Teach you to understand Ji Xiaolan and Notes from the Studio of Insight

Author: Gao Tan Culture (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Ji Yong, styled Xiaolan, is a name less widely recognized than his courtesy name. Stories about Ji Xiaolan's versatility, quick wit, humor, lack of petty concerns, and skill in crafting clever and balanced couplets have long been widely circulated and enjoyed, often overshadowing his status as a great scholar and high-ranking official. A Record of Words from the Weìmáo Study is a work from Ji Yong's later years and one of the representative examples of vernacular fiction from the Qing Dynasty. Its stories originate from diverse sources, ranging from coarse to refined, encompassing tales of the upper class, officialdom, human relationships, and historical records, as well as the mundane conversations, strange events, divination, and supernatural tales of the lower classes. These stories, both refined and vulgar, straightforward and extraordinary, span all aspects of society, reflecting the social life of the time, revealing the contradictions of society, and showcasing the good and evil of figures from different social classes.
In the early Qing Dynasty, when literary purges were rampant, any slight oversight by scholars could lead to swift and severe consequences. Yet Ji Yong's A Record of Words from the Weìmáo Study dares to expose the darker side of society through direct and indirect means, condemning the hypocrisy and harm of Confucian scholars, revealing the corruption of officialdom, and critiquing unreasonable phenomena. This courage and boldness not only elevated the significance of A Record of Words from the Weìmáo Study in the history of Chinese literature but also deserves our admiration and praise in later generations.