Translations of Traditional Chinese Literature Available from the University of Washington Press

Stories Old and New: A Ming Dynasty Collection, Volume 1, compiled by Feng Menglong, translated by Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang

“As a truly complete collection of vernacular stories, [this volume] clearly sets a new standard for the English-speaking world.”—Review of Bibliography in Sinology

Stories to Caution the World: A Ming Dynasty Collection, Volume 2, compiled by Feng Menglong, translated by Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang

“The tales all together provide a wonderful vista of the social life and the cultural imagination of China in the early seventeenth century.”—Wilt Idema, Harvard University

Stories to Awaken the World: A Ming Dynasty Collection, Volume 3, compiled by Feng Menglong, translated by Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang

“This volume completes the full translation of Feng Menglong’s … collection of vernacular huaben short stories. This three-volume set is invaluable. Highly recommended.”—Choice

Sanyan Stories: Favorites from a Ming Dynasty Collection, compiled by Feng Menglong, translated by Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang

Presented here are nine tales from the Sanyan collection (listed above) of 120 tales compiled and edited by Feng Menglong (1574–1646), selected for their popularity with American readers and their usefulness as texts in classes on Chinese and comparative literature.

Idle Talk under the Bean Arbor: A Seventeenth-Century Chinese Story Collection, by Aina the Layman with Ziran the Eccentric Wanderer, edited by Robert E. Hegel

“Nowhere is the value of translating an entire short story collection more apparent than in [this] case.… This first complete English-language translation … gives Idle Talk the treatment it deserves.”—Journal of Asian Studies

Slapping the Table in Amazement: A Ming Dynasty Story Collection, by Ling Mengchu, translated by Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang, Introduction by Robert E. Hegel

“Ling crafts stories that map the social whole of late imperial China.… The Yangs’ translation is highly accessible, masterfully balancing fidelity and readability.”—Journal of Asian Studies

The Story of Han Xiangzi: The Alchemical Adventures of a Daoist Immortal, by Yang Erzeng, translated by Philip Clart

“The Story of Han Xiangzi is simultaneously religious inspiration and literary play. It will surely attract a broad range of readers: religious seekers, those who are curious about exotic beliefs, and students of world literature. It should be in every substantial Asian studies collection.”—Robert E. Hegel, author of The Novel in Seventeenth-Century China

South of the Clouds: Tales from Yunnan, edited by Lucien Miller, translated by Guo Xu, Lucien Miller, and Xu Kun

“A wonderfully entertaining book. The exotic loveliness of the Yunnan landscape comes through very clearly in the details of clear waters, sunlit hillsides, bamboos and banyans and eucalyptus. Universal folklore motifs abound, but are given new twists of imagination and wit. There are moments of great beauty, others of earthy comedy, others of considerable pathos.”—Cyril Birch, editor of Anthology of Chinese Literature

The Drunken Man’s Talk: Tales from Medieval China, compiled by Luo Ye, translated by Alister D. Inglis

“Although there have been studies and translations of medieval Chinese stories, most of them are selective. Inglis’s translation of a complete collection gives readers a taste of medieval Chinese stories in their original ‘package.”—Journal of the American Oriental Society

Mouse vs. Cat in Chinese Literature: Tales and Commentary, translated by Wilt L. Idema, foreword by Haiyan Lee

“A broad and rich survey not only of literary representations of mouse versus cat within the larger context of Chinese history, but also of anthropomorphism in world literature.… I absolutely recommend this book to my fellow human beings.”—Modern Chinese Literature and Culture

Escape from Blood Pond Hell: The Tales of Mulian and Woman Huang, translated by Beata Grant and Wilt L. Idema

“The literary merits of both precious scrolls are recognizable in the high scholarly translations.… One can recommend Grant and Idema’s book to students of Chinese religion, literature, anthropology, and social history, as well as of those of the whole East Asian region.”—Asian Ethnology

Heroines of Jiangyong: Chinese Narrative Ballads in Women’s Script, translated by Wilt L. Idema, Introduction by Haiyan Lee

“Contributes to the study of Chinese literature, history, and society by filling the void of research on rural women in imperial China—a field grossly underexplored due to the lack of historical documentation.”—Fei-wen Liu, Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Taipei

Meng Jiangnü Brings Down the Great Wall: Ten Versions of a Chinese Legend, translated by Wilt L. Idema

“Wielding the specifically feminine magic of tears, [Meng Jiangnü] is able to walk many paths between love and death. Idema’s beautiful, small anthology is a splendid tribute to this figure. It is at the same time a highly commendable introduction to the richness and complexity of Chinese oral traditions.”—Journal of Chinese Religions

Two Centuries of Manchu Women Poets: An Anthology, translated by Wilt L. Idema

“[Offers] fascinating insights into the everyday world of highly literate Manchu women and their mindset, thereby substantially enriching our understanding of both their contribution to Qing literature and the processes of their self-positioning in society.”—Journal of Asian Studies

CLASSICS OF CHINESE THOUGHT SERIES

Exemplary Figures / Fayan, by Yang Xiong, translated by Michael Nylan

“Fayan is one of the most important early Chinese texts. Carefully wrought and rich with historical insights and philosophical ruminations, it provides an invaluable window to the extraordinary mind of its creator, Yang Xiong, and the cross currents of his cultural moment. Nylan’s masterful translation is a great stylistic and philological achievement.”—Wai-yee Li, Harvard University

Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for a Translation of a Scholarly Study of Literature (Modern Language Association)

Zuo Tradition / Zuozhuan: Commentary on the “Spring and Autumn Annals,” translated by Stephen Durrant, Wai-yee Li, and David Schaberg

“Now, at last, we have a convenient, bilingual, and helpfully annotated edition from which to study this immensely rich work.… [This three-volume set] seems bound to become a classic of sinology.”—Journal of Chinese Studies. “One of the greatest translations of the Chinese classical works into English.”—Asian and African Studies

Patrick D. Hanan Book Prize for Translation (Association for Asian Studies)