ZHU YOUDUN'S DRAMATIC PREFACES AND TRADITIONAL FICTION

Abstract

AbstractZhu Youdun (1379–1439) was a very prolific playwright, he wrote no less than thirty-one zaju. As a grandson of the founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang. and the eldest son of Zhu Yuanzhang's fifth son, the Prince of Zhou, Zhu Su (1361–1425), whose title he later inherited, Zhu Youdun was in a position to have all these thirty-one plays printed during his lifetime (Fu Xihua, MINGDAI ZAJU QUANMU, Beijing, 1958, pp. 55–78). Many plays are introduced by a preface written by himself. These prefaces have often been omitted in later editions of the play concerned. By now I have seen on microfilms, provided by Beijing Library and the Fu Ssu-nien Library, copies of the original edition of thirty zaju by Zhu Youdun. Only in the case of his DE ZOUYU have I not yet had such a privilege. Of these thirty zaju no less than twenty-two carry a preface, the length of which may vary from a few columns to a few pages. These prefaces are an important source for our study of fifteenth-century drama—a topic I inte...