TRANSLATORS’ NOTE

This translation follows the text of the 1628 Shangyou Tang edition of Pai’an jingqi as reprinted in the 1986 facsimile edition published by Shanghai Guji Chubanshe. In this translation, the interlinear comments (IC) and marginal comments (MC) in the original text, often difficult to read, appear in italic within parentheses in roman text and in roman within parentheses in italic text.

The illustrations in this volume are from the facsimile edition of Pai’an jingqi in Guben xiaoshuo jicheng (Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 1990).

Chinese proper names are rendered in the pinyin system. For the convenience of readers who are more accustomed to the Wade-Giles romanization system, we have provided the following short list of difficult consonants:

c = ts’

q = ch’

x = hs

z = tz

zh = ch

FREQUENTLY ENCOUNTERED CHINESE TERMS

chi   a unit of measurement, translated as “foot”

jin   translated as “catty,” equals half a kilogram

li   approximately one-third of a mile

liang   translated as “tael,” equals one-sixteenth of a jin

shi   a married woman known by her maiden name (e.g., Wang-shi)

zi   translated as “courtesy name,” the name by which an educated person was addressed by people of his or her own generation and probably the one used more often than the person’s official name

CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION DEGREES

The civil service examination system, the best-known political institution of imperial China, consisted of examinations at three levels in the Ming dynasty: district (prefectural), provincial, and national (metropolitan). Successful candidates at the first level received a xiucai degree; at the second level, a juren degree; and at the third, jinshi, the highest degree. Normally, xiucai-degree holders were not appointed to official positions.

Examinations at each level included a number of sessions in which candidates wrote new essays. At the lowest and middle levels, the examination questions required extensive memorization of the classic Confucian texts, including works of philosophy, history, poetry, and divination. The highest-level examinations also required essays on administrative policy and ethical questions, with the final examination given orally by the emperor in the palace while the candidates knelt before his throne. Those who passed the highest level were called jinshi. A zhuangyuan was a jinshi who ranked first in the palace examination.

REFERENCE WORKS CONSULTED

Bishop, John L., ed. Studies of Government Institutions in Chinese. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1968.

Chen Erdong and Guo Junjie, eds. Pai’an jingqi. Beijing: Renmin Wenxue Chubanshe, 1999.

Cihai. Shanghai: Shanghai Cishu Chubanshe, 1989.

Ciyuan. Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1989.

Hanyu da cidian. Shanghai: Hanyu Da Cidian Chubanshe, 1994.

Ho, Ping-ti. The Ladder of Success in Imperial China: Aspects of Social Mobility, 1368–1911. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1962.

Hucker, Charles O. A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985.

Soothill, W. E., and Lewis Hodous. A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, with Sanskrit and English Equivalents and a Sanskrit-Pali Index. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987.

Xu Jianzhong, ed. Pai’an jingqi. Zhengzhou: Zhouzhou Guji Chubanshe, 1996.