Scouting out literature from non-Western cultures in the medieval period has proved challenging. Hojoki is an absolute gem that I enjoy reading. It was a hit in my “Battleship” game of text finding. I’m afraid The Orphan Zhao is going to be a miss. The text’s plot, context and classical Chinese theater customs are interesting, but the only text I found is written for an academic audience and it neglects to illuminate the plays themselves. It would be asking quite a lot of my teen students to wade into a text that requires a lot of explaining, without the explaining. The book is also expensive. Even thinking about my adult audience I try to remember that they are reading for pleasure and so I try to keep the treasure in the top drawer.
But I would never have known anything about Yuan Era Drama without my exposure to The Orphan Zhao, and it is fascinating.
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