Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Part I. Post-Midnight Skits Lai Baozi Baldy's Wedding Night Peddling Notions Part II. Historical Fiction Empress Lu Usurps the Throne Yang Wenguang Short Version of River Yang Part III. Romance The White Undershirt Pavilion of the Immortals in Exile Works Cited and Bibliography of Chinese Puppet Theatre

About the Author

Fan Pen Li Chen is Associate Professor of East Asian Studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She is the author of Chinese Shadow Theatre: History, Popular Religion, and Women Warriors and Visions for the Masses: Chinese Shadow Plays from Shaanxi and Shanxi.

Reviews

"…containing a number of beautiful and colorful photographs of puppets, the book is well written. The author makes a significant contribution to the study of traditional puppetry in China." — Journal of Folklore Research

"…an extremely well researched, sophisticated examination of the tradition, and the only study of the Heyang puppetry in English … The book is especially valuable to the student of Chinese literature, theater studies, folklore, or popular culture. Marionette Plays from Northern China provides an excellent contribution to our understanding of an important, yet endangered cultural expression." — CHINOPERL

"…a thoughtful investigation into the ancient but nearly extinct art of the marionette puppet theater of northern China." — CHOICE