I read an abridged English translations of the scholars before but these short stories by Li Yu were even better. They all focused on how unfair ChineI read an abridged English translations of the scholars before but these short stories by Li Yu were even better. They all focused on how unfair Chinese society was to women. How the standards of the day were hypocritical and men should treat women better. There were loyal prostitutes and wives wrongly accused of infidelity. It was a great collection but I found the French VERY hard. At first I thought it was just me, and I had Bill read one of the stories for me as I'd lost some important plot points. He said it was very literary, old fashioned and with a very unusual vocabulary. So I didn't feel as bad for struggling as much as I did. I'll definitely hold onto it and try it again in another couple of years. ...more
I came across a gorgeous 1920s version of this for sale in Any ammount of books. It had rag paper and hand coloured illustrations. It was beautifull sI came across a gorgeous 1920s version of this for sale in Any ammount of books. It had rag paper and hand coloured illustrations. It was beautifull small press edition. At a time when homosexuality was still illegal in this country I like to think that this edition was treasured. The stories did have the gay stereotype that most of the stories ended up with the characters death, but that was more to do with Samauri honour requiring they kill themselves, rather than because they were gay. One story had a couple living togeterh in old age, which was sweet, except they were terrible misogynists. Normally I much prefer Chinese literature to Japanese literature, the prizing of scholars over warriors, but I really enjoyed these stories.
The version I read also contain poemsof the geishas which surprisingly I also enjoyed. They were translations of translations but I really liked their simplicity and beauty....more
This was by far the best lianhuanhua version of the Pu Songling collection I bought in Beijing. It was a story about a father who was beated to death This was by far the best lianhuanhua version of the Pu Songling collection I bought in Beijing. It was a story about a father who was beated to death for trying to help an old man. The sons of the family tried to get justice through the courts but had no luck so the young girl left home to join an opera troupe and learn how to dance and seduce men. The troupe went to perform at her father's killers house and she was bought by the killer who took her to his room, where she killed him when he passed out drunk, and then returned to her family who congratulated her. It was a fantastic version. Looking online I saw another version where she killed him from the stage and then committed suicide. I liked this version where she got away with it. I haven't read the Pu Songling original so I don't know which is right. But I will have to find out. ...more
This book has one of my favourite paintings of all times as it's cover. The Song dynasty painting of a skeleton playing with a skeleton marionette tryThis book has one of my favourite paintings of all times as it's cover. The Song dynasty painting of a skeleton playing with a skeleton marionette trying to lure some children away. Wilt Idema is one of my favourite literary historians so I was very pleased to find this at SOAS library on a recent visit.
The book doesn't deal with skeletons in general in Chinese literature, rather it looks at different tellings of the story of Zhuangzi finding a skull (later skeleton) and bringing it back to life, using it as a way to talk about the futility of life. Most of the translations are quite late, 17th century and later versions of the story. Unfortunately most of the lessons learned I found quite distasteful. In the first story Zhuangzi meets the skeleton in the road and says all these horrendous things about is, asking if it committed this crime or this sin while it was alive. Never once does he assume that he could have been an innocent victim. Therefore it's kinda not that surprising when the resurrected corpse accuses him of robbery and drags him before the magistrate.
Also included with these stories is the one about Zhangzi tricking his wife into suicide. Basically the story goes that he met a woman who wasn't able to remarry till her husband's grave was dry so she was fanning it to help it dry faster. He told this story to his wife and she thought that was horrible, and said how she would never re-marry if he died. So he faked her death and came back in disguise so she'd accept him as a new husband and then revealed himself and she was so ashamed she committed suicide! So women were considered to be Very Bad if they got over their husband's death. Whereas the original story with Zhuangzi and his wife had him banging on a tub being happy when she died as he hadn't been in mourning before she was born so didn't need to be after, but it was just a different stage of existence. The double standard is just really horrific!
Despite the stories not quite being what I hoped for this was still a very interesting collection and gave a good example of how the stories changed over time. Definitely one I'd recommend....more
I have to say this was not one of the better Ming collections. I bought the 2nd volume of this in Beijing but found the first when I got back to the UI have to say this was not one of the better Ming collections. I bought the 2nd volume of this in Beijing but found the first when I got back to the UK. It was mostly tales making fun of poor people, pointing out how evil and untrustworthy they were. Unlike a lot of Ming tales that talk about qing or are good spooky stories, these were mostly people just having affairs, and killing and robbing each other. There was definitely an undercurrent of women must never be allowed to participate in religion as it will lead them into SEX AND DEATH!
That said there was one very funny story where the murder was solved by having gay sex!!! Young investigator went and slept with the monks to get the truth out of them. That was pretty brilliant and something I'd never seen before. There was also one really nice story about a young couple who went to school together in the Song dynasty and thought they would get married, and then were separated because her parents were snobs but it actually had a happy ending. (one of the few in this).
I'm glad I read this as I think it's important to my knowledge of Ming literature to have a clearer picture of the works of Ling Mengchu but I definitely didn't enjoy them enough to try and track down the original stories. ...more
This was the best of the Pu Songling stories in the lianhuanhua versions. This was one I remember reading an English version of previously. It was aboThis was the best of the Pu Songling stories in the lianhuanhua versions. This was one I remember reading an English version of previously. It was about a man who wasn't interested in studying but spent all his time partying with his friends and running up huge debts. He decided to get away from his troubles and learn Taoist magic and the nearby monastery on the mountain. The Taoist had him do lots of hard work to prove his heart was pure. The one famous scene in this is when the Taoist has two visitors who drink with everyone and bring the moon into the room and have Change E dance for them. It is a neat story with magic and morality. The main character is such an idiot you have no sympathy for him but it's still interesting to read....more
This wasn't one of my favourite Pu Songling stories. Whoever picked which ones they would do in the lianhuanhua has very different taste than me! ThisThis wasn't one of my favourite Pu Songling stories. Whoever picked which ones they would do in the lianhuanhua has very different taste than me! This one was about a crooked fruit seller who cheated everyone by giving the wrong weight of fruit. He was exposed by a Taoist who grew a tree in the street which gave free fruit to everyone, the seller's fruit disappeared and he was ruined. The Taoist was pretty cool but there wasn't all that much to recommend this story....more
This was another play text I bought because it was one of the plays Beatrix Lehmann was in. She performed as Winifred in the 1936 performance of the pThis was another play text I bought because it was one of the plays Beatrix Lehmann was in. She performed as Winifred in the 1936 performance of the play at the Old Vic. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. The play was written in 1621, the same year the actual "Witch of Edmonton" was executed for being a witch. This version of the play had a good basic introduction to the history of witchcraft trials in the UK, as well as analysis of the play and some details of it's past performances. (It makes references to well known actors playing lesser roles including the 1936 production which mentions the character Beatrix plays but not her name). It also includes an original reproduction of the actual court case and "confession" which was very interesting to contrast with the play.
The play I thought was very good. There was an awful lot being said about gender, social conditions and poverty in this play. I liked that they made the witch a sympathetic character who was driven to the pact with the devil due to harsh treatment and poverty. People accused her of being a witch before she tried to become one. This was counterbalanced with the story of the man who married two women, and seemed the most dastardly of the piece and yet also having to conform to social conventions that harmed him. It was interesting to see that the witch wasn't powerful, that the devil wouldn't perform the deeds for her that she wanted. The fact that he existed seemed to be part of the culture at the time but he was in fact quite a powerless devil. (Albeit he may have been responsible for a death). But I also liked the fact that there was a lot of ambiguity in the play as to who was ultimately responsible.
Reading this I thought it would be fascinating to see on stage. As I was reading it I saw the RSC are currently doing a production which sounded amazing, but unfortunately it's only on till the end of November in Stratford so I won't be able to get to see it. Here's hoping for a London transfer....more
This book was a quite interesting collection of "shrew" tales. The stories were given without much comment, just offered in new translations. The defiThis book was a quite interesting collection of "shrew" tales. The stories were given without much comment, just offered in new translations. The definition of shrew was a bit odd as in some cases it was women who were terribly violent and abusive, in others they were jealous of concubines. It felt a bit odd that such widely different behaviours would be considered the same. The book featured some Pu Songling stories that I'd not read before including some with helpful fox spirits which I really liked. It was interesting to read but I'm definitely glad I borrowed it from the library instead of buying a copy as there wasn't much to it....more
This is the first of the books I bought in Beijing that I've read. I thought it was just a dual language version of myths and folk tales when I boughtThis is the first of the books I bought in Beijing that I've read. I thought it was just a dual language version of myths and folk tales when I bought it but it is in fact so much better than that. It is a collection of Zhiguai tales, from early imperial China through to Qing. The stories are given with facing page texts of the original in Classical Chinese followed by a modern Chinese rendition after the story. I've always thought that if I were to do a phd in Chinese history it would be about the zhiguai stories. I've read so many scholarly books on them it was just fantastic to be able to read them in the original text. The English helped so much. I've read a few textbooks on learning classical Chinese but always found them to be a bit confusing. Being able to have so many examples to read made the sentence structure and word usage so much clearer. I also really enjoyed having the longer modern Chinese versions underneath as it was such good practice and very enjoyable to read. I loved all these stories and found it wonderful to read the original. I can't believe I only had to pay £2.50 for a copy! (On amazon they are £20!) Definitely one I'd recommend to students of classical Chinese....more
I found a copy of this on holiday in China. There was also a copy of the first volume but they wouldn't sell it to me because they couldn't find the pI found a copy of this on holiday in China. There was also a copy of the first volume but they wouldn't sell it to me because they couldn't find the price for it which is a real shame. The stories in this volume were all about normal life. There were no supernatural tales as in my other favourite short story writers from this time but I still enjoyed it. There were a lot of tales of sex and marriage, revenge and scholars and beauties and I began to think some of the criticism in Hongloumeng against this type of narrative was just. That said it was enjoyable to read and I would love to find a dual language version of the whole thing sometime. ...more
Finished the first volume today. Some of the best Pu Songling stories are included, I think all the famous Fox stories are in this one. The classical Finished the first volume today. Some of the best Pu Songling stories are included, I think all the famous Fox stories are in this one. The classical Chinese is very difficult but the French isn't so bad.
I took a big break between reading the first and second volumes of this. I'm not sure why. I adore these stories and this selection was some of the very best, but I think I had it in my head that it was "hard" and therefore even though I was enjoying reading them I was reluctant to do so. My comprehension of the French seemed to average between 40 and 85 percent depending on the story. Often I found that while the Chinese was very hard, I would recognise vocabulary words in the Chinese that I didn't know in the French that helped my understanding. Though when I was understanding the French well I found it hard to read the Chinese because I didn't want to slow the story down. For the stories that I didn't understand very well I would read a different English translation and then go back and re-read the bits I had trouble with and always found it easier the 2nd time around.
I would definitely recommend this to people who can read French, it is one of the best selections of Pu Songling's stories that I've come across and the translations are very good....more
Without a doubt one of the very best short story collections ever! This volume has everything I love about Chinese literature. There are supernatural Without a doubt one of the very best short story collections ever! This volume has everything I love about Chinese literature. There are supernatural tales as well as ordinary tales. Stories about ordinary people, Chinese emperors and famous neo-Confucian scholars. There is a very interesting version of White Snake which is quite different to the other versions of the stories I've read.
This volume is a complete translation of ALL the stories from the 2nd volume of the san yan. They are presented in the original order with the paired stories making really good contrasts. Nearly all translations into English of Chinese collections are very small selections so to have the whole thing is just amazing. Having the original order makes it very easy to go between the English version and the Chinese version (which is easy to find online as a free ebook) Which also makes this an excellent aid for students who are studying the language.
I can't recommend this book highly enough and can't wait for the third volume to be released in paperback. ...more
This is the third story from Pu Songling's collection. It's as gorgeous as the other volumes in this series. The locations and the people are beautifuThis is the third story from Pu Songling's collection. It's as gorgeous as the other volumes in this series. The locations and the people are beautiful, the Chinese is correct and the story is lovely. This is a story of a young couple who fall in love but are kept apart because he father wants her to marry someone rich instead. The ending and the resolution for how they end up staying together is lovely and a perfect indication of why these stories are so much better than their European equivalent. Definitely one I'd recommend....more
This was an enjoyable translation. It seemed accurate enough that when I went to look up a translated passage in the original Chinese I found it immedThis was an enjoyable translation. It seemed accurate enough that when I went to look up a translated passage in the original Chinese I found it immediately. It was nice to read the whole story and find out what happened in the scenecs that were missing from the production that I saw the week before. It turned out that my favorite night, in addition to being about ghosts and hell, also had the fewest missing scenes, and the night I found the weakest, the last night, had the most. I got this copy from the SOAS library, but will buy my own so I can use it to help me read the original, as it is such a poetic piece it really does need to be read in the original language....more
At work I've been going through the main library and looking at all the pre-1830 books to decide if they should be moved over to Special Collections. At work I've been going through the main library and looking at all the pre-1830 books to decide if they should be moved over to Special Collections. One of the books on my list was this one. It is fascinating; it's the first ever epistolary fiction to turn up in France at the end of the 17th century. It was claimed to be translated from the Portuguese by a French editor who "lost" the original letters. It is now commonly believed that he made it up, but I'm not so sure. This edition is a translation of a later French edition which also includes a separate series of letters from a noblewoman to her lover. In this version there is no difference between the two, and the noblewoman's letters are presented first, and then the nun's with no separation in numbering. I imagine this would be very confusing if you didn't know the background as the sender went from being a woman out in society to living in a nunnery. The first series reminded me a bit of Dangerous Liaisons as the woman clearly got quite jealous of her lover and tried to get him to feel the same. They were amusing but not nearly as emotional as the nun's letters. There was something terribly realistic and heart-breaking about the letters. I'm sure fiction can be written this well, but not sure these are. Either way they're realistic enough to stand the test of time. I thought it interesting that she had failed to hide the affair from her family and the convent and mentioned casually how she had gotten into trouble. They end with her, after being firmly rejected by the man, saying that she'd try and find another man. Fantastic doomed love....more
I found a nice old copy of the English translation of this play at Waterstones. It was one that I'd not heard of before so I bought it. The play was tI found a nice old copy of the English translation of this play at Waterstones. It was one that I'd not heard of before so I bought it. The play was translated in the 30s by a Chinese playwright with the intention of it being able to be performed by English speaking actors. Just after I bought it I discovered that there is a lecture about it at SOAS so decided I better read it quite quickly.
I really liked the play. It had very strong women characters, even the mother who was the typical "Confucian" woman was strong and managed to save her son-in-laws life at the end by using her wits. It had women warriors and daughters who studied. It had all the things I like best about Chinese literature. The plot wasn't as good as some of the other more famous plays I've read but that might have been just because it was shortened down to fit for a production for one evening.
The edition that I read was a lovely little hardcover with woodcut illustrations from the Chinese text. These depicted the scenes as they really happened rather than as they appeared on stage. The translator also included lots of stage descriptions and character descriptions. But I still have a hard time picturing an English company performing the play.
I enjoyed reading this and am looking forward to the lecture.
A full translation of Feng Menglong's San Yan is totally unbelievable. This is the first volume of 40 stories and 794 pages long. I started reading itA full translation of Feng Menglong's San Yan is totally unbelievable. This is the first volume of 40 stories and 794 pages long. I started reading it back in November but had to stop reading it when I hurt my wrist as it was too big and heavy to hold. I finished up the remaining stories this week. I totally loved this book. The stories are brilliant and Feng's comments are amusing and enjoyable. A lot of the stories are quite long, around 40 pages or so and you get a real sense of the characters. The plots range from the mundane to the supernatural. There are courtesans, bandits, ghosts, fox spirits and deities. One of my favorites was about two men who became good friends. When they parted they agreed to meet again on a certain day in the future. The man who was supposed to travel wasn't able to and having heard that ghosts could travel a 1000 li in a day killed himself so he could travel at supernatural speeds to meet his friend for their visit. They had dinner and then he revealed what he had done. His friend went to his home and buried him, then killed himself after ordering that they be buried together. These stories are all the reasons that I love Chinese literature, culture and history so much. I was bought the second volume (over 800 pages) for Christmas and can't wait to read the next installment. I know this is one book I will read over and over....more
Loading...
