Tale
淞濱瑣話
Not translated into English
Wang Tao · 1887
Synopsis
A collection of short tales in classical language, in twelve books, of sixty-eight stories according to a literary history blog on Sina, of fifty-nine according to an online course on Chaoxing. Gods, ghosts and fox spirits dominate, and love often recurs. Several closely follow a model by Pu Songling. According to the same blog, women of the common people and courtesans play the finest roles, and some stories target the manners of the time, such as a journey to the land of Joy that mocks corrupt officials and the rich.
Context
Wang Tao wrote these stories after his return to Shanghai; they first appeared one by one in a newspaper before being collected in a volume; it is regarded as a sequel to Pu Songling's book. The collection, completed in 1887 according to two Chinese notices, follows an earlier collection by the same author, from which it takes four stories. According to a study by City University of Hong Kong, his three collections of the strange follow Pu Songling's manner closely and bring the West and Westerners into the domain of the marvellous. No French or English translation is attested.
Who it is for
Brief tales, independent of one another; the collection has been translated neither into French nor into English.
Prizes and reception
A study published in Hong Kong detects in it repressed modernities and rejects the reading that sees in it only imitation.
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