{"product_id":"9781590178775","title":"The Peach Blossom Fan","description":"A tale of battling armies, political intrigue, star-crossed romance, and historical cataclysm, \u003ci\u003eThe Peach Blossom Fan\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the masterpieces of Chinese literature, a vast dramatic  composition that combines the range and depth of a great novel with the  swift intensity of film. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the mid-1640s, famine sweeps through  China. The Ming dynasty, almost 300 years old, lurches to a bloody end.  Peking falls to the Manchus, the emperor hangs himself, and Ming  loyalists take refuge in the southern capital of Nanking. Two valiant  generals seek to defend the city, but nothing can overcome the  corruption, decadence, and factionalism of the court in exile. The newly  installed emperor cares for nothing but theater, leaving practical  matters to the insidious Ma Shih-ying. Ma’s crony Juan Ta-ch’eng is as  unscrupulous an operator as he is sophisticated a poet. He diverts  resources from the starving troops in order to stage a spectacular  production of his latest play. History, however, has little time for  make-believe, though the earnest members of the Revival Club, centered  on the handsome young scholar Hou Fang-yü and his lover Fragrant  Princess, struggle to discover a happy ending.","brand":"New York Review Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47172487479536,"sku":"9781590178775","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781590178775_p0.jpg?v=1763808800","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781590178775","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}