本書特色★從西廂記繪畫開始,進入中國版畫、年畫、「西洋鏡」畫片世界★國內外公私典藏機構授權,上百幅彩色圖版見證明清以來中西藝術、文化交流序PREFACEThe Romance of the Western Chamber, Xixiangji, has the iconic status in China that Romeo and Juliet has in the West. Both plays center around star-crossed lovers and feature protective parents and secret meetings facilitated by wily maids. But the most striking similarity lies in the extent to which both works have captured―and held―the public imagination over several hundred years. However, if both plays have been performed, adapted, and reimagined countless times, The Romance of the Western Chamber parts ways with its Shakespearean descendant by having also become an established resident of the visual arts.All of the key scenes in this tense (but ultimately happy) 21-act play have made their way onto porcelain and lacquer, and into paintings, printed books, and single sheet prints. We will perhaps never completely understand why the love story between the young scholar Zhang Sheng and the beautiful Yingying,