(Illustrated Edition)

Author: Feng Menglong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: As a peak of ancient vernacular short stories, this book constructs its own unique artistic world. The content of the book is divided into three parts: Marriage, Love, and the Fate of Women; Ambition, Wealth, and the Vicissitudes of Life; Strange Events, Injustices, and the World of the Supernatural, presenting the social diversity of life during that period. The content of the book mainly involves the following aspects: First, Marriage, Love, and the Fate of Women. Second, Ambition, Wealth, and the Vicissitudes of Life. Third, Strange Events, Injustices, and the World of the Supernatural. As a peak of ancient vernacular short stories, A Collection of Stories to Warn and Instruct constructs its own unique artistic world. Ancient vernacular Chinese fiction emerged from the "storytelling" and "story-sheets" traditions, refined and elevated by literati. The scripts used by storytellers were called "story-sheets," and modern scholars refer to Three Words and Two Captures as "imitated story-sheets." Compared to early "story-sheets," A Collection of Stories to Warn and Instruct has undergone significant changes and developments in language, style, and structure. First, in terms of language, it broke the separation between written and spoken language, fully adopting colloquial and clear vernacular, avoiding mixed literary and colloquial styles, and achieving a unified style. The book features story-sheets centered on marriage and love, some depicting the passionate pursuit of free love by young men and women, while others portray the unfortunate lives and suffering of lower-class women.