Chinese cultural elements commemorating (纪念) Tang Xianzu, ___1___ is known as “the Shakespeare of Asia,” add an international character to Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare’s hometown.

Tang and Shakespeare were contemporaries and both died in 1616. Although they could never have met, there are common ___2___ (theme) in their works, said Paul Edmondson, head of research for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. “Some of the things that Tang was writing about ___3___ (be) also Shakespeare’s concerns. I happen to know that Tang’s play The Peony Pavilion (《牡丹亭》) is similar in some ways ___4___ Romeo and Juliet. ”

A statue commemorating Shakespeare and Tang was put up at Shakespeare’s Birthplace Garden in 2017. Two years later, a six-meter-tall pavilion, ___5___ (inspire) by The Peony Pavilion, ___6___ (build)at the Firs Garden, just ten minutes’ walk from Shakespeare’s birthplace. 

Those cultural elements have increased Stratford’s international ___7___ (visible), said Edmondson, adding that visitors walking through the Birthplace Garden were often amazed ___8___ (find) the connection between the two great writers.

___9___ (recall) watching a Chinese opera version of Shakespeare’s play Richard III in Shanghai and meeting Chinese actors who came to Stratford a few years ago to perform parts of The Peony Pavilion, Edmondson said, “It was very exciting to hear the Chinese language ____10____ see how Tang’s play was being performed.”