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This talk will focus on the reverberations of the Ming-Qing dynastic transition in early Qing drama. Three issues will be discussed: the difference between veiled and direct reference to the fall of the Ming dynasty; the perspectives of first- and second-generation memory; the uses and implications of meta-theatrical references. The plays canvassed include Wu Weiye’s dramatic oeuvre, The Palace of Everlasting Life by Hong Sheng, and The Peach Blossom Fan by Kong Shangren.
Wai-yee Li grew up in Hong Kong and received her BA from the University of Hong Kong. After finishing her PhD at Princeton, she taught at a number of universities and is currently the 1879 Professor of Chinese Literature at Harvard University. She has published books on early China and Ming-Qing China. Her recent publications include a translation of The Peach Blossom Fan (Oxford UP, December 2024) and The Confucius Chronicles (Columbia UP, January 2026).
