Three Words and Two Beats, a Metaphor for the World
by (ming Dynasty) Feng Menglong
About This Novel
"Yu Shi Ming Yan", formerly known as "Ancient and Modern Novels", was compiled by Feng Menglong, a litterateur in the Ming Dynasty. As the first mature collection of vernacular short stories in the history of Chinese literature, it is like a long picture depicting the life of the people in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, establishing the literary status of vernacular novels. This book contains a total of forty stories, covering a wide range of topics. Feng Menglong took the name "Yu Shi" and aimed to "use the true feelings between men and women to spread the fake medicine of Mingjiao". Many of them are sincere tributes to love and friendship, and some use ancient stories to satirize the present, using historical stories to show the darkness of officialdom and the bleakness of the world. The stories in the book often involve encounters with ghosts and magic, but at their core they always focus on real life, admonishing the world that good and evil will be rewarded, and the principles of nature are clear. Its narrative is tactful, the characters are full, and the language is popular and vivid. It was not only widely circulated at the time, but also provided an endless source of inspiration for later literary and artistic creations.
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