Screen LibraryIdle talk under the bean arbor : a seventeenth-century Chinese story collection /
"Written around 1660, the unique Chinese short story collection Idle Talk under the Bean Arbor (Doupeng xianhua), by the author known only as Aina the Layman, uses the seemingly innocuous setting of neighbors swapping yarns on hot summer days under a shady arbor to create a series of stories th...
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| Main Authors: | |
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| Group Author: | ; |
| Published: |
University of Washington Press,
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| Publisher Address: | Seattle : |
| Publication Dates: | [2017] |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: |
English Chinese |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
"Written around 1660, the unique Chinese short story collection Idle Talk under the Bean Arbor (Doupeng xianhua), by the author known only as Aina the Layman, uses the seemingly innocuous setting of neighbors swapping yarns on hot summer days under a shady arbor to create a series of stories that embody deep disillusionment with traditional values. The tales, ostensibly told by different narrators, parody heroic legends and explore issues that contributed to the fall of the Ming dynasty a couple of decades before this collection was written, including self-centeredness and social violence. These stories speak to all troubled times, demanding that readers confront the pretense that may lurk behind moralistic stances. Idle Talk under the Bean Arbor presents all twelve stories in English translation along with notes from the original commentator, as well as a helpful introduction and analysis of individual stories."--Publisher description. |
| Item Description: | Translated from the Chinese. |
| Carrier Form: | xxviii, 288 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-286). |
| ISBN: |
9780295999975 (hardback : alkaline paper) : 0295999977 (hardback : alkaline paper) |
| Index Number: | PL2698 |
| CLC: | I242.7 |
| Call Number: | I242.7/A295 |
| Contents: |
Introduction: gossip and exaggeration in Aina's short stories / Chronology of China's historical periods (dynasties and states) -- Jie Zhitui sets fire to his jealous wife / Fan Li drowns Xishi in West Lake / A court-appointed gentleman squanders his wealth but takes power / The commissioner's son wastes his patrimony to revive the family / The little beggar who was truly filial / The exalted monks who faked transcendence / On Shouyang Mountain, Shuqi becomes a turncoat / With a transparent stone, Master Wei opens blind eyes / Liu the Brave tests a horse on the Yuyang Road / Freeloader Jia forms a league on Tiger Hill / In death, Commander Dang beheads his enemy / In detail, Rector Chen discourses on the cosmos / |