Shakespeare, Tyranny and China

How do tyrants exercise power? Why do people submit to authoritarians? These were questions of pressing concern for William Shakespeare, and they are no less fascinating in the age of Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Reading King Lear, Coriolanus and Richard III can still shed light on leaders past and present, and the societies in their thrall.

Literary scholar Nan Z. Da‘s The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear (Princeton University Press, June 2025) gives us a fresh framework to understand one of Shakespeare’s best known tragedies. A wholly unique work of literary criticism, theory, memoir and history, the book examines China’s long 20th century as a manifestation of King Lear, and seeks to explain the structure of the play through historical analysis of Maoism and its legacies. Nan Z. Da’s ranging intellect pulls readers from the Cultural Revolution to anti-exorcist tracts in Elizabethan England and beyond. Kent, Cordelia and the Fool become something new when painted against the background of Chinese history. Throughout, the book offers novel re-interpretations of King Lear, leaving readers caught between laughing and crying.

Register now to join us for a scintillating discussion between Nan Z. Da and Harvard University literature Professor Stephen Greenblatt, author of Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics (2018) and numerous other acclaimed works of scholarship. The conversation will be moderated by Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Vice President of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society. Copies of both books will be on sale, with the authors available to sign them.

This event is presented by China Books Review, a free digital magazine of reviews, essays, excerpts and more. Subscribe to our newsletter to follow us.