This volume is the most extensive social and cultural history of twentieth-century Huangmei Opera to date. A regional Chinese theater originating in the Anqing countryside, Huangmei Opera gained popularity with the success of the 1950s play and movie, Married to a Heavenly Immortal. Through a case study of this work, the author juxtaposes the complex process of rewriting and revising the play and movie against the rapidly changing cultural and ideological climate of the Communist theater reform movement. As a result, the traditional theme of filial piety becomes a struggle over class and free love. This volume features a full translation of the original play and its revision in the 1950s, as well as selected articles by scriptwriters, directors, performers, and critics.

Wilt L. Idema is a pioneering scholar and translator of Chinese literature, especially noncanonical texts of drama, fiction, poetry, and prose. He is Research Professor of Chinese Literature at Harvard University. He has published extensively in English, Dutch, and Chinese on Chinese fiction, vernacular literature, and women's writings.