適讀人群 ：一般讀者

本書是“中國戲曲海外傳播工程叢書”繫列中的一本，該繫列以英文圖書的形式向海外讀者介紹中國戲曲文化，由多部代表劇目構成。全劇以侯方域、李香君的悲歡離合為主線，展現了明末南京的社會現實，同時也揭露了弘光政權衰亡的原因，以男女愛情來寫國家興亡，是此劇的一大特色。本書頭一部分介紹劇本的內容概要、來龍去脈以及主創人員，第二部分是腳本，第三部分是附錄，主要是對昆劇劇種的簡要介紹。

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There are two Chinese terms that describe the dramatic performance on the stage in China： xiju and xiqu. The former is equivalent to the dramas in the West while the latter， frequently referred to as the Chinese national operas or Chinese local operas， is a native Chinese invention. Xiju， an imported art form from the Western literature， was introduced into China during the second half of the i9th century Xiqu， on the other hand， has a much longer history.
As one of the three ancient dramatic forms in the world， Chinese national operas， together with ancient Greek tragedy and ancient Indian drama， have a long history of over two thousand years. It can be traced back to three types of primitive entertainment in China： exorcising dance， storytelling and ballad singing and comic dialogues. As early as the Qin Dynasty （221-206 BCE）， an art form began to emerge with all the three types of entertainment combined to give public shows， sometimes in the royal palaces and sometimes in Buddhist temples. It was recorded during the reign of Emperor Yang Guang （604-618） of the Sui Dynasty （581-618） that performers all over China were summoned by the emperor to provide entertainment from January ist to 15th annually according to the Chinese lunar calendar. To prepare for the performance， stages were erected and lined up， stretching sometimes as long as four kilometers outside the imperial palace， a scene with a scale and grandeur that can hardly be imagined even in the 21st century. Gradually， other elements were added to the art form， encompassing acrobatics， martial arts， dancing， puppet shows and leather-silhouette shows. It was not until the 13th century that the prototype of Chinese national operas finally began to take shape. Right now， there are as many as three hundred different types of Chinese national operas active on the Chinese stage， attracting millions of theater-goers， both men and women， old and young. Xiqu is definitely one of the crown jewels in Chinese culture.