Stories to Awaken the World
eBook - PDF
Available until 23 Dec |Learn more

Stories to Awaken the World

A Ming Dynasty Collection, Volume 3

  1. 992 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
Available until 23 Dec |Learn more

Stories to Awaken the World

A Ming Dynasty Collection, Volume 3

About this book

Stories to Awaken the World, the first complete translation of Xingshi hengyan, completes the publication in English of the famous three-volume set of Feng Menglong's popular Chinese-vernacular stories. These tales, which come from a variety of sources (some dating back centuries before their compilation in the seventeenth century), were assembled and circulated by Feng, who not only saved them from oblivion but raised the status of vernacular literature and provided material for authors of the great Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) novels to draw upon. This trilogy has been compared to Boccaccio's Decameron and the stories of A Thousand and One Nights. Peopled with scholars, emperors, ministers, generals, and a gallery of ordinary men and women - merchants and artisans, prostitutes and courtesans, matchmakers and fortune-tellers, monks and nuns, thieves and imposters - the stories provide a vivid panorama of the bustling world of late imperial China. The longest volume in the Sanyan trilogy, Stories to Awaken the World is presented in full here, including sexually explicit elements often omitted from Chinese editions. Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang have provided a rare treat for English readers: an unparalleled view of the art of traditional Chinese short fiction. As with the first two collections in the trilogy, Stories Old and New and Stories to Caution the World, their excellent renditions of the forty stories in this collection are eminently readable, accurate, and lively. They have included all of the poetry that is scattered throughout the stories, as well as Feng Menglong's interlinear and marginal comments, which convey the values shared among the Chinese cultural elite, point out what original readers of the collection were being asked to appreciate in the writer's art, and reveal Feng's moral engagement with the social problems of his day. The Yangs's translations rank among the very finest English versions of Chinese fiction from any period. For other titles in the collection go to http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/books/ming.html

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Yes, you can access Stories to Awaken the World by Shuhui Yang, Yunqin Yang, Shuhui Yang,Yunqin Yang in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Asian Literary Collections. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. Foreword by Robert E. Hegel
  4. Introduction
  5. Translators’ Note
  6. Chronology of Chinese Dynasties
  7. Stories to Awaken the World
  8. Preface [to the 1627 edition]
  9. Story 1. Two High-Minded County Magistrates Vie to Take On an Orphan Girl as Daughter-in-Law
  10. Story 2. Three Devoted Brothers Win Honor by Yielding Family Property to One Another
  11. Story 3. The Oil-Peddler Wins the Queen of Flowers
  12. Story 4. The Old Gardener Meets Fair Maidens
  13. Story 5. The Grateful Tiger Delivers the Bride at Big Tree Slope
  14. Story 6. Divine Foxes Lose a Book at Small Water Bay
  15. Story 7. Scholar Qian Is Blessed with a Wife through a Happy Mistake
  16. Story 8. Prefect Qiao Rearranges Matches in an Arbitrary Decision
  17. Story 9. Chen Duoshou and His Wife Bound in Life and in Death
  18. Story 10. The Liu Brothers in Brotherhood and in Marriage
  19. Story 11. Three Times Su Xiaomei Tests Her Groom
  20. Story 12. Four Times Abbot Foyin Flirts with Qinniang
  21. Story 13. The Leather Boot as Evidence against the God Erlang’s Impostor
  22. Story 14. The Fan Tower Restaurant as Witness to the Love of Zhou Shengxian
  23. Story 15. In Eternal Regret, He Daqing Leaves Behind a Lovers’ Silk Ribbon
  24. Story 16. In Defiance, Lu Wuhan Refuses to Give Up the Colored Shoes
  25. Story 17. Zhang Xiaoji Takes in His Brother-in-Law at Chenliu
  26. Story 18. Shi Fu Encounters a Friend at Tanque
  27. Story 19. Bai Yuniang Endures Hardships and Brings about Her Husband’s Success
  28. Story 20. Zhang Tingxiu Escapes from Death and Saves His Father
  29. Story 21. With Her Wisdom Zhang Shu’er Helps Mr. Yang Escape
  30. Story 22. With His Flying Sword LĂź Dongbin Attempts to Kill the Yellow Dragon
  31. Story 23. Prince Hailing of Jin Dies from Indulgence in Lust
  32. Story 24. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty Is Punished for His Life of Extravagance
  33. Story 25. Mr. Dugu Has the Strangest Dreams on His Journey Home
  34. Story 26. Magistrate Xue Proves His Divinity through a Fish
  35. Story 27. Li Yuying Appeals for Justice from Jail
  36. Story 28. Young Master Wu Goes to a Tryst in the Next Boat
  37. Story 29. With His Passion for Poetry and Wine, Scholar Lu Scorns Dukes and Earls
  38. Story 30. In a Humble Inn, Li Mian Meets a Knight-Errant
  39. Story 31. Regional Commander Zheng Renders Distinguished Service with His Divine-Arm Bow
  40. Story 32. Scholar Huang Is Blessed with Divine Aid through His Jade-Horse Pendant
  41. Story 33. Over Fifteen Strings of Cash, a Jest Leads to Dire Disasters
  42. Story 34. For One Penny, a Small Grudge Ends in Stark Tragedies
  43. Story 35. In Righteous Wrath, Old Servant Xu Builds Up a Family Fortune
  44. Story 36. Enduring Humiliation, Cai Ruihong Seeks Revenge
  45. Story 37. Du Zichun Goes to Chang’an Three Times
  46. Story 38. Daoist Li Enters Cloud Gate Cave Alone
  47. Story 39. Magistsrate Wang Burns Down Precious Lotus Monastery
  48. Story 40. The God of Madang Conjures Wind to Blow Wang Bo to Prince Teng’s Pavilion
  49. Notes