Classical Chinese Novel Popular Library -- The Second Collection of Surprising Stories That Make One Clap on the Table

Author: Ling Mengchu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: The Second Collection of Surprising Stories (Er Ke Pa An Qi Jing) is the second collection of colloquial tales created by Ling Mengchu following The First Collection of Surprising Stories. The Second Collection of Surprising Stories comprehensively reflects the turbulent social conditions of the late Ming Dynasty, marked by internal and external crises, increasingly complex and acute social contradictions. These include the psychological imbalance caused by the stark wealth disparity, social unrest stemming from the corruption of bureaucratic politics, the resistance of young men and women against the feudal marriage system, the challenge posed by the emerging merchant class to the traditional order of the four social classes (scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant), and the rebellion of human desires against the Confucian doctrines of heaven and reason, fueled by the decadent social. It can be said to outline a bleak picture of the declining late Ming society. In the tales, such representative masterpieces as The Overwhelming Journey of the Traveler and the Three Rescues by the Sea God (reflecting the life of merchants), The Starving and Satiated Adventures of Master Man and The Vengeful Requital of Lady Jiao (depicting marriage and love), and The Stubborn Case of the Scholarly Judge and the Heroic Female (exposing the corruption of the officialdom) are particularly noteworthy. However, the collection is also permeated with outdated teachings on ghosts, gods, reincarnation, and karmic retribution, as well as excessive depiction of the decadent social of the time, which to varying degrees have impaired the ideological and artistic value of the stories.