Lǎocán Yóujì Xù 老殘遊記續
The Travels of Lao Can — Sequel
by 劉鶚 (撰)
About the work
The Lǎocán Yóujì Xù 老殘遊記續 is a nine-huí 回 sequel to Liú È’s 劉鶚 celebrated novel Lǎocán Yóujì 老殘遊記. Where the main novel keeps Lao Can roaming the Shandong countryside encountering social injustice and official malfeasance, the sequel pivots sharply toward religious and metaphysical themes, tracing the wanderings of Lao Can and the spirit-woman Yìyún 逸雲 through a dreamlike underworld involving Daoist immortals, the Palace of Hell, and doctrines of karma and spiritual cultivation. The narrative is incomplete — the final chapter breaks off mid-sentence with the note 下缺 (“the following is missing”), reflecting the fragmentary nature of the manuscript on which the text rests. Wilkinson cites the main novel (Lao Can youji) under §31.2.1 (Liu E 劉鶚, 1906).
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Prefaces
The Kanripo text contains a prefatory self-序 by Liú È placed before Chapter 1, in which the author explains that the sequel was composed to extend the spiritual-religious dimensions hinted at in the main novel. The preface emphasizes the Daoist and Buddhist underpinnings of the narrative and the role of Yìyún 逸雲 as guide to the underworld.
Abstract
Lǎocán Yóujì Xù 老殘遊記續 was written by Liú È 劉鶚 (1857–1909; CBDB 65779), the author also of the main Lǎocán Yóujì 老殘遊記, which was serialized in the Rì Rì Xīn Wén 日日新聞 in 1903–04 and reprinted in book form in 1906. The sequel apparently dates from the last years of Liú È’s life, when he was under political pressure and facing personal ruin; it was not published during his lifetime and survives as an incomplete manuscript of nine huí. The shift in tone from social satire to religious allegory has attracted scholarly attention: the main novel is widely regarded as one of the “four great novels of late Qing denunciation fiction” (wǎn Qīng sì dà qiǎnzé xiǎoshuō 晚清四大譴責小說), but the sequel belongs to a different generic register entirely, drawing on elements of the zhìguài 志怪 supernatural tale and Daoist cultivation narrative.
The chapter titles recorded in the Kanripo text are:
- 回1: 元機旅店傳龍語 / 素壁丹青繪馬鳴
- 回2: 宋公子蹂躪優曇花 / 德夫人憐惜靈芝草
- 回3: 陽偶陰奇參大道 / 男歡女悅證初禪
- 回4: 九轉成丹破壁飛 / 七年返本歸家坐
- 回5: 俏逸雲除欲除盡 / 德慧生救人救澈
- 回6: 鬥姥宮中逸雲說法 / 觀音庵裏環翠離塵
- 回7: 銀漢浮槎仰瞻月姊 / 森羅寶殿伏見閻王
- 回8: 血肉飛腥油鍋煉 (incomplete)
- 回9: (fragmentary)
Liú È was arrested in 1908 and died in Xinjiang exile in 1909; the sequel may have been composed c. 1907–08. The Kanripo text appears to derive from a late-Qīng manuscript or early-Republic edition. The status of the text as sequel vs. independent composition has been debated by scholars of late-Qīng fiction.
Translations and research
- Harold Shadick, tr. The Travels of Lao Ts’an (main novel). Cornell University Press, 1952. The standard English translation of the main novel; does not cover the sequel.
- Lin Shuen-fu and Lawrence Schnetider, eds. and trs. The Travels of Lao Can. Renditions, 1996. (Main novel only.)
- Don J. Cohn. The Travels of Old Can: A Novel. 2011. (Main novel only.)
- Milena Doleželová-Velingerová. “Liu E’s Laocan youji.” In Milena Doleželová-Velingerová, ed. The Chinese Novel at the Turn of the Century. University of Toronto Press, 1980, pp. 53–81.
- Liu Ts’un-yan. “Liu E (1857–1909).” In Dictionary of Literary Biography. Various studies of the sequel appear in modern Chinese literary history journals.