李伯元

Li Boyuan was a representative writer of the late Qing exposé novel. Public information about his life and native place is limited; what can be confirmed is chiefly his literary practice of social criticism through fiction. The library holds sixteen of his works, most of them editions of The Bureaucrats, including a five-volume set, a two-volume set, and separate volumes, which shows the lasting influence of this work on readers. The Bureaucrats holds the officialdom up as a mirror, depicting its many ugly faces in an exaggerated yet meticulous style. Its satire is sharp without losing its realistic quality, and it is regarded as one of the pioneering works of the exposé novel. Its themes place it in social fiction and classical literature, and its style of satirical exposure has inspired later novels of social criticism.