Urban Folk Customs: "Strange Stories from Ming and Qing" and Folk Culture

Author: Liu Liangming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: The novel narrates the story of a merchant named Ruo Ruoxu, who travels on land to trade but consistently fails in his endeavors, earning him the nickname "unlucky merchant." Later, he boards a ship and uses a mere one or two silver taels, funded by others, to buy over a hundred catties of Dongting red tangerines to bring aboard. To his astonishment, these tangerines sell for over eight hundred silver taels in foreign lands, bringing Ruo Ruoxu immense joy. On the return journey, he discovers a giant turtle shell on a deserted island, which, after being identified by a Persian merchant as a dragon shell, fetches him an astonishing fifty thousand silver taels. These vividly depict the opportunistic mindset and of merchants seeking wealth. The trading process between the Persian merchant Mabohua and Ruo Ruoxu and others in the novel further highlights the crucial role of commercial information and specialized knowledge in business operations. These descriptions also supplement historical records, serving as concrete visual materials of commercial activities at the time.
The works on love and marriage in "The Two Captures" also reflect a strong anti-traditional ideology. In "The First Capture," Volume 29, "Tong Gui Da Jian Xin Diao Luo Jie Jie's Qilin," Zhang Youqian and Luo Xixi persist in free love and even risk their lives to defend their marital happiness, leaving readers deeply moved. In "The Second Capture," Volume 17, "Tong Chuang You Ren Jia Zhen Nü Xiu Zai Yi Hua Jie," a story similar to "The Butterfly Lovers" is narrated.