Feng menglong biography of williams
- Bib ID:
- 674130
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Feng, Meng-lung, 1574-1646
- Description:
- London : P. Elek, 1976
- 183 p., [6] leaves of plates : ill. ; 23 cm.
- ISBN:
- 0236400029
- Full contents:
- The perfect lady by mistake.
- Li Bai (Li Po), God in Exile, drunken drafts his "Letter to daunt the Barbarians."
- A joke over fifteen strings of cash brings uncanny disaster.
- Two magistrates vie to marry an orphaned girl.
- Yang Jiao throws away his life in fulfilment of a friendship.
- On big tree slope a faithful tiger acts best man.
- Notes:
- Of the six stories in this vol., The perfect lady by mistake, and three other stories, are translated from the collection entitled Hsing shih heng yen; the Li Bai is from Ching shih t`ung yen, and Yang Jiao is from Yu shih ming yen. All three collections, commonly called "San yan," were edited and amplified by Feng Meng-lung.
- Subject:
- Copyright:
In Copyright
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- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2046 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary, dramatic or musical work
- Presumed date of death of creator (latest date):
- 1646
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1976
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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Stories to Awaken the World
- Dolby 1976: "Two Magistrates Vie to Marry an Orphaned Girl"
- Dolby 1976: "On Big Tree Slope a Faithful Tiger Acts Best Man"
- Lieu 1978: "The Boot That Reveals the Culprit"
- Acton & Lee 1941: "The Mandarin-duck Girdle"
Stories Old and New
Book by Feng Menglong
Stories Old and New (Chinese: 古今小說), also known by its later name Stories to Enlighten the World (喻世明言), is a collection of short stories by Feng Menglong during the Ming dynasty. It was published in Suzhou in 1620. It is considered to be pivotal in the development of Chinese vernacular fiction.
Background
Feng Menglong collected and slightly modified works from the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, such as changing characters’ names and locations to make stories more contemporary. The writing style of the series of stories is written vernacular, or baihua, people's everyday language at that time. The 40 stories are divided into three sections, one section collects Song and Yuan dynasty tales, one collects Ming dynasty stories, and the last is the stories created by Feng Menglong himself. The success of Stories Old and New published (1620), also known as Yushi Mingyan (Illustrious Words to Instruct the World), led Feng to edit and publish Jingshi Tongyan (Stories to Caution the World) in 1624, and Xingshi Hengyan (Stories to Awaken the World) in 1627. Each collection contained forty stories. The title of each collection ended with the word "yan" (word), so they are often referred to as a group: Sanyan (Trois Recueils d'histoires [fr]). The stories in these three books are in a format called Huaben (话本), a novella or short novel.
About the author
Feng Menglong (1574－1646) passed the lowest level of national exams at 57. Although he had not done well on previous exams, he did have the ability to impress people with his writing. When he was 70, the dynasty almost ended, and the Qing army invaded the country. He attempted to awaken people with his writings but failed to do so and died in 1646. There are two theories about how he died. One is that he was killed by the Qing forces, and another is that his worries about the country made him sick.
Feng
Do-Gooder
Origin
Changzhou County, Jiangsu Province
Occupation
Writer, Compiler of Stories
Goals
Collect Stories to Prevent Their Loss
Type of Hero
Great Writer
Feng Menglong was awas a Chinese historian, novelist, and poet of the late Ming Dynasty. Born into a scholarly family in present-day Suzhou, his outstanding literary talent was recognized in his youth. As a middle-aged man, he began to collect and edit popular fiction, poetry, and jokes. He was also a respected playwright and editor of plays. His publications include collections of jokes, collections of classical-language stories and anecdotes, some revised versions of novels, and the San yan 三言 collections of stories: Yushi mingyan 喻世明言 [Stories to enlighten the world], Jingshi tongyan 警世通言 [Stories to caution the world], and Xingshi hengyan 醒世恆言 [Stories to awaken the world].