Érnǚ Yīngxióng Zhuàn 兒女英雄傳
A Tale of Sons, Daughters, and Heroes by 文康(清小說家) (撰)
About the work
Érnǚ Yīngxióng Zhuàn 兒女英雄傳 (A Tale of Sons, Daughters, and Heroes) is a Qīng vernacular novel in 40 surviving huí (of an original 53), composed by Wén-kāng 文康 (pen name Yānběi Xiánrén 燕北閑人). This is the second of two Kanripo editions of the same novel; the first is KR4k0105. The catalog ref for this edition is Erny_yingxiong_zhuan. The text is structurally identical to KR4k0105 in its chapter layout (緣起首回 + huí 1–39), but represents a different print edition with some textual variants.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
The source file opens with the same preface by Mǎ Cóngshàn 馬從善 (Gǔliáo Lǎngpǔ 古遼閬圃), dated Guāngxù Wùyín 戊寅 (1878), as found in KR4k0105, followed by a table of contents and the text. No additional paratexts distinguishing this edition from KR4k0105 are present in the source file header.
Abstract
This entry is a second Kanripo edition of Érnǚ Yīngxióng Zhuàn; for full discussion of authorship, content, and transmission see KR4k0105.
Wén-kāng 文康 (fl. 1842–1851), pen name Yānběi Xiánrén 燕北閑人, composed the novel in his impoverished old age after the dissipation of the family estate. The novel centers on the nǚxiá 女俠 heroine “Thirteenth Sister” (Shísān Mèi 十三妹) and the Ān family, combining adventure, chivalric romance, and Confucian domestic comedy in a Manchu-Bannerman social setting. Wilkinson (§36.21.2, §39.5) notes the novel’s characteristic foodways passages and lists Chǔ Yīguān 褚一官 as one of its notable protagonists.
The existence of two distinct Kanripo editions (KR4k0105 and KR4k0106) suggests that multiple print editions circulated; the textual relationship between them requires detailed collation to establish.
Translations and research
See KR4k0105 for translations and research on Érnǚ Yīngxióng Zhuàn.