“《西厢》制艺”考

An Investigation of Eight-part Essays about The West Chamber

The eight-part assays about The West Chamber are unique commentaries on the traditional Chinese opera. It was once accepted that the people of the Ming Dynasty wrote the eignt-part essays about The West Chamber, of which The Sixth Talented Scholar’s Bollk, sorted out and edited by Jim Shengtan or Chen Weishong, was included. However, on the basis of the research and investigation of different editions of The West Chamber, it turns out that The Sixth Talented Scholar’s Book is one of the eight-part essays about The West Chamber and containes many complicated factors in the course of its generation and circulation. Moreover, the collected works of eight-part essays about The West Chamber were originally formed in the Qing Dynasty and arranged or compiled by other people rahter than Jin Shengtan or Chen Weishong.