Office Scandals - A Classic Must-Read Library

Author: Li Baojia / Kan Jian (ed.)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-05-01
Features: The autocracy of feudal society, the corruption of the court; the intrigue in official circles, the obsession with fame and profit, and the vivid portrayal of ugly faces. And how many can extricate themselves from the ending? The Real Story of Officialdom is a famous satirical novel, written by Li Baojia in the late Qing Dynasty. In the late 19th century, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, suppressing the Boxer Rebellion, a patriotic anti-imperialist movement. The Qing government signed the humiliating Boxer Protocol, exacerbating national crisis and igniting public anger. Some intellectuals, filled with grief and indignation, used their pens as weapons to express their emotions, giving rise to many satirical novels, the most representative of which is The Real Story of Officialdom. The book exposes the darkness and corruption of the Qing officialdom, covering politics, economy, military, and diplomacy, presenting a gallery of villains from high-ranking officials like chancellors, governors, and viceroys, to low-ranking ones like circuit magistrates, county magistrates, commanders, and clerks. These bloodsuckers acted arrogantly domestically, exploiting and oppressing the people, disregarding human lives, and harming the populace; while abroad, they kowtowed and surrendered, betraying their country. They valued money above all, adhering to the belief that "a thousand miles of officialdom are only for wealth," openly selling and buying official positions, profiting from public office, accepting bribes, embezzling military rations, and trafficking in human beings, to the point of employing every means possible. They vied for fame and profit, flattering superiors and catering to their whims, while among themselves, some colluded in treachery, supporting each other for mutual benefit, or engaged in deceit and intrigue, eliminating rivals. They lived in extreme luxury, indulging in drugs, gambling, taking concubines, and debauchery, losing all sense of morality. The entire book objectively reflects the dark reality of society at the time. Reading it makes one feel that the fall of the Qing Dynasty was inevitable. Although the author claimed in the book to expose the faults of officials, hoping they would repent, "abstain from evil," and "be guided toward goodness," this good intention could not be realized at the time. Additionally, the author held a negative attitude toward peasant uprisings, slandered the Taiping Rebellion and the Boxer Movement, reflecting the author's limitations of the era and his reformist ideology.