Harmonious Echoes. Collection of Buried Worries

Author: (Qing) Shen Qifeng
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Xie Du (The Harmonious Echoes) consists of 12 volumes, totaling 122 stories. Xie Du was written by Shen Qifeng, a mid-Qing Dynasty playwright. According to available records, Shen Qifeng was born in 1741, styled Tongwei, and was a native of Wuxian, Jiangsu. The stories in Xie Du are concise and profound, with succinct yet vivid language, deeply embedded with philosophical insights. The author, deeply troubled by the darkness of society and the dangers of the human world, exhibits a strong critical and cautionary spirit in Xie Du. Based on this principle, the stories in the book largely expose the distorted realities of society. Each story in Xie Du features either spirits, ghosts, or strange phenomena, serving as warnings and satirical allegories. The tales are independent yet profound in meaning. The author skillfully uses these themes to dissect societal ailments and reveal human conditions, blending solemnity with humor with remarkable expertise.
Mai You Ji (The Collection of Hidden Sorrows) consists of 10 volumes, written by Zhu Yiqing of the Qing Dynasty. Zhu Yiqing, styled Meishu, was also known as the "Foreign Historian of Hongshan Villa." He was born in 1795 and was from Guian. Mai You Ji is rich in content and diverse in thought, making it distinctive among note-taking fiction. First, its stories defy the convention of note-taking fiction, which often focuses on supernatural tales, as it rarely features ghosts or monsters as protagonists. Instead, it strongly and sensitively reflects on contemporary social issues.