T'Ang Transformation Texts: A Study of the Buddhist Contribution to the Rise of Vernacular Fiction and Drama in China

by Victor H. Mair

Book Overview

This is the most comprehensive study of pien-wen ("transformation texts," i.e., tales of metamorphosis) in any language since the manuscripts were discovered at the beginning of this century in a remote cave complex in northwest China. They are the earliest written vernacular narratives in China and are thus extremely important in the history of Chinese language and literature. Numerous scholarly controversies have surrounded the study of the...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674868153
• ISBN13: 9780674868151
• Release Date: June 1989
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 450 Pages
• Weight: 1.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.3"