Title: Rethinking LI Kaixian’s Editorship Of Revised Plays By Yuan Masters: A Comparison With His Banter About Lyrics
Abstract: The thirty existing Yuan-dynasty editions of Yuan plays, which have been critical to our understanding of the textual transmission of zaju, are also believed to have been part of Li Kaixian's collection at one time. This chapter first shows that Gaiding Yuanxian chuanqi (GDYXCQ) is far from systematic in its revisions and editorial conventions, and discusses what this suggests with regard to the editorial process of this collection. Next, by placing GDYXCQ alongside Li Kaixian's other printing projects, the chapter aims to reconsider the role he played as an editor. As the arias of a few plays in GDYXCQ are also included in his Cixue Banter about Lyrics (詞謔), the chapter compares the relevant arias as they are preserved in the two works, both supposedly edited by Li, in order to assess his actual involvement in the editing of GDYXCQ. Keywords: Gaiding Yuanxian chuanqi (GDYXCQ); Banter About Lyrics ; Li Kaixian; Yuan