The exploits of Mulan, the legend of the White Snake, the romance of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and the thwarted love of Weaving Maiden and Buffalo Boy continue to fascinate Chinese audiences all over the world. As the embodiment of the wisdom, virtue, and pursuit of love of the Chinese people, these tales have been told and retold throughout the twentieth century; they have also been performed on the stage, adapted for the screen, and rewritten as dramas for television. They have inspired theme parks and postage stamps, violin concerti, and Western-style operas. In their modern transformations these traditional tales have been hailed as the quintessence of Chinese culture, as instruments for cultural renewal, and as tools of criticism.
The earliest extant premodern versions of these Chinese tales and legends are no less varied and multiform than their modern adaptations. By the time of recording, each of these stories had already undergone a centuries-long period of development and change. Depending on the time, region, and genre in which the version was created, each is unique and brings its own perspective and meaning to the story. Moreover, each of these texts reflects the idiosyncracies and personality of its author (whose name has usually been lost). We could make no greater mistake than to assume that these stories embody a single, unchanging, essential meaning, even though many modern and contemporary scholars write about these stories as if they do.
Despite the popularity of these tales with modern and contemporary authors and intellectuals, in premodern times these legends (with the exception of Mulan) were mostly ignored by the scholars and literati of late imperial China. They flourished in the realm of oral literature and in the many genres of traditional popular literature (suwenxue). This series aims to introduce the contemporary English reader to the richness and variety of the traditional Chinese popular literature of this period and to the wide discrepancies between the different adaptations of each story by translating at least two premodern adaptations in full. Each of these sets of translations will be preceded by an introduction tracing the historical development of each story up to the beginning of the twentieth century. The translations will be followed by a selection of related materials that will provide readers with a fuller understanding of the historical development of each story and will help them place the translated text in the development of Chinese popular literature and culture.