Library of Chinese Classics: Stories Old and New

Stories Old and New in a four volume hardback set from Library of Chinese Classics. This set is in English and simplified Chinese and is a wonderful addition to any library. This set of Stories Old and New was published by the Yuelu Publishing House in 2007 and there are 1832 pages. Stories Old and New was compiled by Feng Menglong(1574-1646) and translated into English by Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang.

Stories Old and New Synopsis
Feng Menglong is the best-known compiler of anthologies of popular literature in the Ming dynasty, including other books such as Stories to Caution the World. This collection of 40 short stories provides a vivid panoramic view of the bustling world of imperial China before the end of the Ming dynasty. In Stories Old and New we see a collection of men and women – scholars and officials, emperors and ministers, peddlers and artisans, prostitutes and courtesans, match makers and fortunetellers, monks and nuns, rich merchants and servants, thieves and impostors, and even gods and ghosts. These characters find themselves involved in political intrigues, test of friendship, inheritance disputes, extramarital affairs and many other situations. This bilingual edition is an unabridged version including Feng’s notes and marginal comments.

Stories Old and New is part of Library of Chinese Classics and there are over 60 books in the series so far. Library of Chinese Classics is a ‘mirror’ format which means that there is a page of Chinese followed by a page of English. As they are bilingual, the books are extremely suitable for Western readers interested in Chinese culture, people learning Chinese and native Chinese readers who want to read an accessible version of the classics. Since their publication, they have been immensely popular and Library of Chinese Classics has also been translated into French, Spanish, German, Arabic.