Traditional Chinese Tales 9780231898669
Shares twenty tales which present all the themes of Chinese fiction except that of the historical romance and the realis
199 96 11MB
English Pages 226 [236] Year 2019
Preface
Contents
Hsü Yen’s Strange Encounter, or Lovers within a Lover (Wu Chün, 469–520)
The Ancient Mirror (Wang Tu, 585–625)
The White Monkey (Author Unknown, 7th Century)
The Disembodied Soul (Ch’en Hsüan-yu, 2nd Half of the 8th Century)
The Magic Pillow (ShenChi-chi, 750–800)
Jenshih, or the Fox Lady (Shen Chi-chi, 750–800)
The Dragon’s Daughter (Li Ch’ao-wei, 9th Century)
Huo Hsiaoyü (Chiang Fang, First Half of the 9th Century)
Li Yahsien, a Loyal Courtesan ( Po Hsing-chien, 776–827)
The Story of Ying Ying (Yuan Chen, 779–831)
Hsieh Hsiaowo, or A Monkey in the Carriage (Li Kung-tso, 770–850)
The Kunlun Slave ( P’ei Hsing, Late 9Th Century)
Yinniang the Swordswoman (P'ei Using, Late 9Th Century)
Predestined Marriage (Li Vu-Yen, Late 9Th Century)
Tu Tzu-chun ( Li Fu-Yen, Late 9th Century)
The Jade Kuanyin (Anonymous, 12–13th Century)
The Judicial Murder of Tsui Ning (Anonymous, 12–13th Century)
The Flower Lover and the Fairies (Anonymous, 14th Century)
The Oil Peddler and the Queen of Flowers (Anonymous, 14th Century)
The Three Brothers (Anonymous, 16th Century)
Bibliographical Note
Notes on the Tales
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Traditional Chinese Tales
Graditional C h inese G a l e s Translated by CHI-CHEN
WANG
COLUMBIA U N I V E R S I T Y PRESS New York
: 1944
COPYRIGHT
19-44
C O L U M B I A U N I V E R S I T Y PRESS, N E W
YORK
FOREIGN AGENT: O x f o r d University Press, H u m p h r e y M i l f o r d , A m e n House, L o n d o n , E.C. 4, E n g l a n d , and Β. I. Building, Nicol Road, Bombay, India M A N U F A C T U R E D IN T H E U N I T E D STATES OF AMERICA
To Wang-Chen
Chihling
reface Here in these twenty tales the reader will find practically all the themes of traditional Chinese fiction except that of the historical romance and the realistic novel. T h e supernatural predominates, probably because it is easier to paint creditable portraits of ghosts and demons than of men—to paraphrase the dictum of an early Chinese art critic. In fact, traditional story tellers scarcely attempt to delineate character òr analyze motive at all; incident and moral are about the only things that interest them. A s f a r as form is concerned, traditional tales are of two types, both represented in this volume. T h e first type is written in classical Chinese (roughly the kind current in Confucius' time) by and for the literati. It is characterized by extreme brevity and economy of expression, often to the point of incomprehensibility. T h e second type is written in the vernacular and had its origin in the oral tradition of professional story tellers. T h e earliest written versions of tales of this type were probably set down by the more literate story tellers to be used as prompt books. It is probably because of this oral beginning that tales of the popular type are apt to be diffuse and repetitious, for it was through these apparent faults that the story teller was able to overcome the hazards that beset the spoken word, to say nothing of the disadvantage of having to contend with an audience that kept drifting in and out.
c.c.w. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY JULY,
1943
ontents Hsii Yen's Strange Encounter, or Lovers within a Lover by Wu Chün The Ancient Mirror, by Wang Tu
ι 3
The White Monkey
12
The Disembodied Soul, by Ch'en Hsüan-yu
17
The Magic Pillow, by Shen Chi-chi
20
Jenshih, or the Fox Lady, by Shen Chi