soffer Publishing
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 72

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Book Description
City Maps Wusong China is an easy to use small pocket book filled with all you need for your stay in the big city. Attractions, pubs, bars, restaurants, museums, convenience stores, clothing stores, shopping centers, marketplaces, police, emergency facilities are only some of the places you will find in this map. This collection of maps is up to date with the latest developments of the city as of 2017. We hope you let this map be part of yet another fun Wusong adventure :)

Author: Linda Cooke Johnson
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791414231
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
This book examines cities of the Jiangnan region of south-central China between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries, an area considered to be the model of a successfully developing regional economy. The six studies focus on the urban centers of Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, and Shanghai. Emphasizing the regional focus, the authors explore the interconnections and sequential relationships between these major cities and analyze common themes such as the development of handicraft industry, transport and commerce, class structure, ethnic diversity and internal immigration, and the social and political pressures generated by developments in manufacturing, taxes, and government politics. The book provides a valuable resource on commercial development and internal economic and social development in pre-modern China, particularly on specific regional development and the historical role of traditional Chinese cities.

Author: Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 146292414X
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 1632

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Book Description
"The greatest novel of physical love which China has produced." --Pearl S. Buck A saga of ruthless ambition, murder, and lust, The Golden Lotus (Jin Ping Mei) has been called the fifth Great Classical Novel in Chinese literature, joining the Four Great Classics: Journey to the West, The Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Dream of the Red Chamber (also known as The Story of the Stone), and is recognized as one of the Four Masterworks of the Ming novel. Golden Lotus tells the story of Ximen Qing, a wealthy, unscrupulous merchant who takes the beautiful and ambitious widow Pan Jinlian as his fifth wife. Jinlian is not content to accept her position and schemes to dominate her husband and improve her standing in society by using sex as her weapon. As the story unfolds, Ximen Qing embarks on a series sexual conquests and Pan Jinlian exploits her husband's lust, ultimately causing the downfall of the entire family. The story's dramatic climax vividly portrays the lengths to which ambitious people will go to gain influence. It also lays bare the rivalries within wealthy families of privilege while chronicling their rise and fall. Iconic in China, Golden Lotus has been alternately banned and lauded for centuries, all the while still avidly read as a popular page-turner. This new Tuttle edition, now available in a single unabridged volume, includes a superb introduction by Robert Hegel of Washington University, who explains the book's importance as the first novel in the Chinese tradition attributable to a single author.

Author: Alexandra B Bonds
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351380451
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 632

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Book Description
Beijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture illuminates the links between theatrical attire and social customs and aesthetics of China, covering both the theory and practice of stage dress. Distinguishing attributes include an introduction to the performance style, the delineation of the costume conventions, an analysis of the costumes through their historical precedents and theatrical modifications, and the use of garment shape, color, and embroidery for symbolic effect. Practical information covers dressing the performers and a costume plot, the design and creation of the make-up and hairstyles, and pattern drafts of the major garments. Photographs from live performances, as well as details of embroidery, and close-up photographs of the headdresses thoroughly portray the stunning beauty of this incomparable performance style. Presenting the brilliant colors of the elaborately embroidered silk costumes together with the intricate makeup and glittering headdresses, this volume embodies the elegance of the Beijing opera.

Author: Shuofang Xu
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9811624909
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Book Description
This book explores poems, novels, legends, operas and other genres of writing from the Ming Dynasty. It is composed of two parts: the literary history; and comprehensive reference materials based on the compilation of several chronologies. By studying individual literary works, the book analyzes the basic laws of the development of literature during the Ming Dynasty, and explores the influences of people, time, and place on literature from a sociological perspective. In turn, it conducts a contrastive analysis of Chinese and Western literature, based on similar works from the same literary genre and their creative methods. The book also investigates the relationship between literary theory and literary creation practices, including those used at various poetry schools. In closing, it studies the unique aesthetic traits of related works. Sharing valuable insights and perspectives, the book can serve as a role model for future literary history studies. It offers a unique resource for literary researchers, reference guide for students and educators, and lively read for members of the general public.

Author: Jonathan L. Friedmann
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739168320
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
Social Functions of Synagogue Song: A Durkheimian Approach by Jonathan L. Friedmann paints a detailed picture of the important role sacred music plays in Jewish religious communities. This study explores one possible way to approach the subject of music’s intimate connection with public worship: applying sociologist Émile Durkeim’s understanding of ceremonial ritual to synagogue music. Durkheim observed that religious ceremonies serve disciplinary, cohesive, revitalizing, and euphoric functions within religious communities. Drawing upon musical examples from different composers, regions, periods, rites, and services, Friedmann demonstrates how Jewish sacred music performs these functions.