Idle talk under the bean arbor : a seventeenth-century Chinese story collection / compiled by Aina the Layman ; with commentary by Ziran the Eccentric Wanderer ; edited by Robert E. Hegel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ainajushi, author.

Contributor:

Hegel, Robert E., 1943- editor.

Standardized Title:

Dou peng xian hua. English

Language:

Chinese

English

Subjects (All):

Short stories, Chinese.

Chinese fiction--Qing dynasty, 1644-1912.

Chinese fiction.

Qing Dynasty (China).

Genre:

Short stories, Chinese.

Fiction.

Physical Description:

xxviii, 288 pages ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Seventeenth-century Chinese story collection

Place of Publication:

Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2017]

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.

Contents:

Introduction: gossip and exaggeration in Aina's short stories / Robert E. Hegel

Terms of measurement and titles

Chronology of China's historical periods (dynasties and states)

Preface

Foreword

Jie Zhitui sets fire to his jealous wife / translated by Mei Chun and Lane J. Harris

Fan Li drowns Xishi in West Lake / translated by Li Fang-yu

A court-appointed gentleman squanders his wealth but takes power / translated by Alexander C. Wille

The commissioner's son wastes his patrimony to revive the family / translated by Li Fang-yu

The little beggar who was truly filial / translated by Zhang Jing

The exalted monks who faked transcendence / translated by Zhang Jing

On Shouyang Mountain, Shuqi becomes a turncoat / translated by Mei Chun and Lane J. Harris

With a transparent stone, Master Wei opens blind eyes / translated by Alexander C. Wille

Liu the Brave tests a horse on the Yuyang Road / translated by Annelise Finegan Wasmoen

Freeloader Jia forms a league on Tiger Hill / translated by Robert E. Hegel and Xu Yunjing

In death, Commander Dang beheads his enemy / translated by Lindsey Waldrop

In detail, Rector Chen discources on the cosmos / translated by Robert E. Hegel

Afterthoughts on stories

Historical and cultural references.

Notes:

Translated from the Chinese.

Includes bibliographical references.

"豆棚閒話"--added title page.

ISBN:

9780295999975

0295999977

OCLC:

958205363

Publisher Number:

40027046294