Nephew Sues His Aunt

Chen HengqingNanhai Publication Company · ChinaJun 2024

3.3

Word count: 374 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Beside the Five-City Office stood a Bodhisattva temple whose abbess was a nun. She had an elderly mother whom she brought into the temple to care for, and she also brought in her nephew's wife, née Wang, forbidding the nephew to see her. The nephew, Li Shiyuan by name, had long been unable to see his wife and suspected his aunt of running a brothel in the temple, so he went to the city to file a complaint. The petition stated that his aunt's childhood name was Lanjie, that she was young and frivolous, that she had forcibly confined his wife, refusing to let her return home or even to visit her grandmother. It said Lanjie was rumored not to observe the monastic rules and begged that she be summoned for questioning, and so on. Having read the petition, I said: "I have never been willing to have women appear in court, let alone a nun. The case should be decided at once."

Editor's review

Nephew Accuses Aunt centers on a family dispute: Li Shiyuan, long unable to see his wife, née Wang, suspects his aunt Lanjie of "running a brothel" in the temple and goes to the city to file a complaint. The story's core lies not in the outcome of the case but in the worldly circumstances and power relations revealed between the petition and the ruling. Chen Hengqing's handling is telling—the line "I have never been willing to have women appear in court, let alone a nun" is at once a response to the lawsuit and an implicit aversion to women appearing in public. The text is short yet involves multiple tensions among family ethics, religious space, and official judgment, reading with the concision and coolness of notebook fiction. It suits close reading by readers interested in traditional narrative, gender, and judicial issues. Because the plot is concentrated and the length limited, it is better treated as a short text to be chewed over repeatedly than read in expectation of a full story arc.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in traditional notebook fiction and short narrative
Readers concerned with old-time family ethics and gender issues
Readers who enjoy close reading of brief texts for worldly circumstances and power
Readers with a habit of segmented reading who prefer close reading of short pieces

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a complete long story with a clear ending
Readers with little interest in old-time judicial and family subjects
Readers who need extensive plot development and character growth

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the outline of events, then go back and closely read the petition and the ruling to appreciate the measured wording.
While reading, note the narrator's attitude toward the nun, née Wang, and Li Shiyuan, and try drawing a diagram of the three parties' relationships.
Read alongside other traditional crime-case short stories to compare narrative differences in handling family disputes.
After finishing, retell the events in your own words to check whether you have grasped the implications behind the ruling.

About the publisher

Nanhai Publication Company China · Founded in 1988

Nanhai Publication Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literature and arts titles, covering fields such as classical poetry, martial arts fiction, and folk literature. Judging from the more than 1,600 books in the database, the company has released classical poetic works including the Nineteen Old Poems and the Nine Songs, as well as multiple volumes of Huanzhulouzhu's series The Swordsmen of Mount Shu, along with related writings by authors such as Guan Hanqing, Qu Yuan, Zuo Si, and Wang Zhihuan. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of classic texts with the dissemination of popular literature, placing poetry anthologies alongside long martial arts novels and presenting a relatively diverse literary profile. Public information is limited, and further details about its editorial practices and series planning remain to be supplemented.

版权信息
侄控姑

FAQ

Is this story long? How long does it take to finish?

It is very short; a single read-through takes about ten minutes or so. But it is best not to read it only once—on the second reading, closely read the petition and the ruling to appreciate the measured quality of the wording.

What is the core conflict of the story?

The core is that Li Shiyuan, long unable to see his wife, suspects his aunt Lanjie of improper conduct in the temple and goes to the city to file a complaint. On the surface the conflict is a family dispute; beneath it lies the tension among women's living arrangements, religious space, and official judgment.

How should the line "unwilling to have women appear in court" in the ruling be understood?

The line is both the magistrate's attitude toward handling this case and a reflection of the old-time aversion to women appearing in public. Readers can consider the gender assumptions and judicial habits behind the ruling in light of the petition's content.

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About the author

Chen Hengqing Author · Chinese · 1844–1920

Chen Hengqing (1844–1920), courtesy name Zijiu, was a native of Weixian in Shandong (present-day Weicheng District, Weifang). A late Qing official and scholar, he passed the provincial examination in 1873 and the metropolitan examination in 1886. He served successively as a secretary in the Ministry of Works, rising through the Waterways, Construction, and Colonization Departments, and later held posts as Supervising Censor of the Ministry of War, Investigating Censor of the Henan Circuit, and Chief Supervising Censor. In 1908 he was appointed prefect of Jinzhou. He retired at sixty and wrote works including Jianshu Xian Notes (also known as Jili Qingtan) and Unofficial Gleanings of the Late Qing. His extant writings are considerable, with 154 titles held in our collection, many drawing on folk literature and Eastern philosophy. They touch on modern upheavals such as the militia conflicts, the Boxer movement, and the Nian rebels, as well as rural tales and social types like foxes and swindlers, and social issues such as Manchu-Han differences, bearing the documentary flavor of note-style historiography. Public information is limited, and his literary standing and influence await further study.