"Romance of the Times (Complete Two Volumes)"

Author: (Qing) Wen Kang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-03-01
Features: In the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty, a new genre of popular fiction emerged in China—children and heroes novels. Its representative work is The Story of the Heroic and Romantic Daughter. Wen Kang, born into an Eight Banners family, wrote this story of a complete tale during his later years of poverty and boredom. He was not content with the heroic display of prowess and the poetic exchanges of lovers, but instead gathered the virtues of heroes, heroines, and great sages into his beloved character, the Thirteen Sisters, while having the young nobleman An Ji study and pass imperial examinations, achieving continuous success, and ultimately becoming a high-ranking official, enjoying immense wealth and luxury.
The special strength of The Story of the Heroic and Romantic Daughter lies in the vivid, elegant, playful, and witty vernacular language. Wen Kang wrote in Beijing dialect, incorporating a wealth of authentic colloquial expressions. The liveliness, expressiveness, wit, and playfulness often make readers forget the simplistic and shallow nature of his creative ideas, immersing them in the joy brought by the brilliant language. The dialogue in the novel is particularly outstanding. Wen Kang must have carefully studied the tones, postures, and psychological activities of various characters in real life, so the conversations in the novel are lifelike, with each person having their own voice and manner. Describing it as "captivating" is truly most appropriate.