R（）

Author: Han Bangqing (Qing Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-09-01
Features: In the history of Chinese literature, after the Yuan Dynasty, vernacular popular fiction emerged as a new literary genre. Due to its ability to vividly depict historical events, portray human emotions, and celebrate legendary heroes in a convenient and accurate manner, it quickly gained recognition among literate people across all social strata, leading to rapid development. The Flowers of Shanghai is a long vernacular novel written during the late Qing Dynasty. Lu Xun included it in the category of "Qing Dynasty's erotic novels" in A Brief History of Chinese Fiction. The entire work consists of sixty-four chapters, which reflect the social life of the time, including the officialdom and business world, through the depiction of scenes in Shanghai brothels and the portrayal of the diverse characters who frequent them. The narrative of the entire book is written in Mandarin, while the dialogue is in Wu dialect, bringing the characters' expressions and appearances to life vividly. This technique of incorporating Wu dialect into the realm of fiction is likely a pioneering effort by the author of this book. However, this approach also presents a certain degree of reading difficulty for readers outside the Wu dialect-speaking region. To address this, we have appended the written commentary by Mr. Hu Shi, Mr. Liu Banruo, and Mr. Wang Yuanfang, who contributed to the text of The Flowers of Shanghai published by Shanghai Yadong Library in the 1920s, at the end of the book for reference by readers.