Weatherhead books on Asia

This condensed anthology reproduces close to a dozen plays from Xiaomei Chen's well-received original collection, The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Drama, along with her critical introduction to the historical, cultural, and aesthetic evolution of twentieth-century Chinese spoken drama. Comprising representative works from the Republican era to postsocialist China, the book encapsulates the revolutionary rethinking of Chinese theater and performance that began in the late Qing dynasty and vividly portrays the uncertainty and anxiety brought on by modernism, socialism, political conflict, and war. Chosen works from 1919 to 1990 also highlight the formation of national and gender identities during a period of tremendous social, cultural, and political change in China and the genesis of contemporary attitudes toward the West. PRC theater tracks the rise of communism, juxtaposing ideals of Chinese socialism against the sacrifices made for a new society. Post-Mao drama addresses the nation's socialist legacy, its attempt to reexamine its cultural roots, and postsocialist reflections on critical issues such as nation, class, gender, and collective memories. An essential, portable guide for easy reference and classroom use, this abridgment provides a concise yet well-rounded survey of China's theatricality and representation of political life. The original work not only established a canon of modern Chinese drama in the West but also made it available for the first time in English in a single volume.

"Set in Manchuria in the aftermath of the Asian Pacific War. The central character is Kuki Kyūzō, whose settler parents relocated from Japan to the Manchurian puppet-state as the Japanese empire expanded. Kyūzō's father, a factory technician, dies shortly after he is born. In the course of Japan's defeat and the Soviet Union's occupation of Manchuria, Kyūzō's mother is seriously wounded, forcing him to remain behind with her rather than evacuate with the other Japanese citizens. Her subsequent death leaves Kyūzō alone in the abandoned Japanese settlement, and he is employed as a houseboy by Alexandrov, an officer in the Soviet army. Approximately two years after the end of hostilities, Kyūzō decides to return to Japan. Providing money, a train ticket, and official travel documents, Alexandrov bids Kyūzō farewell. On the train Kyūzō meets Kō, who appears to be a fellow Japanese, much to Kyūzō's relief. The train is attacked, but Kyūzō and Kō manage to escape, fleeing by foot across the harsh Manchurian plains. Kyūzō gradually comes to realize that Kō is in possession of stolen heroin and is being pursued by the Chinese Communists, who are battling the Nationalist forces for control of the mainland. Finally arriving at a city, Kyūzō is betrayed by Kō, who beats him and steals his identity papers and travel documents. Utterly destitute, Kyūzō makes his way to a Japanese repatriation center. The difficulty is that Kyūzō lacks any documents to prove that he is Japanese. Exposure to the elements has left him deeply sunburned, which further casts doubt on his Japanese identity. He wanders the city and meets another Japanese named Okura, who takes an unusual interest in Kyūzō's relationship with Kō"--

"Narrated in the first person, Meeting with My Brother tells the story of a professor's journey to meet with his younger half-brother from North Korea. The professor's father had left his family behind in the South during the Korean War and eventually had another family in the North. The story includes the professor's negotiations with the go-between who arranges the meeting, his participation in a tour group (the necessary excuse to travel to the area in China where the meeting takes place), his interaction with other tour members and Koreans living in the area, and finally his meeting with his brother. The story includes different positions on reunification and illuminates many of the reasons that make reunification difficult. In this new translation the author has added a new vignette that does not appear in the original."

Kiku's Prayer is told through the eyes of Kiku, a self-assured young woman from a rural Japanese village who falls in love with Seikichi, a devoted Catholic man. Practicing a faith still banned by the government, Seikichi is imprisoned but refuses to recant under torture. Kiku's efforts to reconcile her feelings for Seikichi's religion with the sacrifices she makes to free him mirror the painful, conflicting choices Japan faced as a result of exposure to modernity and the West. Seikichi's persecution exemplifies Japan's insecurities, and Kiku's tortured yet determined spirit represents the nation's resilient soul. Set in the turbulent years of the transition from the shogunate to the Meiji Restoration, Kiku's Prayer embodies themes central to Endo Shusaku's work, including religion, modernization, and the endurance of the human spirit. Yet this novel is much more than a historical allegory. It acutely renders one woman's troubled encounter with passion and spirituality at a transitional time in her life and in the history of her people.