Tang Dai Chuan Qi Xuan

The genre known as chuanqi, or short stories of the Tang Dynasty (618-906), was a vehicle for writers of those days to express their thoughts and feelings by recounting the adventures and destinies of characters. The social life and human feelings described in the stories aroused people's interest and sympathetic response, and gained for them a huge popular following. Particular favorites down the centuries were such masterpieces as Ren the Fox Fairy, The Dragon King's Daughter and Prince Huo's Daughter, and these, among others, were also adapted into the forms of local operas and later vernacular fiction. English and Japanese translations of many of these stories have also appeared. As part of efforts to sustain China's fine cultural heritage, we have selected ten chuanqi masterpieces and presented them in the form of original texts followed by modern Chinese and English translations. The translations strive to be accurate and smooth, to enable readers to better appreciate this important aspect of ancient Chinese culture while gaining pleasure from reading these absorbing tales. Works selected for this collection were checked and proofread by the late Mr. Zhang Youhe and others, and were rendered into modern Chinese by Mr.Wang Zhongli. The English versions were done by the husband and wife team Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang.