This is a wide-ranging and scholarly exploration of inter-relations between the theatre and major theatrical novels in the Qing-Ming period. The major and particular roles played by the theatrical novel and the theatre in the China of the period are explored. In Part 2, there is detailed consideration of the political, literary and theatrical context and impact of theatrical novels with particular reference to the 17th-century Water Margin and the 16th-century Journey to the West. Bibliography and index.