Four Condemnation Novels of the Late Qing Dynasty

Including: 4 books: "Old Can's Travels", "Official Appearance", "Strange Current Situation Witnessed in Twenty Years", and "Nie Haihua". "Lao Can's Travels" is a work handed down from generation to generation that is highly praised by Hu Shi, Wang Guowei, Lin Yutang and others. The novel takes the travels of a quack doctor as the main line, and humorously depicts the social beings in a specific environment. The opening chapter uses symbolic writing to point out the subtle relationship between individuals and times, and then goes on to write about the scenery of the Daming Lake, Wang Xiaoyu's storytelling, the hatred of honest officials, a strange case, the frozen Yellow River, love and enlightenment... It has the fantasy of worldly novels, the insights of psychological novels, and the passion of martial arts novels. Some people think that its chapters are like bricks and tiles of Qin and Han Dynasties. They look exquisite individually, but together they do not make a full story. But if you read the content carefully, you will find that the beauty of it is that it is unconventional, written in a willful and unrestrained way. The innovative descriptions of sights and sounds are still textbook level today. "The Appearance of Officialdom" The secrets of officialdom have always been kept secret until this book came out: From the dignitaries in the capital, ministers, censors, imperial envoys, to local leaders, state officials, prefects, county magistrates, and even the grassroots official Yan Si, all kinds of people from the original officialdom of China's feudal dynasty appear on the stage. The strange changes in front of and behind the scenes, the strategies and details of promotion are exposed to the world for the first time. It is true, wonderful, complex, and profound, and it is amazing to read. When the book came out, it immediately caused a shock in the officialdom and the court was furious. It is said that the Empress Dowager Cixi continued to read it, and the regent personally ordered the murder of the author Li Baojia... As a must-read classic for understanding officialdom, this book has been a best-seller for hundreds of years and remains timeless. In 1999, it topped the list of Chinese novels in the 20th century. "The Strange Current Situation Witnessed in Twenty Years", written by Wu Jianren, is an autobiographical work and one of the four major condemnation novels in the late Qing Dynasty. Taking the protagonist's experience as the main clue, it begins with him attending the funeral for his father and ends with his failure in business. Through the experiences and knowledge of twenty years of "narrow escapes", it reflects the social reality from before and after the Sino-French War in the 10th year of Guangxu (1884) to the early twentieth century, and exposes the corruption and depravity of the ruling class during the general collapse of feudal society. In addition to officialdom, it also writes about shopping malls and foreign markets, objectively revealing the darkness of the entire feudal society and its inevitable demise. "Nie Hai Hua" is one of the four major condemnation novels in the late Qing Dynasty. The whole book takes the experiences of Suzhou champion Jingou and the famous prostitute Fu Caiyun as the main line, showing the historical changes in China's social, political and cultural life from the early years of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty to the 30 years of the Sino-Japanese War of 1898. It has a strong spirit of the times and has certain political significance. The publication of this book caused a sensation in the literary world in the early 20th century. It was reprinted more than ten times in a short period of time and sold about 100,000 copies, setting a unique record.