Roulin Wai Shi - World Famous Literary Master

Author: Wu Jingzi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The Story of the Scholars is an outstanding realistic satirical novel in the history of Chinese literature. The Story of the Scholars depicts the "history outside the scholarly world." In other words, The Story of the Scholars is not official history, does not reflect the official will, nor is it folk history. Its main purpose is to write about "true events in the world," exploring the true nature of scholars, exposing societal flaws, and warning the public. Author Wu Jingzi lived in an era when the Qing regime had become stable, and the imperial examination system had passed its peak and revealed its flaws. Scholars were obsessed with the imperial examinations, and moral decline prevailed. The Story of the Scholars primarily depicts scholars, as Lu Xun said, "its satire is particularly aimed at the scholarly class." Most of the characters in the book are shadows of real people from that time. To avoid persecution by the Qing ruling class, Wu Jingzi deliberately set the story in the Ming Dynasty. The author used the Ming Dynasty to write about the Qing Dynasty, aiming to portray the image of feudal scholars living in the late feudal era and under the imperial examination system. It vividly depicts the ruthless imperial examination system, the oppressive Confucian rituals, and the corrupt political system, presenting a social landscape of the feudal examination era.