"Shakespeare in China" provides English language readers with a comprehensive sense of China's past and on-going encounter with Shakespeare. It offers a detailed history of twentieth-century Sino-Shakespeare from the beginnings to 1949, followed by more recent accounts of the playwright in the People's Republic, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The study pays particular attention to translation, criticism and theatrical productions and highlights Shakespeare's fate during the turbulent political times of modern China. Chapters on Shakespeare and Confucius and The Paradox of Shakespeare in the New China consider the playwright in the context of 'old' and 'new' Chinese ideologies. Bringing together hard to find materials in both English and Chinese, it builds upon and extends past research on its subject.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Preface; 1. The Early History of Shakespeare in China: Journey to the East; 2. Shakespeare and Mao, 1 October 1949-1966: "I slide/O'er sixteen years"; 3. The Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution: "a wilderness of tigers"; 4. After the Cultural Revolution, 1976-2000: "A local habitation"; 5. Shakespeare in Hong Kong and Taiwan: "This island's mine"; 6. Shakespeare and Confucius: "To suck the sweets of sweet philosophy". 7. The Paradox of Shakespeare in the New China: "Fair is foul, and foul is fair"; Bibliography; Index.

Author Biography

Murray Levith is Professor of English at Skidmore College, New York, where he has taught Shakespeare for more than thirty-five years. His many publications include Shakespeare's Italian Settings and Plays (author) and A Historical Survey of Shakespeare in China (editor).