Rippling Flowers (Vol. 1 & 2) (Illustrated Text)

Author: Han Bangqing (Qing Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-08-01
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 (Haihuahua Liezhuan) 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 64 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 lives of various characters who frequent them. The narrative 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 novel is likely a pioneering effort by the author. However, this approach also presents certain reading challenges for readers outside the Wu dialect region. To assist readers, we have appended the textual annotations by Mr. Hu Shi, Mr. Liu Banrong, and Mr. Wang Yuanfang, who wrote them for the 1920s edition of The Flowers of Shanghai published by Shanghai Yadong Library, for reference during reading.