Warning Words" Return to Table of Contents

A collection of story novels. Compiled by Feng Menglong in the late Ming Dynasty. Together with Feng's two other collections of story-telling novels, "Yu Shi Ming Yan" ("Ancient and Modern Novels") and "Awakening of the World", they are collectively called "San Yan". According to the preface "Tianqi Jiazi" written by the layman Yuzhang Wuzhi on the Jinling Jianshantang edition, it was known that it was carved in the fourth year of Tianqi (1624). There is no author in this book, only the title "It can be commented by one author, and it does not hinder comparison by lay scholars." Ling □chu's "Preface to the Wonders of the Past" said: "The books such as "Yushi" compiled by Dulongzi You are quite elegant and have good rules..." The owner of Xiaohua's "Preface to the Wonders of Modern and Ancient Times" said: "Mo Han Zhai added "Ping Yao", which made great changes... and finally compiled the three words "Yu Shi", "Warning the World" and "Awakening the World", which perfectly imitate the differences between human feelings and the world..." Long Ziyu and Mo Hanzhai. They are all nicknames of Feng Menglong. It can be seen that "Warning Words" and the other two words were all compiled by Feng Menglong.

Feng Menglong compiled "Three Words", which includes the Song and Yuan scripts and the Ming Dynasty scripts. They are all vernacular short stories. Among the 40 works collected in "Jingshi Tongyan", old works from the Song and Yuan Dynasties account for nearly half, such as "Chen Kechang Duanyang Immortality", "Cui Taizhao's Enemies in Life and Death", etc. But they have all been sorted and processed by Feng Menglong to some extent. The story of "The White Snake Forever Towns Leifeng Pagoda" has an earlier origin, and the text is similar to the style of the Song Dynasty, but some of the place names and customs are from the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, some of the imitative scripts were based on ancient book records. For example, in "Wang Anshi's Three Difficulties with Su Xueshi", the story of chanting chrysanthemums comes from "Gaozhai Manlu", and the story of river water comes from "Stories of China and Dynasties Li Zanhuang's Anecdotes"; some Some of them are adapted from folk raps, such as the end of the chapter "Su Zhi County Luo Shan Reunited", which points out that "to this day, there is a legend in Luli about the song version of "Su Zhi County Reporting Wrongs". Many of the imitative scripts of the Ming Dynasty must have been written by Feng Menglong himself, but these have not yet been verified and verified. Feng Menglong wrote a preface to the legend of "Repaying a Favor Three Times", saying that "Yu Xiang wrote the novel "Old Disciple", and... Wan Hou of the Comedy Hall took it and acted it into the legend of "Repaying Favor Three Times". From this, we know "Repaying Favor Three Times: An Old Disciple" One article was written by Feng Menglong. Some people think that other chapters such as "Song Xiaoguan's Reunion and Broken Relative Lit", "Spring Fall in Yutang, Hard to Meet Husband", "Tang Jieyuan's Marriage with a Smile", "Zhao Chun'er's Return to Caojiazhuang", "Du Shiniang Sinks a Treasure Box in Anger", "Wang Jiaoluan's Hundred Years' Hate" etc. It is very likely that it was written by Feng Menglong, and was actually adapted from the "Biography of Negative Qing Nong", Volume 5 of Song Maocheng's "Nine □ Collections of Essays". The 40 articles in "Warning Words" were edited by Feng Menglong and have a similar style. As a collection of story-telling novels, although the chapters are not related to each other and were produced in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties over hundreds of years, they have developed along a system and still have similar characteristics.

The excellent works in "Warning Words" describe the lives of citizens and show the persecution they suffered under the rule of the dark feudal forces and their resistance struggles. Xu Xiuxiu in "Cui Daizhao's Enemies in Life and Death" was originally the daughter of a framer. Because she was good at embroidery, she was ordered by the Xian'an County Prince to "present her to the mansion" to act as a foster mother. She fell in love with Cui Ning, a jade grinder, and when there was a fire in the county prince's palace, she took the initiative to find Cui Ning, and they fled to another place and lived a normal married life of self-reliance. Later, he was captured by the king of Xian'an County and beaten to death. She became a ghost but still refused to give in and continued to look for Cui Ning to be her husband. Through this tragic love affair between craftsmen, the work reveals the brutality of the feudal rulers and also expresses the spirit of resistance of the oppressed.

Love descriptions account for a large proportion in the works of "Warning to the World", which generally reflect the more common social problems at that time, especially the misfortune of women. "The Little Lady Gives Money to the Young Man" and "The White Snake Forever Guards the Leifeng Pagoda" also use love tragedies to express the bold pursuit of personal freedom and happiness by women in feudal society regardless of the constraints of ethics and education. The young lady was originally a concubine in Wang Zhaoxuan's mansion, but "later she lost her master's heart just because of a few words," so she was kicked out to "take care of others". As a result, she was deceived into marrying an old man who was already 60 years old. Unwilling to be dominated by others, she fell in love with Zhang Sheng, a store manager in his 30s, and boldly expressed her love to Zhang Sheng. Because of the incident of taking a string of beads from Wang Zhaoxuan's mansion, she was captured and brought back to the mansion. Unable to bear the abuse, she hanged herself to death. After her death, her ghost still went to Zhang Sheng. However, just like Xu Xiuxiu in "Cui Daizhao's Life and Death Enemies", even if she became a ghost, the feudal ruling forces did not allow her to enjoy the right to free love and normal life. The White Snake is a woman transformed by the White Snake, seeking happiness in the human world. Stories about her have been circulating for a long time, and she gradually transformed from a harmful spirit into a kind and passionate woman. Although "The White Snake Forever Towns Leifeng Pagoda" still retains some horror, she sincerely loves Xu Xuan. The couple opened a herbal medicine shop and lived a happy and well-off life. Once they were interfered and destroyed by Fahai, who represented the feudal forces, she dared to fight and remained strong and unyielding until she was suppressed under the Leifeng Pagoda. The fate of the prostitutes described in "Warning to the World" is even more tragic. Su San in "The Love in the Palace" fell into prostitution, but luckily met Wang Jinglong and fell in love with each other. The madam used a "house-slipping scheme" to get rid of Wang Jinglong who had spent all his money. Su San was also deceived and sold to a businessman from other provinces as his concubine. He was falsely accused and almost executed. Fortunately, Wang Jinglong, a high school official, rescued him. Du Shiniang in "Du Shiniang Angered and Sinked the Treasure Box" had a similar experience to Su San. She saw that Li Jia, the son of Li Buzheng, was "loyal and honest", so she decided to commit herself to him and try to escape from the fire pit. She pursues true love wholeheartedly and yearns for a free and happy life in the future.

But in feudal society, it was impossible for a prostitute with a very low status to marry Li Jia, who came from an official family. She was finally betrayed by Li Jia, so she threw herself into the river angrily and died to express her displeasure to the cannibal society. The strongest accusations and protests. The work reflects the evil role of money, exposes the philistinism of feudal forces, and accurately creates a new female image of Du Shiniang, who is confident, calm in dealing with situations, and resolutely defending her personal dignity. This is higher than "It's Hard to Find a Husband in the Spring Fall in Yutang". "Du Shiniang Sinks the Treasure Chest in Anger" represents the highest achievement of the Ming Dynasty script in both ideological and artistic terms.

Some of the better works describing love in "Warning to the World" include "Le Xiao She □ Living in Search of a Couple", "Song Xiaoguan's Reunion and Breaking the Felt Li", etc., which praise the steadfastness and single-mindedness of love and criticize it. The concept of family status in marriage issues. "Qian Sheren's Poem on the Swallow Tower" and "Zhang Hao's Encounter with Yingying in Suxiang Pavilion" evolved from legends. Although they have certain social significance, they do not break away from the stereotype of stories about talented men and beautiful ladies. As for "Tang Jieyuan Yixiao Marriage" about the romantic affairs of literati, and "Zhao Chun'er's Prosperity in Caojiazhuang" about prostitutes helping the children of landlords to revitalize their family businesses, there is nothing to be said for it.

"Repentance of a Member of the Communist Party of China", criticized the ungrateful behavior from the negative side, and reflected the moral concepts of the citizen class. In addition, "Li Banned the Immortal Drunken Grass □ Man Shu" and "Wang Anshi's Three Difficulties Su Xueshi" praise Li Bai and Wang Anshi's literary talents and knowledge, and they are also worth reading.

However, there are many works in "Jingshi Tongyan", such as "Old Disciple Repays His Gratitude in Three Lives", "Chen Kechang Sitting on the Dragon Boat Festival", etc., which advocate feudal morality and promote religious superstition. This shows that even some excellent works are often mixed with some backward ideological elements and show considerable limitations.

The Jinling Kenzentang version of "Warning to the World" is now in Japan. There is also a "World Library" version in China that is copied and typeset based on the tradition. Yanqingtang's "Erqing Supplementary Warning to the World" is incomplete. Two articles are missing. 8 articles were copied and added, and 4 articles from "Ancient and Modern Novels" were added. There are only 36 chapters left in the Sanguitang version, Volume 24 of "Zhuo Wenjun's Wisdom Eyes Knows Xiangru", Volume 24 of the Jianshantang version was originally "It's Hard to Meet Your Husband in the Spring Fall of Yutang". The Yanqingtang version and the Sanguitang version are different from the original ones in terms of chapters, titles, and order, which must be due to changes by booksellers. The revised and annotated version published by Writers Press in 1956 was based on the "World Library" version and had some abridgements.

"Awakening Words" Return to Table of Contents

A collection of story novels. Compiled by Feng Menglong in the late Ming Dynasty. Together with Feng's two other collections of story-telling novels, "Yu Shi Ming Yan" ("Ancient and Modern Novels") and "Warning World Tong Yan", they are collectively called "Three Words". According to the preface written by a layman from Longxi, Ye Jingchi, and signed "Tianqi Dingmao", it is known that it was carved in the seventh year of Tianqi (1627). The preface of "Xingshi Hengyan" is "followed by "Mingyan" and "Tongyan". "The word 'Ming' can lead to ignorance, the word 'Tong' can be used to adapt to the vulgar, and the word 'Heng' can be used to adapt to the vulgar. If you learn it without getting tired of it, you can pass it on for a long time. The three inscriptions have different names, and their meanings are the same. "The original inscription does not indicate the author, but only the title "Can be commented by one master, and compared by Mo Lang." Ling □chu's "Preface to the Surprise" said: "Books such as "Yu Shi" compiled by Dulongzi Youshi are quite elegant and have good rules...". The Master of Xiaohua's "Preface to Modern and Ancient Wonders" said: "Mo Hanzhai added "Ping Yao" and made great changes... until he compiled the three words "Yu Shi", "Warning the World" and "Awakening the World", which extremely imitated human feelings. Differences in the state of the world...". Long Ziyou and Mo Hanzhai are both nicknames of Feng Menglong. It can be seen that "Awakening the World's Hengyan" and other two words were all compiled by Feng Menglong.

The title of the cover of Ye Jingchi's engraving of "Eternal Words to Awaken the World" is "Ancient and Modern Novels with Painted Portraits: Eternal Words to Awaken the World". There is a separate edition by Ye Jingxi, and the pictures, preface and text are the same as those in the edition by Ye Jingchi. There are two kinds of popular Yanqingtang reprints, one is the complete version with 40 chapters; the other is the 39-chapter version, that is, "Jin Hailing indulges in lust and dies" is deleted, and the analysis of "Zhang Tingxiu escapes to save his father" is divided into two chapters. A total of 40 articles. The annotated version edited by Gu Xuejie published by the People's Literature Publishing House in 1956 was based on Ye Jingchi's reprinted edition of the "World Library". Necessary deletions were made for certain pornographic descriptions, and for the obscene "Jin Hailing committed suicide" Delete them all.

About one-third. The works that are confirmed to be old works from the Song and Yuan Dynasties include "Xiaoshuiwan Tianhu Yishu", "Leather Boots Exploration Document Erlangshen", "Naofan Lou Amorous Zhou Shengxian", "Jin Hailing's Death in Indulgence", "Zheng Jieshi's Divine Arms for Meritorious Service" "Gong", "Fifteen plays turn into clever misfortune" and other chapters. Zhou Shengxian in "Sentimental Zhou Shengxian in Naofan Tower" fell in love with Fan Erlang, whose family ran a hotel, so he "talked to him in the tea house under the pretense of drinking sugar water and asked him whether he had ever married a wife before", completely ignoring the "humiliating family and ruining his family". ", whose boldness and initiative are the same as those of Zang Xiuxiu in "Cui Daizhao's Life and Death Enemies" and the little lady in "The Little Lady Gives Money to the Young" collected in "Warning Words", which belongs to the "spring is rich and the flowers are blooming" spoken by the Song Dynasty. "Beauty is bold" category. "Fifteen Jokes Turn into Misfortune" belongs to another type of "public case" theme. Through the innocent and tragic death of a young man and woman, it reveals the cruelty and stupidity of feudal officials. These two works are among the best in the entire Song and Yuan scripts.

Feng Menglong compiled the old works of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, which have been sorted and processed. Most of the Ming Dynasty's drafts in "Awakening the World" have been more polished. Some people think that "The Yihu of Dashupo Sends Off His Marriage", "Chen Duoshou's Life and Death Couple", "Buddha Seal Master's Four-Tune Qin Niang", "He Daqing's Hatred of the Mandarin Duck Ribbon", "Bai Yuniang Becomes a Husband Enduring Hardships", "Zhang Tingxiu Escapes to Save His Father" ", "The Condemnation of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty on His Leisurely Tour", "Arrived on an Appointment in a Neighboring Boat in Wu Yamen", "Lu Taixue's Poetry and Wine Proud of the Prince", "Meeting a Knight in the Poor Residence of Mr. Li", "Huang Xiucai's Jade Horse Pendant", etc. It may have been written by Feng Menglong.

Many of the works proposed by the Ming Dynasty were based on miscellaneous records of previous dynasties. Although they also exposed the emperor's debauchery and immorality, such as "Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty's Leisure Tour"; they criticized the feudal bureaucrats' mutual betrayal and ungrateful behavior, such as "Li □gong Encountered a Knight in the Poor Residence"; but generally they are not very big. social significance. For example, "Ma Dang Divine Wind Sends to Prince Teng's Pavilion" only shows the talents and "immortal roots" of the literati. And works that advocate feudal morality and beautify the ruling class, such as "Two County Magistrates Competing for an Orphan Girl in a Righteous Marriage" and "Three Filial Piety and Integrity Contribute to Property to Build a High Fame"; works that promote religious superstition and karma, such as "The Four-Tune Music Girl of the Buddha Seal Master" ” and “Xue Lu Shi Yu Fu Zheng Xian” are completely feudal dross.

The more valuable works proposed by the Ming Dynasty were mostly based on real life or folklore stories. Although "Xu Laopu Marries a Family Out of Indignation" and "Shi Runze Meets Friends at the Beach" contain elements of advocating feudal morality and promoting karma, they mainly express the spirit of rescuing the weak and helping each other in times of need. In addition, there is "Bai Yuniang Enduring Hardship to Become a Husband" that reflects national conflicts, and "The Old Man in the Garden Meets the Fairy Late at Night" that reflects class oppression. In particular, "A Small Penny Creates a Strange Injustice" vividly reflects the life and ideological conditions of urban handicraftsmen in the late Ming Dynasty. There are also realistic depictions of the brutal persecution they suffered from feudal forces. "He Daqing's Hatred of the Mandarin Duck Ribbon" and "Wang Dayin Burned the Baolian Temple" also exposed the sins of the religious forces at that time from the promiscuous life of the temple monks.

In the Ming Dynasty's version of "Awakening the World", descriptions of love, marriage, and family also occupy a prominent position. "Wu Ya Nei Nei Zhou Arrives for an Appointment" uses a praising tone to describe the free union of Wu Yan and He Xiu'e that breaks through the shackles of feudal ethics and expresses the lovers' best wishes to finally get married. "The Life and Death of Chen Duoshou" focuses on the persistence and steadfastness of love. The work is mixed with some superstitious elements, and it is intended to show that Chen and Zhu were "a righteous husband and a chaste wife with a single heart." However, after wiping away these feudal dust, it can still be seen that the author praises loyal and dedicated love. Chapters such as "Qian Xiucai Mistakes the Phoenix Couple" and "Prefect Qiao Randomly Orders the Mandarin Ducks" use farce to mock the unreasonable feudal marriage system that stifles the love and happiness of young men and women. Among the works of this type in "Eternal Words to Awaken the World", "The Oil Seller Monopolizes the Courtesan" is the most outstanding. Qin Zhong, an oil seller with a small business, saw the famous prostitute Wang Meiniang's "beautiful appearance", so he spent more than a year and worked hard to save ten taels of silver as a night's "expense." This was not enough as a lesson, but when he learned that Wang Meiniang was also a refugee from Bianjing to Lin'an, he "felt a sense of nostalgia for the countryside" and felt "a pity" that Wang Meiniang had "fallen into a prostitute's house". It is different from the general behavior of princes and grandsons seeking flowers and willows. While describing Qin Chong's devoted admiration and caring for Wang Meiniang, the work deliberately uses Prince Wu Badong's wanton "humiliation" of Wang Meiniang as a foil to show that the relationship between Qin Chong and Wang Meiniang has actually gone beyond that of a client and a prostitute. The work meticulously depicts Qin Chong's behavior of serving and taking care of Wang Meiniang in the courtyard all night, showing that he truly loves Wang Meiniang. It reflects that the ordinary people in the city at that time not only had requirements for love and happiness, but also respected and cared for women's personality. It is surrounded by the word "love". The so-called "a wealthy family with many children is worthy of love, but not as romantic as an oil seller" reflects the different thoughts and attitudes of citizens on gender relations from those of the feudal ruling class.

This type of works surpasses the old works of the Song and Yuan Dynasties in terms of complete structure, vivid plot, vivid image, delicate description, smooth language, and rich vocabulary. However, they are not as good as the old works of the Song and Yuan Dynasties in terms of the sharpness of the conflict and struggle, the sharpness of the characters, and the strong flavor of life in the language descriptions. Moreover, they often insert too much abstract preaching and deliberately pursue the twists and turns of the plot. It damages the ideological and artistic quality of the work.

"Drunken Awakening Stone" Return to Table of Contents

A collection of novels in the late Ming Dynasty. 15 volumes, 1 article in each volume. It is signed by the editor Donglu Gu Kuangsheng, whose real name is unknown. Lu Xun believed that it was a work of the Ming Dynasty, "only the story of Li Wei's transformation of the tiger was recorded in the Tang Dynasty, and I also learned about the Ming Dynasty and the Chongzhen Dynasty, which is based on his works at that time" ("A Brief History of Chinese Novels"). Jiangdong Lao's "Preface" also holds this view. But some people think it is a work from the early Qing Dynasty. The original preface says: "In the Pingquan Village of Emperor Li Zan (Li Deyu of the Tang Dynasty), there was a stone that woke him up when he was drunk. He even leaned on it when he was drunk. His drunken state was immediately lost." The author wrote this book with the purpose of persuading loyalty and filial piety. He who teaches and teaches.

The author advocates solitary loyalty and opposes "offending others and causing rebellion." Volume 2, "Relying on solitude and loyalty to take advantage of danger and fighting bloody battles, heroes and filial piety, making friends and eliminating evil" says that "poor people will become thieves", and the author praises Liu □ and Liu Lian's father and son who eliminated "robbery" and put down "chaos"; Volume 12 "The Crazy Monk Thinks of Great Treasures, and the Foolish Warlock Makes Tricks" mocks the monk Mingguo who wants to be the emperor, and advises "those who serve the people must be diligent and cautious, practice their crafts, and protect their families." Volume 5 "Serving the country with ardent blood, and sacrificing his life as a martyr for all the orphans" praises Yao's loyalty and martyrdom in commanding his wives and concubines to sacrifice their lives to save the orphans.

Volume 14, "Can't Wait to Shame the Tomb Again, Can't Be Poor, Lian Wei Ke" ridiculed Mo's inability to stay poor, criticized Mo's remarriage, and advocated that "starving to death is a small matter, but being unruly is a big deal." As for the promotion of destiny, karma and retribution, and the advocacy of studying to become an official, these ideas are also prominent in the book. However, some of the chapters still have certain cognitive value to this day. For example, the fourth volume, "Bingsongyun, a virtuous woman, loses her beauty, and a beautiful and idiotic child suffers" exposes the crime of rich people colluding with local eunuchs and the government to rob women of the people. Volume 7, "Losing Yan Yi's Practice to Greed, Falling into Ji Qiu and Unrespectable Queen" gives a more realistic description of the greed of officials and the darkness of the imperial examination. Volume 8, "The fake tiger's power and antiques spread, the eagle attacks the scholar's justice" reflects the fact that officials took the opportunity to extort money in order to purchase antiques for the emperor. Volume 13, "Sister Mu Qiong mistakenly recognized her lover, and Dong Wenfu became a ungrateful ghost in vain" writes about the various shortcomings of the government's collection of money and grain.

Lu Xun said, "The writing style of "Drunk Awakening Stone" is "quite revealing, but it is too concise, so the habit of speaking plainly becomes overwhelming again." From this book, we can see that the Huaben novels were coming to an end in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

"The Story of Marriage that Awakens the World" Return to Table of Contents

A novel from the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty. A "Bad Marriage". Compiled by "Sheng of the Western Zhou Dynasty" and edited by "Ranjinzi". 100 times. At the beginning of the volume, there is a preface by Master Bi, eight rules and inscriptions from Dongling Taoists, which generally explain the purpose of compilation, which is to draw lessons from official and unofficial history. At the same time, the instruction manual states, "Everyone who performs good deeds will use his or her real name. As for the husband who is corrupt and corrupt, his name will be fabricated."

It is said that Pu Songling was born in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The content and plot of this book have many similarities with "Jiangcheng" and "Shao Nu" in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", and there are many Shandong Oriental dialects in this book. , most of what is written is about the customs and habits in Zichuan and Zhangqiu, Shandong, so Pu Songling's account is more credible. If not for Pu Songling, this author would have lived in these places. This book records many events during the Shunzhi and Kangxi years, and was written no later than the 60th year of Kangxi (Xin Chou) (1721).

"The Story of Awakening Marriage" is about the marriage between two generations. Chao Yuan in the novel, because he shot a fairy fox, doted on his concubine, forced his wife Ji to death, and was reborn as Di Xichen after his death. According to the author's arrangement, "he has great grudges and cannot be repaid, and they are both worthy of being husband and wife in this life." "So the dead fox was entrusted to be reborn as Sister Xue Su, and the Ji family was entrusted to be reborn as Sister Tong Ji, and became Di Xichen's wives and concubines. They tortured Di Xichen wantonly and avenged their injustice. In the way of karma, the dark and cold life of the landlord class is written. The work extensively describes the customs and customs of towns and cities in feudal society, and fully depicts the officialdom and family life of the landlord and bureaucratic class, fully exposing the filth, fraud, and sins of feudal society and feudal families. The author observes carefully and depicts the lives of various characters in the landlord class vividly and realistically. Sometimes he is very cold and humorous in his understatement. "The Story of Awakening Marriage" is available in the Qing Dynasty edition, the full edition typed by World Book Company in 1936, and the type typed edition by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House in 1981, with 10 textual research texts by Hu Shi, Sun Kaidi, etc., which is quite convenient to use.

"Ancient and Modern Novels" Return to Table of Contents

A collection of story novels. Compiled by Feng Menglong in the late Ming Dynasty. Later, it was renamed "Yu Shi Ming Yan", and together with Feng's other two story collections "Warning Words" and "Awakening Words", they are collectively known as "Three Words". It was carved around the time of Taichang and Tianqi (around 1621). The original engraving of Tianxuzhai has no author and is only signed "Comments from the owner of Lutian Pavilion". Ling □chu's "Preface to the Wonders of the Past" said: "Dulongzi Youshi's "Yu Shi" and other collections are quite elegant and have good rules..." The Master of Xiaohua's "Preface to Modern and Ancient Wonders" said: "Mohanzhai Supplementing "Ping Yao", the poor work has changed a lot, and the three words "Yu Shi", "Warning the World" and "Awakening the World" have been compiled, which perfectly imitate the differences between human beings and the world..." Long Ziyu and Mo Hanzhaidu. This is Feng Menglong's alias. It is known that "Ancient and Modern Novels" and two other chapters were compiled by Feng Menglong.

The title page of Tianxuzhai's original edition of "Ancient and Modern Novels" says, "We have purchased one hundred and twenty kinds of ancient and modern novels by famous people, and we will first use one-third as the initial edition." It also reads at the beginning of the table of contents "A comprehensive list of ancient and modern novels" is an 8-character book. The preface written by the owner of the Green Sky Pavilion at the beginning of the volume also says: "The family of Maoyuan Yeshi has a very rich collection of ancient and modern popular novels. At the request of the Jia people, forty kinds of them, which can benefit Lier, were selected for a moment." It can be seen that Feng Menglong's original collection It was planned to publish 120 kinds of novels in three volumes under the name "Ancient and Modern Novels". However, in the future, the names "Er Ke" and "Three Ke" were not actually used, but instead they were called "Warning Words" and "Awakening the World". "Yan", which had been engraved in "Ancient and Modern Novels", was also renamed "Yu Shi Ming Yan" when it was reprinted. The term "Ancient and Modern Novels" seems to be used as a general term for "Three Words". For example, the cover of Ye Jingchi's version of "Awakening Words to Awaken the World" is titled "Paintings and Ancient and Modern Novels Awakening Words to Awaken the World." The inner cover page of Yanqingtang's version of "Awakening the World" still says: "We have purchased one hundred and twenty ancient and modern popular novels at a high price. The first inscription is "Yu Shi Ming Yan", and the second inscription is "Warning the World Tong Yan". ", which is regarded as a treasure of Yejia all over the country; the three inscriptions are "Eternal Words to Awaken the World"..." Yanqingtang's version of "Yu Shi Ming Yan" has only 24 articles, and the cover title is "Reprinted to Supplement Ancient and Modern Novels". Because after the printing of "Ancient and Modern Novels", Tianxuzhai suffered a fire and the plates were scattered, so when the name was changed and reprinted, there were only 24 pieces. In fact, the 24 articles also include "Fake Immortals Raising Huaguang Temple" taken from "Warning Words", "Bai Yuniang Endured Hardship to Become a Husband" and "Zhang Tingxiu Escapes to Save Father" taken from "Awakening Words". The order of each chapter is also different from the original version of "Ancient and Modern Novels".

Most of the scripts collected in "Ancient and Modern Novels" are old works from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and a few were drafted by people in the Ming Dynasty.

"Shi Hongzhao's Meeting of the Dragon and Tiger Monarchs" and "The Four Dukes of the Song Dynasty Make a Trouble with Imprisoned Souls" are old works of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, while "Brother Jiang Xing Meets Again in Pearl Shirt" and "Shen Xiaoxia Meets and Disciples the Master" are drafts of the Ming Dynasty. There are also some works that may be old works from the Song and Yuan Dynasties but were adapted or greatly processed by the Ming Dynasty, such as "Xinqiao City Han Wu Selling Promiscuous Love", "The Underworld Sima Maung Breaks the Prison" and so on.

The 40 works in "Ancient and Modern Novels" were produced in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, with different social conditions. The works that were directly based on the spoken scripts and the later works that imitated the scripts, the content and techniques There are also some differences in aspects such as language, style, etc., but because they belong to the same novel development system and the subject matter is closely related to urban life, they still have many similarities.

Regardless of the Song and Yuan scripts or the Ming Dynasty scripts, the works based on real life and describing the ordinary people are the most eye-catching and valuable. "The Sigong of the Song Dynasty Makes a Trouble with Zhang Fu" describes that Zhang Fu, who runs a pawnshop in Tokyo, loves money as much as his life. He bullies a poor man who begs for a living, which arouses the injustice of the "little idle man" Song Sigong. He goes to steal Zhang Fu's treasure at night. Later, He and his apprentice Zhao Zheng also teased the feudal officials who arrested them, and eventually Zhang Fu went bankrupt and committed suicide. The work praises Song Sigong for his courageous actions and contempt for the government, and expresses the people's original desire to resist exploitation and oppression. "Shen Xiaoguan, One Bird Kills Seven Lives", through the "public case" story of a Jihu's son who loved his bird and was killed, describes the selfishness and ignorance of the little people who carry barrels and sedan chairs. But most of them are works that express the joys and sorrows of love and marriage among ordinary people in the city. "Jian Tie Monk Skillfully Deceived Huang Fu's Wife" describes a monk named Hong who used the roughness of a petty officer who was serving as a palace servant to set up a trap and cheated him into marrying his wife. This is the same as "Shen Xiao Guan, One Bird Kills Seven Lives" Likewise, it reflects the dark side of society at that time. As for "Li Xiuqing's Righteous Marriage to Huang Zhennu" and "Xianyun'an Ruan San Pays an Unjust Debt", they describe Li Ying and Ruan Hua, who were born as businessmen, choosing their own spouses, falling in love and unwavering determination. Although the endings are different, they both have the same characteristics. The significance of anti-feudal ethics. "The Golden Jade Slave Beats the Unfaithful Lover with a Stick" condemns infidelity in love and lashes out against unfaithful men. "Jiang Xingge Meets Again in Pearl Shirt" also expresses the inner conflict between being unable to tolerate his wife's loss of virginity and the unforgettable old love for his wife, and finally reunites, reflecting the emphasis on "love" and the weakening of the feudal concept of chastity. However, in order to cater to the vulgar tastes of the public, such works often contain many obscene descriptions.

In addition to reflecting some of the citizens' ideological wishes on the issue of love and marriage, the Song and Yuan scripts in "Ancient and Modern Novels", especially the Ming Dynasty scripts, also prominently praised friends' general moral behavior. Friendship and meaning, such as "Yangjiao sacrifices his life to make friends", "Wu Baoan abandons his home to redeem his friends", "Fan Juqing chickens and millets make friends through life and death", etc., draw on the ancient stories of loyalty to friendship regardless of life and death, praising the people who "only know the true spirit in the face of difficulties" The spirit reflects the inner demands of citizens to unite, help each other and treat each other as equals when their vital interests are not protected in any way.

It is worth noting that some scripts and imitation scripts directly touch on major real-life political themes. "Yang Siwen Meets an Old Friend in Yanshan" shows the story of Song people living in foreign countries after the Northern Song Dynasty was wiped out by the Jin Dynasty. Thinking about it, "Mu Mian'an Zheng Huchen's Revenge" expresses the hatred for the imperial ministers who took power and harmed the country, and "Yang Balao's Extraordinary Encounter in Yue Kingdom" expresses the pain of separation of flesh and blood caused by the invasion of Japanese pirates to the people. In particular, "Shen Xiaoxia Meets the Teachers" reflects contemporary current affairs, describes the struggle against Yan Song, and shows the author's great political enthusiasm. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of real people and real events, and the lack of artistic refinement, this work appears to be loosely structured, the story is not focused enough, and the characters are not clear enough.

There are some works in "Ancient and Modern Novels" that describe stories of people becoming prosperous and prosperous, such as "A Poor Horse Sells a Wife Around", "Zhao Bo Meets Renzong in a Tea House", etc., which reflect the literati's appreciation of fame and wealth. The yearning has no positive meaning. As for works that promote religious superstition and negative transcendental thoughts, such as "Monk Yueming Visits Liu Cui" and "Chen Xiyi's Four Criticisms of the Imperial Order", they are basically feudal dross.

The current version exists. Japan has the original and duplicate copies of Tianxuzhai's "Ancient and Modern Novels", but they are both incomplete. The present person, Guru Wang, took photos for the two books, which complemented each other and became a relatively complete book, which was typed by Hanfenlou in 1947. Reprinted by Literary Ancient Books Publishing House in 1955. In 1958, Xu Zhengyang used the reprinted version as the original version, and made some corrections and abridgements with reference to "Qing Ping Shan Tang Hua Ben" and "Modern and Ancient Wonders".

"Wonderful Wonders of Modern and Ancient Times" Return to Table of Contents

A collection of vernacular short stories published in the late Ming Dynasty. The editor's signature is the old man Baoweng from Gusu, and his real name and birth certificate have not been verified.

"Wonderful Views of Modern and Ancient Times" has 40 volumes, including 40 scripts and imitative scripts selected from "Three Words" and "Er Pai", including 8 chapters of "Essays about the World" and 10 "Words to Warn the World" There are 11 chapters in "Eternal Words to Awaken the World", 8 chapters in "The First Moment of Surprise in Shooting the Case", and 3 chapters in "The Second Moment of Surprise in Shooting the Case". The editor has done some textual processing on each article, and the comments on the header may also be from his hand.

The editor's selection criteria are roughly four, "The first is about retribution, the second is about exhortations and punishments, the third is about novel plots, and the fourth is about trivial stories and stories that can be used for discussion" (Sun Kaidi's "Third Edition") A Study on the Origin and Origin of Yan Er Pai").

The book contains many works that promote loyalty, filial piety, justice and religious superstition, such as "Liu Yuanpu's Twins", "Xu Old Servant Marries a Family", etc.; there are also a few works with higher ideological and artistic levels, such as "Du Shiniang" "The treasure chest sinks in anger", "Shen Xiaoxia meets and becomes a teacher", etc. The latter category is the representative work of Ming Dynasty imitating scripts.

Since the early Qing Dynasty, "Three Words" and "Er Pai" have been forgotten, but "Wonderful Views of Modern and Ancient Times" has become the most widely circulated anthology of ancient vernacular short stories, which has caused great changes in society. influence. This book now exists in the Baohanlou edition of Wu County in the late Ming Dynasty, as well as in various reprints in the Qing Dynasty. The Gu Xuejie's annotated version newly printed by the People's Literature Publishing House also made corrections and necessary additions and deletions to the original version with reference to "Three Words" and "Er Pai" and other books.

"Heroes" Return to Table of Contents

A collection of novels from the Ming Dynasty, which is a joint edition of "Water Margin" and "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". There are two types of books: one is published by the Xiongfei Pavilion during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, titled "The Complete Book of Water Margin of the Three Kingdoms", preceded by a preface by Xiong Fei, 20 volumes, each page is divided into upper and lower columns, and the upper column publishes "Water Margin" (110 chapters) , the lower column publishes "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (240 chapters), with 100 pages of illustrations. The other is a version published in the Qing Dynasty, titled "Embroidered Images of the Han and Song Dynasties", and also has a preface by Xiong Fei, with "Water Margin" in the upper column and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in the lower column, but the former has 115 chapters, and the latter is Mao Zonggang's critical edition in the early Qing Dynasty. The whole book is appended Figure page 40. The above two types are both titled "Heroes" and are also known by this name in circulation. The "Water Margin" collected in "Heroes" are all simplified versions. The commentary attached to the Ming edition is signed "Li Zhi", which is of great research value in the edition history of "Water Margin". The Qing edition is more popular because there are many copies in the market.

"West Lake Episode Two" Return to Table of Contents

A collection of short stories in the late Ming Dynasty. Written by Zhou Ji. ***34 volumes, each with one article, are all stories related to the West Lake. Most of the materials in his books come from "Remaining Records of Traveling to the West Lake" and "Huang Ming Cong Xin Lu". He also used books such as "History of Love", "Jian Deng Xin Hua", "Nancun Stopping Farming" and other books. From the description of Volume 17, we know that there is also "Xihu Episode", which is no longer published today.

According to the preface by Hu Haishi at the beginning of the volume, it is said that the author has "vast talents", but "the talents are not recognized, and he suffers from poverty". The purpose of writing this novel is to "borrow other people's wine glasses to pour out his own shame." The book constantly satirizes and exposes the corrupt politics and corrupt officials in the late Ming Dynasty. Some of the stories are well written, such as "Hu Shao Bao Bao's Victory in Pinging the Japanese", which reveals that in the "world of the rich man with a gauze hat", "there are many officials who are confused and corrupt, but there are few officials who are honest and love the people." "Ancestor Rule Appears to Rescue" denounced those "Huang Bang Jinshi" who "defraud local neighbors, seize people's land, and rely on their power to bully others" are not even worth "pig or dog". In "The Foolish Commandery Keeps the Jade Palace in Spring", it is ridiculed that those who occupy high positions are originally ignorant and illiterate. "The Famous Prostitute Zov" describes that prostitutes can also see through those high-ranking officials, who are often "abominable", "average in arts and sciences", or even "ignorant at all", which is very spicy. In addition, it is quite interesting to describe the social customs in Hangzhou. The writing of this book is relatively smooth. There is a lot of words in the book promoting loyalty, filial piety, justice, and karma, which is its shortcoming.