Li Yu (1611–1680) was a popular author, playwright, and theatrical impresario with a reputation for tales that tested social limits. He was born into a gentry family, but after the chaos of the Ming-Qing transition kept him from an official career, he became a commercially successful writer. Li’s works in English translation include A Couple of Soles: A Comic Play from Seventeenth-Century China (Columbia, 2019).Stephen Roddy is a professor of languages, literatures, and cultures at the University of San Francisco.Ying Wang is Felicia Gressitt Bock Professor of Asian Studies at Mount Holyoke College.

• Introduction: Women in Love and the Business of Men in Li Yu’s Chuanqi DramaDramatis PersonaeThe Relationship Between Role Types and CharactersNote on Editions of LianxiangbanList of ScenesThe Fragrant CompanionsAppendix: Modes and TunesNotesSelected Works on Li Yu and Same-Sex Love in Classical Chinese Fiction and DramaIndex

This engaging translation makes available in lively English the maverick playwright Li Yu’s playful and convention-defying account of romantic love between two women almost four hundred years ago. Resonating with conversations about sexuality and gender identity in our contemporary social world, this adept translation not only is poised to become indispensable reading in a range of undergraduate courses but also would lend itself well to stage adaptation.