Fiction First Published to Amaze and Astonish (Illustrated Complete Edition) — Popular Series of Chinese Classical Novel Masterpieces

Author: Ling Mengchu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: The First Collection of Surprising Cases (Chu Ke Pa An Jing) is a collection of fictional tales written by Ling Mengchu during the late Ming Dynasty. It was completed in the seventh year of the Tianqi era (1627) of the Ming Dynasty and published by the Shang You Tang bookstore the following year. Later, Ling Mengchu compiled The Second Collection of Surprising Cases, which was published in the fifth year of the Chongzhen era (1632) of the Ming Dynasty. The two books are collectively referred to as "The Two Paks." The First Collection of Surprising Cases originally consisted of 40 volumes with 40 tales, but the original manuscript is lost. The earliest and most complete surviving version is the Shang You Tang edition preserved in the National Diet Library of Japan, which contains 39 volumes (missing volume 23), corresponding to 39 actual tales.
Regarding the thematic content of The First Collection of Surprising Cases, there are two main issues. The first is the explicit erotic descriptions. Many works, such as The Western Mountain Observatory Conducts a Ghostly Ritual, Kaifeng Prefecture Prepares a Coffin to Rescue a Living Person, The Swap of Beards and the Seduction of the Husband, and The Village Woman's Sacrifice for Passion, the Courtier's Judgment by False Heaven's Mandate, contain lewd depictions. Such works reflect the vulgar tastes of the urban populace. The second issue is the strong influence of religious superstition, the belief in cause and effect, and fatalism. Tales like The Minister Wang's Authority Among His Subordinates, the Officer Li's Vengeance in Life, The Robbery in the Suburban Market and the Ghost's Testimony in Court, The Empty Letter of Li Ke Rang and the Twin Sons of Liu Yuan Pu, and The Matchmaker Zhang's Encounter with a Tiger and the Auspicious Day's Marriage of Pei Yue Ke are filled with descriptions of supernatural encounters, divine retribution, and other themes.