Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Kunqu: China's Classical Song-Drama

Kunqu: China's Classical Song-Drama

Gordon, Kim Hunter
Shepherd, Simon

Hardcover

Series: Forms of Drama

Literary CriticismTheater History

ISBN10: 1350436178
ISBN13: 9781350436176
Publisher: Methuen Drama
Published: Feb 19 2026
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.72
Height: 0.50 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English

From its origins in the poetic tradition and its refinement in the southern salons of the 16th century, to its 18th-century theatrical heyday and patriotic revival in modern times, this book introduces Kunqu and its enduring role in shaping cultural life. As China's classical musical and theatrical tradition, Kunqu is essential to understanding the country's artistic heritage.

The rich body of drama and poetry associated with Kunqu has often been studied independently of its performance history. By contrast, this book places stage practice and singing at the centre. Kunqu treats poetry and music as inseparable: the tonal and prosodic qualities of Chinese words and the melodies that carry them are mutually dependent.

From Ming gardens and rowdy Qing playhouses to the Manchu imperial court, Republican singing societies, and online forums today, debates over how Kunqu should be sung have never ceased. Hunter Gordon shows how these debates provide a model for understanding the genre as a whole: just as its vocal delivery has always been contested, so too has its staging.

With a repertoire that remains relatively stable, Kunqu is marked by tensions of interpretation and orthodoxy that place enormous weight on the fine details of performance, making it one of the world's most dynamic classical performance traditions.

Also in

Theater History

View All