Seven early plays portray the major episodes in the saga of the Three Kingdoms during 1250-1450, the centuries immediately before the saga was written at the end of the 15th century as Sanguo
zhi tongsu yanyi (The Popular Elaboration of the Records of the Three Kingdoms). The plays are also important themselves as representatives of zaju as it was performed in the urban theaters of
the Yuan and on the palace stage of the Ming. Idema (Chinese literature, Harvard U.) and West (Chinese, Arizona State U.) have translated the earliest extant versions, but also later versions
if they depart significantly from the earlier ones. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
