Stories to Awaken the World (Annotated Edition)

Name: Stories to Awaken the World (Annotated Edition)
ISBN: 9787020138586

Feng MenglongPeople's Literature Publishing House2020

4.1

Word count: 649K words
Chapters: 40
Series: Chinese Classical Novels Collection (Illustrated Edition)
ISBN: 9787020138586

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Summary

The Last of the Three Words, "Stories to Awaken the World" is the final installment in the trilogy that also includes "Stories to Enlighten the World" and "Stories to Warn the World." Compiled by the Ming dynasty literatus Feng Menglong and first published in 1627 (the seventh year of the Tianqi era), this collection of vernacular short stories comprises forty tales drawn from a wide array of sources: some are adapted from historical biographies and noted works of earlier dynasties, while others derive directly from folk legend and everyday urban life. Apart from a small number of older pieces dating to the Song and Yuan, the great majority are the work of Ming authors, a portion of them penned by Feng Menglong himself. Because the collection took shape relatively late, it bears the mark of considerable literati refinement and polished editing, with vividly drawn characters, well-knit structures, intricately wrought plots, and a rich vocabulary—its artistic accomplishment stands out even among the Three Words.

The contents span a remarkable range of subjects: love and marriage, criminal cases and litigation, officialdom and local governance, the livelihoods of the urban commoner, chivalric deeds and repayment of kindness, and the supernatural and the strange. Such celebrated pieces as "The Oil Vendor Takes the Queen of Courtesans for His Own," "Prefect Qiao's Misguided Matchmaking," "The Fifteen Strings of Cash: A Jest That Brought Disaster," "A Trifling Dispute Over a Single Coin Begets a Strange Injustice," "Shi Runze Meets a Friend at the Shoals," and "Bai Yuniang Endures Hardship to Preserve Her Husband" are among the best known. The tales carry a didactic strain, rewarding virtue and punishing vice and invoking the workings of karma, yet they also reflect, to varying degrees, the lives and sensibilities of the urban classes amid the commercial expansion of the mid-to-late Ming.

This edition is one of the "Chinese Classical Novels Collector's Editions (Illustrated)" published by the People's Literature Publishing House. It follows the collated and annotated edition by the classical literature scholar Gu Xuejie, which takes the Ye Jingchi edition as its base text, collates it against other editions, and supplies annotations. First published in 1956, this edition has served generations of readers as the standard text of "Stories to Awaken the World."

Editor's review

读“三言”，《醒世恒言》往往是绕不开的一本。它是三部之中刊行最晚、文人加工最重的一部，写得更细，结构更整，人物也更立体——卖油郎的卑微与痴情、乔太守的滑稽断案、十五贯一桩巧祸引出的连环冤情，都写得活色生香，远非早期话本那种质朴简古可比。这个版本的分量首先在“校注”二字。整理者顾学颉是古典文学名家，长期主持人民文学出版社的古典小说整理工作，本书初版于1956年，此后又据日本内阁文库所藏叶敬池原刻影印本重作全面校订，参校衍庆堂本、《今古奇观》等，订正错讹、增补缺漏，并对注释与标点作了系统修订。对普通读者来说，这些工作是“看不见的”，但正是它让一本四百年前的白话小说读起来不至于步步绊脚。人民文学出版社“中国古典小说藏本（插图本）”沿用这一校注文本，另配名家绘图与绣像，图文相辅。全书上下两册，四十卷完整收录，适合通读，也适合随手翻到某一卷当短篇来读。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢中国古典白话小说、想系统读“三言二拍”的读者
对明代市井生活、商业与法律实况感兴趣的文史爱好者
需要可靠校注本做课程作业或论文引证的学生与研究者
希望以短篇为单位、碎片时间阅读的普通读者

Not a good fit for

只想看纯白话今译、不愿读明代口语原文的读者
期待完整无删节文本的版本考据型读者

Reading tips

不必从第一卷顺序读起，可先挑《卖油郎独占花魁》《乔太守乱点鸳鸯谱》等名篇入手。
遇到明代市井用语、官职称谓，随手查注释，读几卷后语感会明显变顺。
可与《喻世明言》《警世通言》对照，注意“入话”与“正话”的结构套式。
留意每卷结尾的劝诫语，它常常与故事本身的趣味构成微妙张力。

About the publisher

People's Literature Publishing House China · Founded in 1951

People's Literature Publishing House publishes across classical literature, foreign literature, documentary writing and folk literature, with 492 titles in its catalogue. Representative books range from the Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms to Lao She's Teahouse and Longxu Ditch in the Selected Works of Lao She, as well as translated foreign literature such as Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Dante's Divine Comedy and Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels, alongside documentary and fictional works including Primo Levi's If This Is a Man and João Guimarães Rosa's The Devil to Pay in the Backlands. Its authors include Chinese writers such as Lao She, translators such as Shen Emeri and Li Wenjun, and foreign authors such as James Wood. Overall, the house has a strong record in editing classic works and translating foreign literature, with a publishing character that bridges Chinese and foreign writing and values textual quality.

Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Two County Magistrates Compete in Righteousness to Marry Off an Orphan Girl
Chapter 2: Three Filial and Incorrupt Scholars Yield Property to Establish a Great Name
Chapter 3: The Oil Vendor Wins the Courtesan
Chapter 4: The Old Gardener Meets a Fairy Late in Life
Chapter 5: A Righteous Tiger on Dashu Slope Escorts a Bride
Chapter 6: A Heavenly Fox at Xiaoshui Bay Forges a Letter
Chapter 7: Scholar Qian Mistakenly Takes the Phoenix Match
Chapter 8: Prefect Qiao Randomly Matches the Mandarin Ducks
Chapter 9: Chen Duoshou, Husband and Wife in Life and Death
Chapter 10: Clerk Liu and the Male-Female Brothers
Chapter 11: Su Xiaomei Thrice Tests Her Bridegroom
Chapter 12: Monk Foyin Four Times Teases the Qin Player
Chapter 13: Investigating Leather Boots to Single Out Erlang Shen
Chapter 14: Passionate Zhou Shengxian Raises a Stir at Fan Tower
Chapter 15: He Daqing's Regret over the Mandarin Duck Ribbon
Chapter 16: Lu Wuhan Stubbornly Keeps the Colored Shoe
Chapter 17: Zhang Xiaoji Recognizes His Uncle at Chenliu
Chapter 18: Shi Runze Meets a Friend at the Shoal
Chapter 19: Bai Yuniang Endures Hardship to Complete Her Marriage
Chapter 20: Zhang Tingxiu Escapes Danger and Saves His Father
Chapter 21: Zhang Shu'er Cleverly Rescues Scholar Yang
Chapter 22: Lü Dongbin's Flying Sword Beheads the Yellow Dragon
Chapter 23: The Jin Hailing Emperor Indulges His Lust and Dies
Chapter 24: Emperor Yang of Sui Indulges in Pleasure and Incurs Blame
Chapter 25: Scholar Dugu Dreams on the Way Home
Chapter 26: Clerk Xue in Fish Garb Proves Immortality
Chapter 27: Li Yuying Pleads Her Grievance in Prison
Chapter 28: The Magistrate's Son Keeps a Tryst on a Neighboring Boat
Chapter 29: Scholar Lu's Poetry and Wine Defy the Prince
Chapter 30: Lord Li of Qian Meets a Knight-Errant in a Poor Residence
Chapter 31: Commissioner Zheng Wins Merit with the Divine Arm Bow
Chapter 32: Scholar Huang Is Aided by the Jade Horse Pendant
Chapter 33: Fifteen Strings of Cash: A Jest Becomes a Calamity
Chapter 34: A Trifling Grudge over One Coin Creates a Strange Injustice
Chapter 35: Old Servant Xu Builds a Family out of Righteous Indignation
Chapter 36: Cai Ruihong Endures Humiliation for Revenge
Chapter 37: Du Zichun Thrice Enters Chang'an
Chapter 38: The Daoist Li Walks Alone to the Cloud Gate

FAQ

《醒世恒言》和“三言”是什么关系？

“三言”是冯梦龙编纂的三部白话短篇小说集：《喻世明言》（又名《古今小说》）、《警世通言》和《醒世恒言》，各收四十篇。《醒世恒言》是其中最后编成、刊行最晚的一部，初刊于明天启七年（1627）。

这个版本是谁校注的？底本是什么？

由古典文学专家顾学颉校注。整理时以叶敬池本为底本，并参校衍庆堂本、《今古奇观》等相关书籍，对错讹缺漏作了订正增补，配有注释。该整理本1956年由人民文学出版社初版。

全书一共多少篇？

共四十卷，即四十篇白话短篇小说。其中宋元旧作约占少数，绝大部分为明人话本、拟话本，一部分系冯梦龙本人拟作。

文本有删节吗？

据该整理本的说明，书中个别色情描绘的字句、片段作了必要删节；《金海陵纵欲亡身》一篇原为删除存目，后保留该篇并作适当删节。追求一字不删原貌的读者需留意。

没读过《喻世明言》《警世通言》，能直接读这本吗？

可以。“三言”各篇独立成篇，彼此不构成连续情节，直接从《醒世恒言》读起不影响理解，只是对冯梦龙的整体编纂趣味体会会稍晚一些。

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About the author

Feng Menglong Author · Chinese · 1574–1646

Feng Menglong (1574–1646), courtesy name Youlong and style name Mohan Zhai Zhuren, was a native of Changzhou in Suzhou Prefecture (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu). A Ming dynasty writer and dramatist, he devoted his life to collecting and editing popular literature. He compiled Yushi Mingyan, Jingshi Tongyan, and Xingshi Hengyan, known collectively as the "Three Words," which became representative anthologies of vernacular short stories. He also compiled Qingshi and Gujin Tangui, revised Xin Lieguo Zhi and Pingyao Zhuan, and served as magistrate of Shouning County in Fujian. His works draw on urban life and folk legends, employ lively vernacular language, and focus on human nature and social manners, exerting a lasting influence on later vernacular fiction and drama. The library holds 200 of his works, spanning classical literature and social fiction.