Chūkè Pāi’àn Jīngqí 初刻拍案驚奇
Slapping the Table in Amazement, First Collection by 淩濛初
About the work
A forty-juàn collection of vernacular short stories (huàběn 話本 fiction) by 淩濛初 Líng Mèngchū (1580–1644; CBDB id 691000), first published in 1628. Together with its sequel KR4k0048 Èrkè Pāi’àn Jīngqí 二刻拍案驚奇 (1632), it forms the Erpai 二拍 (Two Slappings), a collection of 78 vernacular short stories. The Erpai is part of the famous Sānyán Erpāi 三言二拍 (“Three Yan and Two Pai”) corpus — the canonical late-Ming vernacular short story collections — alongside Féng Mènglóng’s 馮夢龍 three Sānyán 三言 anthologies.
Each juàn contains one story, totaling 40 stories in the Chūkè. The table of contents (in the source file) lists stories from juàn 1 (Zhuǎnyùn hàn yù qiǎo Dōngtíng hóng 轉運漢遇巧洞庭紅) through juàn 40. The title alludes to the reader’s response of astonishment at the stories: one slaps the table in amazement (pāi’àn 拍案) at the ingenuity of events.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
淩濛初 Líng Mèngchū (1580–1644; CBDB id 691000) was a native of Wūchéng 烏程 (modern Húzhōu 湖州, Zhèjiāng), who failed the imperial examinations repeatedly and turned to commercial publishing in Suzhou and Hangzhou. He is primarily known for the Erpai collections, though he also wrote drama and a poetry anthology. He held a minor official post in Xúzhōu 徐州 and died there during the Ming-Qing transition crisis.
The preface to the Chūkè Pāi’àn Jīngqí, signed by Líng himself, criticizes earlier publishers who reprinted old stories and argues for the freshness of his own compositions. The stories draw on a wide range of sources: Tang chuánqí tales, Song anecdotes, historical records, and invented plots. Thematically they cover love, trickery, judicial cases, supernatural occurrences, and commercial dealings. The language is bǎihuà 白話 (vernacular Chinese) with some classical embellishment.
Wilkinson (§31 area): The Erpai is cited by Wilkinson as a core component of the Sānyán Erpāi 三言二拍 corpus (published 1628, 1632), “78 vernacular short stories.”
The standard modern critical edition is by Zhōu Léijié 周楞伽 (Shanghai guji, 1985). A complete English translation by Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang was published by the University of Washington Press (2014–2017, 3 vols.).
Translations and research
- Yang, Shuhui, and Yunqin Yang, tr. 2014–2017. Amazing tales: First series (3 vols.). UWP. Complete English translation.
- Hanan, Patrick. 1973. The pai-an ching-chi and its sources. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 33: 224–256. Source study.
- Hanan, Patrick. 1981. The Chinese vernacular story. HUP. Ch. 4. Essential survey.
- Idema, Wilt L. 1974. Chinese vernacular fiction: The formative period. Brill.
Links
- Wikidata: Q1063296