Stories Old and New - Paperback

by Feng Menglong (Compiled by), Shuhui Yang (Translator), Yunqin Yang (Translator)

Stories Old and New is the first complete translation of Feng Menglong's Gujin xiaoshuo (also known as Yushi mingyan, Illustrious Words to Instruct the World), a collection of 40 short stories first published in 1620 in China. This is considered the best of Feng's three such collections and was a pivotal work in the development of vernacular fiction. The stories are valuable as examples of early fiction and for their detailed depiction of daily life among a broad range of social classes. The stories are populated by scholars and courtesans, spirits and ghosts, Buddhist monks and nuns, pirates and emperors, and officials both virtuous and corrupt. The streets and abodes of late-Ming China come alive in Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang's smooth and colorful translation of these entertaining tales.

Stories Old and New has long been popular in China and has been published there in numerous editions. Although some of the stories have appeared in English translations in journals and anthologies, they have not previously been presented sequentially in thematic pairs as arranged by Feng Menglong. This unabridged translation, illustrated with a selection of woodcuts from the original Ming dynasty edition and including Feng's interlinear notes and marginal comments, as well as all of the verse woven throughout the text, allows the modern reader to experience the text as did its first audience nearly four centuries ago.

For other titles in the collection go to http: //www.washington.edu/uwpress/books/ming.html

The open access edition of Stories Old and New was made possible by a generous grant from the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation.

DOI: 10.6069/9780295801285

Back Jacket

Stories Old and New is the first complete translation of Feng Menglong's Gujin xiaoshuo (also known as Yushi mingyan, or Illustrious Words to Instruct the World), a collection of forty short stories first published in 1620 in China. This is considered the best of Feng's three such collections and was a pivotal work in the development of vernacular fiction. The stories are valuable as examples of early fiction and for their detailed depiction of daily life among a broad range of social classes.

The stories are populated by scholars and courtesans, spirits and ghosts, Buddhist monks and nuns, pirates and emperors, and officials both virtuous and corrupt. Characters find themselves involved in political intrigue, tests of friendship, inheritance disputes, extramarital affairs, and visits to the underworld. Social mores are examined through playful manipulations of plot and subplot. Virtue is eventually rewarded (though perhaps not in this life), and the world -- seen and unseen -- is depicted as a complicated but ultimately logical and understandable place. The streets and abodes of late-Ming China, and the characters who populate them, come alive in Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang's smooth and colorful translation of these entertaining tales.

Stories Old and New has been published in China in numerous editions. Although English translations of some of the stories have appeared in journals and anthologies, until now, nowhere have the stories been presented sequentially in thematic pairs as arranged by Feng Menglong. This unabridged translation is illustrated with a selection of woodcuts from the original Ming edition and includes Feng's interlinear notes and marginal comments, as well asall of the verse woven throughout the text.

Author Biography

Shuhui Yang is associate professor of Chinese at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He is the author of Appropriation and Representation: Feng Menglong and the Chinese Vernacular Story. Yunqin Yang is a freelance simultaneous interpreter at the United Nations.For other titles in the collection go to http: //www.washington.edu/uwpress/books/ming.html