Píngyāo Zhuàn 平妖傳
Quelling the Demons’ Revolt by 羅貫中 (original version); expanded by 馮夢龍 (撰)
About the work
KR4k0331 preserves the 40-chapter recension of Píngyāo Zhuàn 平妖傳, a vernacular novel more fully known as Sānsuì Píngyāo Zhuàn 三遂平妖傳 (Three Sui Quash the Demons’ Revolt). The canonical 20-chapter version is attributed to 羅貫中 (Luó Guànzhōng, ca. 1315–ca. 1400) and covers the suppression of a demonic rebellion centered on the fox-spirit Hu Yongerlang during the Northern Sòng dynasty. 馮夢龍 (Féng Mènglóng, 1574–1646) expanded the work to 40 chapters, adding new episodes and characters. KR4k0331 represents this expanded Féng Mènglóng recension.
The 20-chapter version is separately preserved in the Kanripo corpus at KR4k0061, where the work receives a full entry. The present entry (KR4k0331) is an additional copy of the 40-chapter expanded version. The catalog reference “KR4k0009” in the meta entry appears to be a misprint or cataloging error; the correct cross-reference is KR4k0061.
For the full catalog entry, including tiyao, abstract, and secondary literature, see KR4k0061 Sānsuì Píngyāo Zhuàn 三遂平妖傳.
Tiyao
See KR4k0061.
Abstract
See KR4k0061 for the full entry. The 40-chapter Féng Mènglóng expansion begins with chapter 1: “Shòu jiàn shù chǔnǚ xià shān — dào fǎ shū Yuán gōng guī dòng” 授劍術處女下山‧盜法書袁公歸洞 (A maiden descends the mountain after receiving sword-skills; Elder Yuán returns to his cave after stealing the book of spells). The narrative, set in the Táng dynasty’s Kāiyuán era (713–741), opens with the family of the retired official Liú Zhíqīng 劉直卿 of Zhèn Zé 鎮澤, whose ill wife sets in motion the chain of events that will lead to the demonic rebellion and its suppression.
Translations and research
See KR4k0061.