Suzhou Ming Dynasty Inscription Quben Research

This thesis attempts to give a systematic introduction to the fundamental situation of opera block-printing of Suzhou in Ming Dynasty. It also compares the Suzhou editions of opera printing with their contemporaries from Jiling, Hanzhou, Huizhou, and Jianyang, which were four centers of family and workshop printing then, summarizing haracteristics of the family and workshop printing of the opera editions in Suzhou in terms of format and content, which are the specialties of Suzhou editions as well. It illustrates the influences of Suzhou opera printing of Ming Dynasty on the opera printing in other places at that time and in the following generations. Due to limited resources, this thesis can only make analysis based on the opera editions at hand. There may be some oversights. However, it can provide some information forfurther studies.