Warning tales of the age

Author: (Ming) Feng Menglong
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-04-01
Features: Feng Menglong, styled Yulong, was also known as Mohenzi and Long Yuyou. He was a native of Changzhou (now Wuxian County, Jiangsu). He possessed talent from a young age, became proficient in classics and poetry, but failed in the imperial examinations. During the Chongzhen era, he was appointed as a (a type of scholar) and later served as the magistrate of Shouning County, Fujian. When the Qing army entered the pass, he participated in anti-Qing activities. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he died of grief in his hometown. Feng Menglong held progressive literary views, and his outstanding contribution lay in the field of popular literature. A Warning to the World () was published in the fourth year of the Tianqi era (1624), comprising forty volumes with forty tales in the style of colloquial stories. The last tale, The Iron Tree Exorcism of the Jingyang Palace, is considered a medium-length novel in terms of length and content. Many of the stories in A Warning to the World are widely known. The tale The White Snake and the Leifeng Pagoda evolved into the famous Chinese folktale, one of the Four Great Chinese Folktales. The ending of the story, where the monk Fa Hai leaves a verse predicting the collapse of Leifeng Pagoda and the emergence of the White Snake, has led to adaptations where the pagoda is destroyed to rescue the White Snake, becoming a key supplementary plot in later versions. Historical figures like Li Bai, Zhao Kuangyin, Wang Anshi, Su Dongpo, and Tang Bohu are brought to life through the tales, leaving readers with unforgettable impressions. Love and marriage-themed stories form a significant portion of the book. The compiler emphasizes sincere affection between men and women, advocates for independent choice in marriage, and promotes mutual respect between partners. He shows great sympathy for oppressed women, such as Du Shisi and Yutangchun. Zhang Hao’s Encounter with the Mandarin Duck at the Fragrant Lodge shares some similarities with The Story of the Western Chamber (), but intentionally alters the plot’s development. The ending involves a lawsuit, where the magistrate orders Zhang Sheng and Yingying to marry. This serves as a strong critique of the Tang Dynasty legend The Story of Yingying and a clever adaptation of the Yuan Dynasty opera The Story of the Western Chamber. Yingying’s actions not only represent the defense of women’s rights but also reflect the ancient emphasis on evidence and adherence to rituals. This, of course, carries the author’s idealistic elements, but it also demonstrates the progressiveness of his thinking. It must be acknowledged that the book also reflects various feudal ideologies, including superstitions about ghosts and spirits. These should be critically examined and discarded.