A Study on the Thematic, Narrative, and Musical Structure of Guan Hanqing’s Yuan Zaju, Injustice to Dou E

This book is a study of the thematic, narrative, and musical structure of 'Yuanqu xuan’ [A Selection of Yuan Plays] edition of the Yuan 'zaju’ (variety play) 'Dou E yuan’ [Injustice to Dou E] originally composed by the highly regarded playwright Guan Hanqing (fl. 1260). Although other authors have studied these three aspects of 'Dou E yuan’ separately, this is the first comprehensive treatment of the topic as a scholarly monograph in English. Yumin Ao’s analysis is based on the edition of the play in the 'Yuanqu xuan’ [A Selection of Yuan Plays] compiled by the Ming publisher Zang Maoxun (ca. 1550–1620). Ao proposes that 'Dou E yuan,’ as a dramatic narrative which develops through its enactment on the stage rather than by verbal presentation as a story, displays its integrative structure of narration through its thematic development and within its musical conventions.