A History of Chinese literature. Herbert A. Giles. Heinemann, London.
This well-known sinologue devotes two chapters to the drama, but they are not up to the standard of the rest of this excellent work. Pi-Pa-Chi is the most modern drama he discusses.
Das Theater und Drama der Chinesen. Rudolf von Gottschall. Breslau, 1887.
This small volume of 209 pages was written by a minor German dramatist without first-hand knowledge of China. The author based his study upon French translations of older dramas. Yet the book is not lacking in remarks showing a keen insight into the Chinese character.
La Littérature Chinoise Contemporaine. Soong Tsung Faung, Journal de Pékin. Peking, 1919.
A volume by a professor of literature at the National University, Peking, in which his critical articles from Peking’s French paper are reprinted. Forty-seven pages are devoted to the theater under headings such as the following: “Origin of the Drama”, “Evolution of the Modern Chinese Theater”, “Ibsenism in China”, etc. Professor Soong follows to a certain extent Wang Kuo-wei’s History of the Drama under the Sung and Ming Dynasties. His thorough knowledge of the European stage enables him to make very striking comparisons.
Peking, A Social Survey. Sidney Gamble and Stewart J. Burgess. Doran, 1921.
The chapter “Recreations” in this interesting and painstaking survey presents statistics on the number of theaters, their locations, prices of admission, status of the actor and actress, etc.
En Chine, Mœurs et Institutions, Hommes et Faits. Maurice Courant. Paris, 1901.