The first edition of Surprising Stories from a Tableside Judgment

Author: Ling Mengchu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This book is one of the "Popular Edition Series of Chinese Classical Novel Masterpieces," a collection of fictional tales written by Ling Mengchu during the late Ming Dynasty. It was compiled in the seventh year of the Tianqi era (1627) of the Ming Dynasty and is collectively known with "The Second Collection of Surprising Cases" as "The Two Collections of Surprising Cases." The content is complex, and the ideological tendencies are not the same. Although the themes of the stories are mostly derived from previous works, they are re-created by Ling, reflecting the social reality and era atmosphere of the late Ming Dynasty, as well as Ling's own ideological concepts and his indignation against the secular world. The book mainly features works depicting the thoughts and actions of merchants, their destinies, and stories of love and romance, all of which hold cognitive value and positive significance.
There are two main issues with the thematic content of "The First Collection of Surprising Cases." The first is the crude depiction of sexuality. Many works, such as "The Mountain Temple of Western Slope Conducts the Souls to Leave, Kaifeng Prefecture Prepares Coffins to Save the Living," "Qiao Exchange of Beards for Sexual Immorality, Manifestation of Rebirth Through Meditation," and "Strange Passion of a Village Woman Who Sacrifices Herself, False Heaven's Voice and Clerk's Judgment" contain lewd descriptions. Such works reflect the vulgar tastes of the urban populace. The second issue is the strong influence of religious superstition, the belief in cause and effect, and fatalism. Works like "The Minister Wang's Authority Among His Subordinates, and the Vengeance of Li the Ensign Before His Death," "Financial Scheming in the Outskirts of the City, Ghosts Testifying in Court," "Li Ke-Rang's Empty Letter and Liu Yuan-Pu's Twin Sons," and "Zhang Rong's Encounter with a Tiger Through a Medium and Pei Yue-Kuei's Marriage on a Lucky Day" are filled with descriptions of supernatural encounters and the rewards and punishments of good and evil.
"The First Collection of Surprising Cases" is a collection of fictional tales written by Ling Mengchu during the late Ming Dynasty. It was compiled in the seventh year of the Tianqi era (1627) of the Ming Dynasty and published by the Shang You Tang publishing house the following year. Later, Ling Mengchu compiled "The Second Collection of Surprising Cases," which was published in the fifth year of the Chongzhen era (1632) of the Ming Dynasty. The two books are collectively known as "The Two Collections of Surprising Cases." "The First Collection of Surprising Cases" originally consisted of forty volumes and forty stories, but the original manuscript is lost. The earliest and most complete version now available is the Shang You Tang edition preserved in the National Library of Japan, which contains thirty-nine volumes (missing twenty..