contents list of illustrations reign periods of the ming and qing dynasties overture part one audience and actors 1 opera aficionados and guides to boy actresses the texts the connoisseurs the Lao Dou and other patrons conclusion part two venues and genres 2 metropolitan operas, border crossing and the state the playhouse the temple fair the salon conclusion 3 musical gentre, opera hierachy and court patronage Yabu and Huabu court patronage and regulation to circa 1860 genre delineation and the opera marketplace court patronage and regulation after 1860 conclusion part three social melodrama and the sexing of political complaint the garden of Turquoise and Jade and its sources garden and the ethics of early Qing Suzhou playwright garden on the commercial stage conclusion 5 s*ex versus violence in "I, sister in law" operas the stories from page to stage Kunju performances in context eighteenth century court appropriation of "I, sister in law" operas violence and the reinstantiation of moral order in the Pihuang tradition conclusion CODA APPENDICES LIST OF CHARACTERS NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX