Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess

Book excerpt: This is an adaptation of the thirteenth-century zaju play Liu Yi Chuan Shu, which was itself based on an eighth-century fairy tale about a failed examination candidate's encounter with a shepherdess in distress who turns out to be the youngest daughter of the Dragon King of Lake Dongting. The young man's help is rewarded with riches, immortality and marriage to the beautiful princess. It is a wish-fulfillment fantasy written with charm and a certain ironical edge. This adaptation consists of the freely-translated lyrics of the zaju with new, original dialogue, including an on-stage narrator. There is a long introduction with synopses of the Chinese text of the zaju and the original story it was based on. There is also an appendix explaining the use of "padding words" in zaju.