Strange Currents in a Decade (Illustrated Edition,)

Author: Wu Jianren (Qing Dynasty), annotated by Zhang Youhe
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1959-08-01
Features: This book is one of the Four Great Criticizing Novels of the Late Qing Dynasty. It is a semi-autobiographical novel by Wu Jianren, a Qing Dynasty novelist, written from the perspective of an innocent scholar stepping into the world. Through his interactions with others, he observes and understands real-life, gradually peeling away the truths hidden beneath pretenses. The work primarily focuses on the officialdom and family life, providing rich, vivid materials on the politics, economy, and cultural customs of the Late Qing society. It also reveals the human degradation and various vices brought about by the corrupt system. The novel reflects the numerous bizarre realities in China's officialdom, business world, and foreign-influenced areas from the Sino-French War (1884-1885) to the early 20th century, depicting a social landscape of the declining Qing Empire. It exposes the darkness of the officialdom and satirizes the ignorant scholars and dilettantes of the foreign-influenced areas. To facilitate reading, the annotators have added notes at the end of each chapter, explaining some of the social systems, official terminology, and certain customs, artifacts, and language that were not well-known to contemporary readers.