C. T. Hsia on Chinese Literature (Masters of Chinese Studies) Book

Best known for his seminal works of enduring importance, A History of Modern Chinese Fiction (1961) and The Classic Chinese Novel (1968), C. T. Hsia has gathered for this inaugural volume in Columbia's Masters of Chinese Studies series sixteen essays and studies written during his Columbia years as a professor of Chinese literature. Wider in range and scope, C. T. Hsia on Chinese Literature stands beside his two earlier books as part of his critical legacy to all readers seriously interested in the subject. C. T. Hsia can be bluntly critical of Chinese literature as few of his western colleagues dare to be. Thus part I contains three essays that place Chinese literature in critical perspective, examining its substance and significance and questioning some of the critical approaches and methods adopted by western sinologists for its study and appreciation. Part II has two essays on traditional drama-one on the Yuan masterpiece The Romance of the Western Chamber and the other a pioneering yet highly sophisticated study of the plays of the foremost Ming dramatist, T'ang Hsien-tsu. Part III, containing six essays on traditional and early modern fiction, is the richest of the book. At least four of these-on "The Military Romance" and the novels Flowers in the Mirror, The Travels of Lao Ts'an, and Jade Pear Spirit-are among the author's finest works. Part IV, on modern fiction, includes one magnificent essay on the novel The Korchin Banner Plains, and three concise yet illuminating studies of the short story during the three Republican decades before Mao, the first dozen years under Mao, and in Taiwan during the 1960s.Read More