Chinese Opera is a combining art form, which, in the course of becoming fully developed, built a tradition of combining literary scripts, music, dance, acrobatics, stagecraft and artistic design. 

This English Translation Series of a Hundred Peking Opera Classics, after drawing inspiration from preceding writings and having carefully brooded over the needs of the readers, tries to give an in-depth introduction to Peking Opera from all aspects, which is also in line with the tradition of "taking a combining approach." Though it is difficult to be both deepreaching and all-encompassing, it is a worthy step taken to better introduce the art of Peking Opera. 

This book series in English includes 100 typical Peking Operas-the so-called "classic repertoire" - which have stood the test of time and still exert an influence today. The series consists of twenty volumes, every volume contains five operas, and each opera is an Independent work. Judging from the length devoted to each single opera, the series has set itself aprat from previous works of this kind. Specifically, for each opera there is an introduction, script, musical score (in both Western and Chinese notation systems), costume descriptions, etc., and the large number of pictures and illustrations gives the readers an impressive visual impact. Moreover, the series will try to combine books and videos in kind will better display Peking Opera in a finer, more in-depth and more encompassing manner.  

Another feature of the series is that it contains a full English translation of its Chinese text, for the spread of Peking Opera outside China. I owe special thanks to Mr Daniel Tschudi at University of Hawaii, our beloved friend with more than 30 years' experience of Peking Opera stage performance, as well as profound understanding of China. Without his generous support, we would not be able to present the forthcoming English translation legion that is "culturally understandable" to foreign readers. 

In the exchange of different cultures, language stands as the first barrier, and the toughest obstacle. If the language problem is not effectively solved, audiences from different cultural  backgrounds will not be able to understand even the basic story lines of the operas, not to mention being able to appreciate its artistic values, culture-bounded details and subtle meanings. Actually, this is an issue faced by all devoted Chinese artists trying to promote Peking Opera overseas.