WANG SHIH-FU

born c. 1250, , Ta-tu, now Peking died 1337?, China Pinyin Wang Shifu, also called (Wade-Giles romanization) Wang Te-hsin leading dramatist of the Yan dynasty (1206-1368), which saw the flowering of Chinese drama. Of 14 plays attributed to Wang, only three survive, of which Hsi hsiang chi (Romance of the Western Chamber, 1935) is widely regarded as the best northern play of the period and is still popular. The work is an amplified tsa-ch, a then-popular theatrical form, most of the conventions of which Wang employed, but with innovations-particularly in giving singing parts to all, instead of only one, of the important characters. Despite the rigid conventions of the stock actor, he also succeeded in creating a convincing character in the maid, Hung Niang; the dialogue is also excellent. In five acts, the Hsi hsiang chi is several times the length of a regular tsa-ch, foreshadowing the ch'uan-ch'i, the dominant dramatic form of the Ming (1368-1644) and Ch'ing (1664-1911/12) dynasties.