NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN NOTES

BBBKH: Li Zhi, A Book to Burn and Book to Keep (Hidden): Selected Writings, edited and translated by Rivi Handler-Spitz, Pauline C. Lee, and Haun Saussy. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016.

LZQJZ: Li Zhi, Li Zhi quanji zhu 李贄全集注, edited by Zhang Jianye 張建業. 26 vols. Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2010.

LZYJCKZL: Li Zhi yanjiu cankao ziliao 李贄研究參考資料, compiled by Xiamen daxue lishi xi. Xiamen: Fujian Renmin chubanshe, 1975.

INTRODUCTION

1. “Un siècle desbordé.” Montaigne, “De la Vanité” 3: 9, in Les Essays, 946. See also Montaigne, “On Vanity,” in The Complete Essays of Montaigne, 721.

2. Zhang Dai, “Ziwei muzhiming” 自為墓志銘 (Tomb inscription for myself), in Zhang Dai shiwen ji, 5.295.

3. The title of the latter book is a pun, as the word cang can be translated either as “to store away for safekeeping” or “to hide.”

4. Zhang Wenda, “Shenzong shilu Wanli sanshi nian run er yue yimao like jishizhong Zhang Wenda shu he Li Zhi” 神宗實錄萬曆三十年閏二月乙卯禮科給事中張問達疏劾李贄 (Veritable record of the memorial impeaching Li Zhi, submitted by the supervising censor Zhang Wenda on the yimao day of the second intercalary month of the thirtieth year of the reign of emperor Shenzong), in Ming shilu 112.369.11.

5. D’Elia, Fonti Ricciane, 2.65–69.

6. Zhang Shiyi, “Jidaoxin” 集導辛 (Collected views on bitterness), in Yuelutang ji 8.123.

7. The character ru, generally translated as “Confucian,” is more aptly rendered as “scholar.” An increasing number of scholars have opted to use the term “Ru.” For example, see Csikszentmihalyi, Material Virtue, 15–22.

8. Li Zhi, “Yu yue” 豫約 (Rules agreed upon in advance), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2:108–120.

9. Gu Yangqian 顧養謙, “Gu Chonglao song xing xu” 顧沖老送行序 (Farewell preface by Gu Chonglao), in Li Zhi, Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1:189.

10. Li Zhi, “Ti Kongzi xiang yu Zhifo Yuan” 題孔子像於芝佛院 (An inscription for the image of Confucius in the Cloister of the Flourishing Buddha), in Xu Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 3:309.

11. Li Zhi, “Yu yue” 豫約 (Rules agreed upon in advance), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2:108–120.

12. This term is defined in chapter two.

13. In The Age of Silver, Ma Ning observes that the boundaries between social classes in this period were more permeable in China than in Europe.

14. Pomeranz, The Great Divergence; Frank, ReOrient; Wong, China Transformed; Wong and Rosenthal, Before and beyond Divergence; Goldstone, “Divergence in Cultural Trajectories.” Critiques of Pomeranz’s work include Philip Huang, “Development or Involution?” On-cho Ng also interrogates the applicability of theories of early modernity to China. Ng, “The Epochal Concept of Early Modernity.”

15. The phrase “horizontal continuities” is borrowed from Fletcher, “Integrative History.” See also Adshead, Material Culture in Europe and China. For a brief introduction to the economic conditions in late imperial China, see Rawski, “Economic and Social Foundations of Late Imperial China,” 3–10. For a far more detailed picture, see Brook, The Confusions of Pleasure; Brook, The Trouble Empire, especially ch. 9.

16. See for instance Vilar, “The Age of Don Quixote”; Niu, Mingdai houqi, 82–86.

17. The phrase “epochal concept of early modernity” is On-cho Ng’s. See his “Epochal Concept of Early Modernity.”

18. For an astute critique of the use of the “early modern” heuristic to the Chinese case, see Struve, The Qing Formation, 1–56.

19. Porter, “Sinicizing Early Modernity.”

20. Another advantage of focusing on transregional similarities evident within a narrow timeframe is that doing so unsettles triumphalist narratives that trace the roots of European modernity—and Europe’s eventual rise to dominance—to putative causes in the sixteenth century. For, as Pomeranz argues, before “the great divergence,” roughly the turn of the nineteenth century, fundamentally similar economic conditions prevailed in China and Europe; there was therefore no necessary connection between the urbanization and commercialization of the European Renaissance and the subsequent advent of the industrial capitalism.

21. de Bary, “Individualism and Humanitarianism”; Lee, Li Zhi; Xu, Li Zhi sixiang; Ray Huang, 1587; Billeter, Li Chih; Hok-lam Chan, Li Chih; Jin Jiang, “Heresy and Persecution”; Zuo, Li Zhi yu wanming; Mizoguchi, Ri Takugo.

22. Porter, Comparative Early Modernities, 2.

23. Cohen, “Eurasian Literature,” 58.

24. Kleutghen, Imperial Illusions; Fuchs and Howard, Made in China; Cahill, The Compelling Image; North, Artistic and Cultural Exchanges; Ellen C. Huang, “From the Imperial Court to the International Art Market”; Odell, “Porcelain, Print Culture and Mercantile Aesthetics.”

25. Brook, Vermeer’s Hat. See also Gerritsen and McDowall, “Global China.”

26. The metaphor is borrowed from Brook, Vermeer’s Hat, 22.

27. Aldridge, Comparative Literature, 3. Zhang Longxi, Unexpected Affinities.

28. Plaks, “The Aesthetics of Irony.”

29. Vinograd, “Cultural Spaces,” 353.

30. Pauline Yu, “Alienation Effects”; Eoyang, “Polar Paradigms”; Owen, Readings in Chinese Literary Thought, 37–48.

31. For a discussion of Li Zhi’s metaphors of illness, see Lee, Li Zhi, 62–64.

32. On the concept of family resemblances, see Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations. For an application of this concept to the writings of Li Zhi, see Lee, Li Zhi, 69.

33. Brinker-Gabler, Encountering the Other(s), 1.

34. Struve, The Qing Formation, 1–56.

35. Porter, “Global Satire.”

36. Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, 4.

37. Moraru, “The Worlding of Nations,” 193.

38. Collingwood, The Idea of History, 217–218.

39. Ibid., 215. Emphasis mine.

40. Claude Lévi-Strauss, “La place de la culture japonaise dans le monde,” Revue d’esthetique 18 (1990), cited in Waldenfels, “Response to the Other,” 41.

41. Palumbo-Liu, “The Utopias of Discourse,” 36.

42. Analects 14.38.

43. Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, cited in Waldenfels, “Response to the Other,” 39. Emphasis mine.

44. Zhang Longxi, “The Challenge of East-West Comparative Literature,” 34.

45. Palumbo-Liu, “The Utopias of Discourse,” 36.

46. Fish, “Literature in the Reader,” 75.

47. Liszka, A General Introduction to the Semeiotic of Charles Sanders Peirce.

48. He Yuming, Home and the World, especially the introduction and chapter one.

49. Ibid., 19.

50. For a more complete description of the content of this work and its disorderly presentation, as well as English translations of many essays and poems included within it, see BBBKH, especially the introduction.

51. Huang Lin, “Fenshu yuanben de jige wenti.” See also Wu Guoping, “Ye tan Fenshu yuanben de wenti.” The introduction to the 1961 Zhonghua shuju (China Press) edition of Fenshu also contains notes on the publication history of this book.

52. Although most scholarship (e.g., the editors of the 1961 and 1975 Zhonghua shuju editions) has dated the original publication of A Book to Burn (Fenshu) to 1590, Torao Suzuki and Huang Lin argue that a likelier date of first publication is 1592. Huang, “Fenshu yuanben de jige wenti,” 93; Suzuki, “Ri Takugo nenpu, jō,” 45. For a defense of the 1590 publication date, see Wu Guoping, “Ye tan Fenshu yuanben de wenti.” Even if A Book to Burn was not printed until 1592, it was clearly in circulation prior to that point, since in 1591 Cai Yizhong, an angry supporter of Li Zhi’s sometime friend and later adversary Geng Dingxiang, penned a rebuttal titled Fenshu bian 焚書辯 (Disputing A Book to Burn). Lin Haiquan, Li Zhi nianpu, 235.

53. For a list of extant editions, see Hok-lam Chan, Li Chih, 155–182.

54. Li Zhi, “Yu Wang Dingfu” 與汪鼎甫 (To Wang Dingfu), in Xu Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 3: 140–141.

55. On the relationships among these texts, see Li Defeng, “Li Zhi Cang shu yu Tang Shunzhi”; Qian Maowei, Mingdai shixue, 336–341.

56. Qian Maowei, Mingdai shixue, 337.

57. Texts also very frequently circulated in manuscript prior to publication. Many of Li Zhi’s letters mention sending manuscripts to friends and seeking their comments and suggestions. See for instance Li Zhi, “You yu Jiao Moling” 又與焦秣陵 (Another letter to Jiao Moling [Jiao Hong]), in Li Wenling ji 李温陵集 4.11a.

58. This type of additive editorial process continued far beyond the Ming. Modern scholars Deng Changfeng, Song Kyong-ae, and Allan Barr have argued that the Qing literatus Zhang Chao’s Yuchu xinzhi 虞初新志 (New record of Yuchu), an anthology assembling works by several contemporary authors, was compiled, expanded, and reprinted in successive editions. The first edition, which contained six fascicles, appeared in 1684. It was followed by a second edition of twelve fascicles, published in 1700, and finally by a third edition of twenty fascicles, which was produced in 1700. Son, “Writing for Print,” 179.

CHAPTER 1

1. See, for example, the following, all by Li Zhi: “Tongxin shuo” 童心說 (On the childlike mind), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1:276–279; “Zan Liu Xie” 贊劉諧 (An appraisal of Liu Xie), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1:358–359; “On He Xinyin” 何心隱論 (He Xinyin lun), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.245–251; “Shiji zonglun” 世紀總論 (An overview of all times), in Cangshu 1; LZQJZ 4.1.

2. Zuo, Li Zhi yu wanming, 39. Members of the Return to Antiquity Movement did not regard themselves as conservative; this label was applied to them pejoratively by proponents of the more progressive Gong’an school (Gong’an pai). Members of the Return to Antiquity Movement considered their aesthetic program a welcome respite from the stultifying poetic style favored at court.

3. Xiong, Ming Qing sanwen, 257. See also Handler-Spitz, “Provocative Texts,” 131.

4. Li Mengyang, “Shiji zixu” 詩集自序 (Authorial preface to my poetry collection), in Guo Shaoyu, Zhongguo lidai wenlun 2.283.

5. Xu Wei, “Ye Zisu shixu” 葉子肅詩序 (Preface to the poetry of Ye Zisu) in Xu Wei ji 2.19.519–520. An early reference to the analogy of birds mimicking human speech may be found in Liji ch. 1, “Qu li shang” 曲禮上, translated by Legge as “Khu Lî” in The Lî Kî 27.64. This comparison was also prevalent in European writings from the Renaissance and appears in the epistolary exchange between Angelo Poliziano (1454–1494) and Paolo Cortesi (1465–1510). DellaNeva, Ciceronian Controversies, 3.

6. Jiao, “Yu youren lun shu” 與友人論書 (Discussing books with a friend), in Danyuanji 1.93. See also Guo Shaoyu, Zhongguo lidai wenlun 3.131.

7. Zuo Qiuming was believed to have authored the Zuozhuan. Sima Qian composed the Shiji.

8. Yuan Zongdao, “Lunwen xia” 論文下 (On literature, part 2) in Bai Suzhai leiji 20.285–286. For a sanitized English translation of this passage, see Hung, The Romantic Vision, 127.

9. Jiao, “Yu youren lun shu” 與友人論書 (Discussing books with a friend), in Danyuanji 1.93. See also Guo Shaoyu, Zhongguo lidai wenlun 3.131.

10. Wang Shizhen, Yiyuan zhiyan 藝苑卮言 (Drunken words in the garden of art), 4.66.

11. Jiang Yingke, Xuetao xiaoshu 雪濤小書, 12. Translation in Chaves, “The Panoply of Images,” 347. For further discussion of Jiang Yingke’s poetics, see Barr, “Jiang Yingke’s Place,” 45.

12. Their complete correspondence is translated in DellaNeva, Ciceronian Controversies.

13. Erasmus, The Ciceronian, 369, 399, 440.

14. Ibid., 387, 368. Pico expresses similar concerns and asks rhetorically, “Do you think, Bembo, that any men of our time will be similar to Cicero in speech, unless they will also be like him in understanding? Augustine surely does not approve of people who admire only Cicero’s tongue and not his heart, for he knew very well that learned and ornate language could develop only from the images in a cultivated heart.” Pico, “Pico to Bembo,” in DellaNeva, Ciceronian Controversies, 113.

15. Discussing the interplay between vernacular and literary Chinese in this period, Patrick Hanan asserts that “classical [Chinese] aspired to a standard of good taste not unlike the elegantia or urbanitas of Classical Latin.” Hanan, The Chinese Vernacular Story, 16. For an examination of the interactions between vernacular and classical Chinese, as well as a brief contrastive analysis of the relationship between these languages and European classical and vernacular languages, see Mair, “Language and Script” in The Columbia History, 19–35. See also Plaks, “Full-Length Hsiao-shuo,” 167–168.

16. Du Bellay, La défense et illustration.

17. On this subject, see Ng, “The Epochal Concept of Early Modernity.”

18. On Li’s criticisms of the examination system, see Epstein, Competing Discourses, 70.

19. Elman, A Cultural History, 383. On the civil examination system, see also Gong, Mingdai baguwen; Plaks, “The Prose of Our Time.” Kai-wing Chow demonstrates that, in contrast to many of his contemporaries, Li Zhi took a certain pleasure in composing eight-legged essays. Chow, “An Avatar.”

20. Ho Wai-kam, “Late Ming Literati,” 28.

21. Chow, “Writing for Success,” esp. 126–127.

22. Li Zhi, “Zhuowu lunlue Dianzhong zuo” 卓吾論略：滇中作 (A sketch of Zhuowu: Written in Yunnan), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.233. Pauline C. Lee provides a complete translation of this essay in BBBKH, 75–83.

23. Li Zhi, “Chutanji xu” 初潭集序 (Preface to Upon Arrival at the Lake), in Chutanji, LZQJZ 12.1. See also Li Zhi, “Xianxinglu xu, dai zuo” 先行錄序代作 (Preface to Record of Acting First, written upon request), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.322–324.

24. For interpretations of this essay, see Lee, Li Zhi, ch. 3; Zuo, Li Zhi yu wanming, 160–185; Xu, Li Zhi sixiang, 269–330; Song and Han, Xinxue yu wenxue, 156–185.

25. Li Zhi, “Tongxin shuo” 童心說 (On the childlike mind), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.276. Translation modified slightly from that of Haun Saussy in BBBKH, 111–113.

26. For instance, Wang Ji (1497–1582) cautions, “Authors who exhibit their true colors and are fully rid of hackneyed phrases do not get stuck [rigidly] adhering to formal rules.… But anyone who does not put his faith in his own innate gifts, and cares only about what other people think, who imitates them and schemes underhandedly, is like an actor imitating [the heroic] Sunshu Ao. [Such a play-actor may] change his appearance, but does not alter his true essence. Thus even if he were to pass the imperial examination, he would be only a mediocrity repeating standard phrases. Those with true aspirations would not behave like this.” Wang Ji, “Tianxin tibi” 天心題璧 (Inscribing a jade disk with the heart of heaven), in Longxi Wang xiansheng quanji 8.25b.

27. At one point, Bulephorus states, “Any speech that does not come from the heart is cold and dead.” Erasmus, The Ciceronian, 396.

28. Ibid., 440.

29. Ibid., 366.

30. Historian Ho Ping-ti cautions that this already high number should be taken merely as a low estimate of the total number of individuals purchasing academic degrees, since it is likely that many of the people who did so did not immediately enroll in the academy. Ho, Ladder of Success, 33. See also Wu Renshu, Pinwei shehua, 60–61.

31. This situation is obliquely satirized in the vernacular novel Xiyouji 西遊記 (The journey to the west), wherein the protagonist, Sun Wukong, is several times awarded official titles that he does not merit and that exist in name only.

32. Li Zhi, “Fu Jiao Ruohou” 復焦弱侯 (Another letter to Jiao Ruohou [i.e., Jiao Hong]), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.110.

33. Li Zhi, “Wei Huang’an er shangren san shou” 為黃安二上人三首 (Three essays for two monks of Huang’an), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.199.

34. Li Zhi, “Da Zhou Liutang” 答周柳塘 (A response to Zhou Liutang), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.220. Li was not unusual in expressing his low estimation of contemporary Confucians and their motivations. The early Qing scholar Huang Zongxi concurred that “literati … are not concerned with the truth of the sages and worthies. They [study] … books for social advancement.… Today there is no literatus who is not preoccupied with profit.” Huang Zongxi, Ming wen hai 明文海, 994–995, cited and translated in Chow, “An Avatar.”

35. Celio Calcagnini, “On Imitation,” in DellaNeva, Ciceronian Controversies, 151.

36. Jiao, “Yu youren lunshu” 與友人論書 (Discussing books with a friend), in Danyuanji 1.93.

37. Li Zhi, “Za shuo” 雜說 (On Miscellaneous matters), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.272. Translation modified from that of Pauline C. Lee in BBBKH, 104. Emphasis mine.

38. Li Zhi, “Shixue ruchen: Sima Tan, Sima Qian” 史學儒臣，司馬談、司馬遷 (Biographies of Confucian historians: Sima Tan and Sima Qian), in Cangshu 49; LZQJZ 7.329.

39. Li Zhi, “Zhongyi Shuihuzhuan xu” 忠義水滸傳序 (Preface to The Loyal and Righteous Outlaws of the Marsh), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.301–304. Emphasis mine. The remark by Sima Qian to which Li Zhi alludes here appears in Sima Qian’s authorial preface to Shiji, ch. 130, as well as in “Bao Ren Shaoqing shu” 報任少卿書 (Letter to Ren Shaoqing), included in Ban, Hanshu, ch. 62, “Sima Qian zhuan” 司馬遷傳 (Biography of Sima Qian). For an alternative translation of Li’s preface, see that of Huiying Chen and Drew Dixon in BBBKH, 125–28.

40. “Da xu” 大序 (Great preface), cited and translated in Owen, Readings in Chinese Literary Thought, 41.

41. Peirce, “Prolegomena,” 251.

42. Pauline Yu, “Alienation Effects.” See also Owen, Readings in Chinese Literary Thought, 20–21.

43. Zhang Longxi opposes such dichotomous views of Chinese and Western literature, and Lu Mingjun argues powerfully against the idea that Chinese and Western poetics spring from irreconcilably different sources. Lu Mingjun, “Natural Inspiration”; Zhang Longxi, Mighty Opposites.

44. On contemporary visual artists’ condemnations of excessive imitation and concomitant advocacy of “natural” self-expression, see Burnett, “A Discourse of Originality”; Barnhardt, “The ‘Wild and Heterodox’ School”; Bentley, The Figurative Works. On Ming authors’ opposition to the culture of literary imitation, see Chou, Yüan Hung-tao, esp. ch. 1. See also Chaves, “The Panoply of Images”; Martin Huang, Desire and Fictional Narrative, 39–45.

45. Li Zhi, “Za shuo” 雜說 (On miscellaneous matters), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.272–276. Translation by Pauline C. Lee in BBBKH, 103.

46. Vinograd, “Cultural Spaces,” 349; Park, Art by the Book, 211.

47. Tang, “Tiaoxiang’an ji xu” 雕象菴集序 (Preface to Collection from the Studio for Training Elephants), in Tang Xianzu ji 2.30.1038.

48. Tang, “Heqi xu” 合奇序 (Preface on collecting anomalies), in Tang Xianzu ji 2.32.1077–1078.

49. Yuan Hongdao, “Xu Xiaoxiu shi” 序小修詩 (Preface to poetry by Xiaoxiu [a.k.a. Yuan Zhongdao]), in Yuan Hongdao ji jianjiao 1.4.187. My translation silently modifies James J. Y. Liu’s in Chinese Theories of Literature, 80. For more examples of Yuan Hongdao’s analogies of literary creation to flowing water, see Hung, The Romantic Vision, 101, 123.

50. Jin Shengtan, “Yuting wenguan” 魚庭聞貫 (Instructions from my father) in Jin Shengtan quanji 4.39. Translation altered from that of Ge, “Authorial Intention,” 6.

51. European romantics, including Byron, Shelley, Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Mill, expressed similar views on artistic expression. Mill described poetry as “the thoughts and words in which emotion spontaneously embodies itself,” and Byron compared the creative act to a volcanic eruption. Mill, “Ninth Discourse,” in Literary Works 2.4, cited in Abrams, The Mirror and the Lamp, 49.

52. For further instances of Li Zhi’s views on literature, see his “Za shuo” 雜說 (On miscellaneous matters), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.272–276. On the late Ming conceit of emotion as a guarantor of authenticity in literature, see Wai-yee Li, “The Rhetoric of Spontaneity,” 40; Yuan Zongdao, “Lunwen shang xia” 論文上、下 (On literature, parts 1 and 2), in Bai Suzhai leiji 20.283–285.

53. Li Zhi, “Geng Chukong xiansheng zhuan” 耿楚倥先生傳 (Record of Master Geng Chukong), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2.21.

54. Li Zhi, “Da Deng Shiyang” 答鄧石陽 (Reply to Deng Shiyang), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.8.

55. On the putative connection between an artist’s brushwork, his innate character, and his integrity, see Burnett, “A Discourse of Originality.”

56. Jiang Yingke, “Ci huang” 雌黃 (Utter nonsense), in Jiang Yingke ji 811.

57. Wang Benke, “Xu ke Li shi shu xu” 續刻李氏書序 (Preface to another printed edition of Mr. Li [Zhi’s] writings), in Li Zhi, Xu fenshu; LZQJZ 3.421–422.

58. Yuan Zhongdao, “Li Wenling zhuan” 李溫陵傳 (Biography of Li Wenling), in Kexuezhai ji 2.17.719–725. Translation by Haun Saussy in BBBKH, 325–333. Wu Yinghui notes that Li Zhi’s emotional intensity was a hallmark of his writing style. The “Li Zhuowu” fiction and drama commentaries, composed in imitation of Li Zhi, often featured dramatic and emotional outbursts reminiscent of the volatile personality of the historical Li Zhi. Wu Yinghui, “Books in Pairs,” ch. 1.

59. Wang Chong, “Gu xiang pian” 骨相篇 (On anthroposcopy) in Lunheng 1.3.82, cited and translated in Bottéro, “Cang Jie,” 145.

60. Xu Shen 許慎, ed. Shuowen jiezi 說文解字 (Explaining graphs and analyzing characters), cited and translated in Bottéro, “Cang Jie,”149.

61. Ibid., 149.

62. The eclectic Han philosopher Wang Chong, for instance, asserted that in creating the written language, Cang Jie had undertaken the same task as heaven and earth. Wang Chong, “Ganxu pian” 感虛篇 (Fictitious influences), in Lunheng 論衡 1.5.170. And the medieval literary critic Liu Xie (465–522) declared that written language (wen 文) was “born together with heaven and earth.” James R. Y. Liu, Chinese Theories of Literature, 8. Wang was so deeply convinced that Chinese characters manifested reality that when he observed that the character used to write the name of a hero from antiquity did not graphically illustrate the legend narrating this hero’s birth, Wang doubted whether the story was true, not whether the Chinese character had been transmitted accurately. Wang Chong, “Qiguai pian” 奇怪篇 (Miracles), in Lunheng 論衡 1.3.114, cited in Bottéro, “Cang Jie,” 145. For an English translation of the entire passage, see Forke, Lun-Hêng, Part I, 322–323.

63. Li Zhi, “Da Liu Xianzhang” 答劉憲長 (A reply to District Chief Liu), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.61.

64. Shang, “The Making of the Everyday World,” 75–76. Shang further notes that the protagonist of the erotic novel The Plum in the Golden Vase (Jin ping mei) 金瓶梅 frequently applies kinship terms such as “father” and “daughter” to people with whom he has only temporary associations grounded in self-interest rather than lifelong commitments anchored in familial love and obligation.

65. Li Zhi, “You yu Zhou Youshan” 又與周友山 (Another letter to Zhou Youshan), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.168.

66. Li Zhi, “Yu yue xiao yin” 豫約小引 (Minor preface to “Rules agreed upon in advance”), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2.96–97. Francis Bacon expresses similar views in his essay “Of Friends and Followers,” in The Essays.

67. Rusk highlights the efforts of the Ming scholar Wei Jiao (1483–1543) to recover the original Chinese script, which had been largely destroyed in the bibliocaust perpetrated by the first Qin emperor. Rusk further compares the “rupture” between the lost written language and what remained to the biblical account of the Tower of Babel, discussed below. Rusk, “Old Scripts,” 84–86.

68. Ricci, Xiguo jifa 西國記法 (Mnemonic Techniques of the West) 11a, cited in Rusk “Old Scripts,” 78.

69. Ricci, Jiaoyou lun 交友論, translated as On Friendship, 104–105.

70. Qian Jibo, Mingdai wenxue, 23.

71. Xu Wei, “Xiao Fu shi xu” 肖甫詩序 (Preface to poetry by Xiao Fu), in Xu Wei ji 2.19.534.

72. Jin Shengtan, “Xu yi yue ‘tongku guren’” 序一曰慟哭古人 (First preface titled “Grieving for the ancients”), in Jin Shengtan quanji 3.1.7, cited and translated in Ge, “Authorial Intention,” 13.

73. Analects 12.11, translation in Lau, 114. For an excellent discussion of the rectification of names in late imperial times, see Epstein, Competing Discourses, 21–28.

74. Anthony C. Yu, “Cratylus and Xunzi on Names,” 240–241.

75. Analects 13.3, translation in Lau, 118.

76. Ibid.

77. Xunzi, “Zheng ming” 正名 (Rectifying names), ch. 22 of Xunzi jicheng, 284; Xunzi, Hsün Tzu: Basic Writings, 140. Compare Knoblock’s translation, “On the Correct Use of Names” in Xunzi, 3.128.

78. Analects 6.24, translation modified from Lau, 84.

79. Mao Qiling 毛奇齡, Lunyu jiqiu pian 論語稽求篇 (Seeking to investigate the Analects) 3.8a–8b, cited and translated in Makeham, Name and Actuality, 42.

80. Ibid., 43.

81. Thoroughly self-contradictory, Li did not consistently maintain his position in favor of zhengming. In one letter he mouths the opinion that “Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian are all just names.” Li Zhi, “Da Geng sikou” 答耿司寇 (Reply to Justice Minister Geng), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.74. Elsewhere he adopts the Buddhist view that words are simply vacuous. Li Zhi, “Xin jing tigang” 心經提綱 (The hub of the Heart Sūtra), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.280–284.

82. Plato’s dialogue Cratylus provides an alternative account of the origins of human language, which also links language closely to the natural world.

83. Foucault, The Order of Things, 36.

84. For a discussion of this passage, see Eco, The Search for the Perfect Language, 8.

85. Browne, Religio Medici, 1.16.15. This type of correlative thinking was also popular among the Jesuits. For more examples of this type of imagery, see Curtius, European Literature, 343–345; Robinson, “The Book of Nature”; Huppert, “Divinatio et Eruditio”; Cave, The Cornucopian Text, 21.

86. Genesis 11:1–9.

87. The number seventy-two was arrived at by adding up the total number of Noah’s descendants as attested in Genesis 10. Ham had thirty descendants, Shem had twenty-seven, and Japheth had fifteen. Thus while it was already well known by the end of the sixteenth century that the number of languages currently being spoken far exceeded this number, the number seventy-two still appears in some Renaissance texts.

88. Donald Lach estimates that during the sixteenth century roughly a hundred words of Asian origin were added to the permanent vocabularies of European languages. Many more foreign words made a brief appearance in European vocabularies before drifting out of circulation. For a list of such terms, see Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe, 2.3.530–539, 544–553.

89. Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, II, ii, 37.

90. “Il y a le nom et la chose: le nom, c’est une voix qui remerque et signifie la chose; le nom, ce n’est pas une partie de la chose ny de la substance, c’est une piece estrangere joincte à la chose, et hors d’elle.” Montaigne, “De la gloire” 2: 16 in Les Essays, 618. See also Montaigne, “Of Glory,” in The Complete Essays of Montaigne, 468. For analysis of Montaigne’s nominalism, see Compagnon, Nous, Michel de Montaigne.

91. “Nostre contestation est verbale. Je demande que c’est que nature, volupté, cercle, et substitution. La question est de parolles, et se paye de mesme. Une pierre c’est un corps. Mais qui preseroit: Et corps qu’est-ce?—Substance—Et substance quoy? ainsi de suitte.” Montaigne, “De l’experience” 3: 13 in Les Essays, 1069. See also Montaigne, “Of Experience,” in The Complete Essays of Montaigne, 818–819.

92. For a useful introduction to this work, see Bowen, “Geofroy Tory’s ‘Champ Fleury.’”

93. Tory, Champ Fleury, xxi.

94. Ibid., xxii.

95. Foucault, Les Mots et les choses, 51–52; Foucault, The Order of Things, 36–37. I have modified the translation slightly.

96. Eco, The Search for the Perfect Language, 18–19. See also Porter, Ideographia, 16; Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe, 2.3.519.

97. Postel wrote Linguarum duodecim characteribus differentium alphabetum introductio (Paris, 1538). Gesner wrote Mithrades Gesneri, experimens differentias linguarum tum veterum, tum quae hodie, per totum terrarium orbem, in usu sunt (1555). Bibliander wrote De ratione communi (1548). Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe, 2.3.515.

98. Gaspar da Cruz, “Treatise in which the things of China are related,” in Boxer, South China, 161–162.

99. Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe, 2.3.514.

100. Juan González de Mendoza, History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof, 1.121–122, cited in Porter, Ideographia, 35.

101. Bacon, The Advancement of Learning, bk. 2, sect. 16.2, p. 137.

102. Porter, Ideographia, 38.

103. Blaise de Vigenère, Traicté des chiffres, cited in Rusk, “Old Scripts,” 69. On Webb’s Historical Essay, see Porter, Ideographia, 43–45. Bacon coins the term “characters real” in Advancement of Learning, bk. 2, sect. 16.2, p. 137.

104. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, bk. 2, sect. 16.2, p. 137.

CHAPTER 2

1. Admittedly, the very broad scope of this term also opens it up to criticism. In a review of Bowen’s book, François Rigolot faulted Bowen for attempting to discuss diverse rhetorical phenomena under a single rubric, since doing so, he charged, risked sacrificing precision. Rigolot, “Review of Barbara Bowen’s The Age of Bluff,” 365.

2. On the meaning of the term “heretic” (yiduan), literally “another strand,” in this period, see Ch’ien, Chiao Hung, 73–77.

3. Li Zhi, “Fu Zhou Nanshi” 復周南士 (Reply to Zhou Nanshi), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.34. Elsewhere he alludes to Confucius as “our sage” and overtly avers, “I’m a Confucian.” Li Zhi, “Jingang jing shuo” 金剛經說 (On The Diamond Sūtra), in Xu Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 3.214–217; Li Zhi, “Shu Xiaoxiu shoujuan hou” 書小修手卷後 (Written at the end of Xiaoxiu’s [a.k.a. Yuan Zhongdao’s] hand scroll), in Xu Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 3.201–203.

4. Li Zhi, “Yu Zeng Jiquan” 與曾繼泉 (To Zeng Jiquan), in Xu Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 3.149. Zeng Jiquan studied Buddhism with Li Zhi at the Cloister of the Flourishing Buddha.

5. Li Zhi, “Da Jiao Yiyuan” 答焦漪園 (Reply to Jiao Yiyuan), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.18.

6. Li Zhi, “Yu Zeng Jiquan” 與曾繼泉 (To Zeng Jiquan), in Xu Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 3.149. In a third letter, written to Deng Lincai in 1585, he affirms, “I am a heretic, unworthy of mention.” The litotes lurking in the phrase “unworthy of mention” constitutes a subtle example of bluff. Li Zhi, “Da Deng Shiyang” 答鄧石陽 (Reply to Deng Shiyang), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.26.

7. On Li Zhi’s role as a father and husband, see Epstein, “Li Zhi’s Self-Fashioning.”

8. On the reputation of the Geng family in Macheng, see Rowe, Crimson Rain, 90–94. On the public circulation of letters in the Ming dynasty, especially Li Zhi’s letters to Geng Dingxiang, see Brook, “The Public of Letters.”

9. Xu Jianping provides a contrasting view. He argues that Li’s period of “wildness” (kuang) peaked between the years 1586 and1595, and that in his later years, as Li succumbed to illness and became increasingly fascinated with Buddhism, his personality mellowed. Xu Jianping, “‘Kuangguai’ he ‘yu shi wu zheng.’”

10. For a more detailed discussion of Li’s appearance, see chapter three.

11. Bowen, The Age of Bluff, 6. Bowen’s use of this term has been criticized on the grounds that it is uncorroborated by dictionary definitions. One reviewer even dismissively compared Bowen to the giant talking egg, Humpty Dumpty, who arrogantly declared, “When I use a word … it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.” The criticism is excessively harsh, for literary critics often redefine words—or coin new words—to suit their own analytic purposes. Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, 113; Rigolot, “Review of Barbara Bowen’s The Age of Bluff,” 364; Frame, “Review of Barbara Bowen’s The Age of Bluff,” 342.

12. Bowen, The Age of Bluff, 6.

13. Plaks, “Aesthetics of Irony,” 487–500; Porter, “Global Satire.”

14. Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, 1.2.72a.

15. Han Feizi xinyi 36.547.

16. For further discussion of irony in a Chinese context, see Porter, “Global Satire.”

17. Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, Jin Ping Mei cihua 1.3. Translation slightly altered from that of Roy in The Plum in the Golden Vase, vol. 1, The Gathering, 7.

18. The German scholar Otto Franke is reported to have stated, “Li Zhi[’s] opinions are essentially negative. He proposes no new cognitive thought or abstract perspective; yet he aims to clear things away.” Feng Junpei, “Ping Fulange jiaoshou de Li Zhi yanjiu zhaiyao” 評福蘭閣教授的李贄研究摘要 (Outline of a critical assessment of Franke’s study on Li Zhi), in LZYJCKZL 2.227. De Bary concurs when he calls Li Zhi’s thought “negative individualism … incapable of establishing itself in any framework of laws or institutions.” de Bary, “Individualism and Humanitarianism,” 224.

19. On the history of the word “irony,” see Muecke, Irony and the Ironic.

20. Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, 1.72a.

21. Booth, A Rhetoric of Irony, 240; Pomel, “La Fonction critique de l’ironie,” 79–80.

22. Literary scholar Wayne Booth distinguishes between stable irony and unstable irony. The type of irony discussed here is unstable. Stable irony refers to clear-cut situations in which an author states precisely the opposite of what he means. The fourteenth-century philosopher Nicolas Oremse summarizes: “Irony is when one says one thing, but means the contrary” (cited in Pomel, “La Fonction critique de l’ironie,” 86). The meaning of such irony, according to Booth, is “firm as a rock” (A Rhetoric of Irony, 235). To be sure, ironies of this kind appear in the writings of Li Zhi. However, because their meaning is not open to dispute, they do not constitute examples of bluff. The term “bluff” is reserved to describe ambiguities that provoke conflicting interpretations. A statement by Montaigne illustrates the difference between these two sorts of irony: “If a lie, like truth, had only one face … [it] certainty would be the reverse of what the liar said. But the reverse side of truth has a hundred thousand shapes and no defined limits” (Si, comme la vérité, le mensonge n’avoit qu’un visage … nous prenderions pour certain l’opposé de ce que diroit le menteur. Mais le revers de la verité a cent mille figures et un champ indefiny). Montaigne, “Des Menteurs” 1: 9, in Les Essays, 37. See also Montaigne, “Of Liars,” in The Complete Essays of Montaigne. This indeterminacy is the essence of bluff.

23. On Buddhist paradox, see Wright, “The Significance of Paradoxical Language”; Foulk, “The Form and Function of Koan Literature.”

24. This phrase appears in a letter to Sir Henry Wotton, likely composed in 1600. Simpson, A Study of the Prose Works of John Donne, 298. I have updated Donne’s spelling. Donne insists that paradoxes are not the revelation of truth but simply prods that nudge the reader to uncover the truth for himself.

25. However, the English word “alarm” also conveys another meaning not present in the Chinese case. Derived from the French à l’arme, it refers to a call to arms, and by extension a call to action. Chan paradoxes, by contrast, do not typically function as calls to action.

26. Li Zhi, “Da Liu Xianzhang” 答劉憲長 (Reply to District Chief Liu), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.61.

27. The incident involving the monk’s enlightenment is recorded in a biography of the monk Wunian Shenyou (1544–1627), cited and translated in Wu Jiang, Enlightenment in Dispute, 68–70. One essay in which Li Zhi sternly instructs monks is “Yu yue” 豫約 (Rules agreed upon in advance), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2.120. See also “Jie zhong seng” 戒眾僧 (Disciplining the sangha), Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2.73–75. The latter essay is translated by Jennifer Eichman in BBBKH, 181–184.

28. Wai-yee Li, “The Problem of Genuineness.”

29. For the story of the virtuous Bo Yi and Shu Qi, see Sima Qian, Shiji 史記 [Records of the grand historian], ch. 61.

30. For the story of the wicked man of Qi, see Mengzi 孟子 (Mencius), 4B33.

31. Mengzi describes Yi Yin as a virtuous man who refused to give anything away or take anything that did not rightfully belong to him. Ibid., 5A7.

32. According to Mencius, Yang Zhu was so stingy that he would not pluck a single hair from his head, even if doing so could benefit the entire world. Ibid., 3B9.

33. Zigong, a disciple of Confucius, asked: “When the people in the village all hate a person, how’s that?”

The master said “That is not sufficient.”

“When the people in the village all hate a person, how’s that?”

“That is not sufficient. It would be better that the good villagers like him and the bad dislike him.” Analects 13.23.

34. Li Zhi, “Zi zan” 自贊 (Self-appraisal), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.356–358.

35. In a letter written to Liu Jincheng in 1595, Li Zhi repeats the claim that he would willingly suffer hunger for the sake of righteousness. Li Zhi, “Yu Chenglao” 與城老 (To Chenglao), in Xu Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 3.62–65.

36. “Si vous dictes: Je ments, et que vous dissiez vray, vous mentez donc.” Montaigne, “Apologie de Raimond Sebond” (Apology for Raymond Sebond) 2: 12, in Les Essays, 527. Compare Frame’s translation in Montaigne, The Complete Essays of Montaigne, 392.

37. Zuo, Li Zhi yu wanming, 66.

38. Wai-yee Li, “The Problem of Genuineness.” In a similar vein, James Cahill and Richard Vinograd have pointed out the exaggerated and at times indecorous ways in which some painters of the period depicted themselves. Cahill, Fantasics and Eccentrics, 28; Vinograd, Boundaries of the Self, 31–33.

39. The full passage may be found in Xu Wei, “Zi wei muzhiming” 自為墓志銘 (Self tomb inscription) in Xu Wei ji 2.26.638. My translation modifies that of Kafalas in “Weighty Matters,” 61–62.

40. Wu Cheng’en, Xiyou ji 西遊記 (Journey to the West), ch. 58. For an analysis of this scene, see He Yuming, Home and the World, 207.

41. On this subject see Volpp, The Worldly Stage, esp. ch. 1.

42. Xu Wei, Ci Mulan 雌木蘭 (The female Mulan), in Lu Jiye, Ming zaju xuan, 37; Kwa and Idema, Mulan, 25.

43. Shakespeare, As You Like It, II, vii, 42. Shakespeare’s Antonio in The Merchant of Venice echoes this sentiment, stating, “I hold the world … a stage where every man must play a part” (I, i, 4).

44. Tang, Mudan ting, sc. 55, 263, 264; Tang, Peony Pavilion, 329.

45. For further discussion of doubled or mistaken identity in this period, see Tina Lu, Persons, Roles, and Minds; Kwa, Strange Eventful Histories.

46. Bentley points out that Chen’s portrait of Du Fu also shares these features and that they may therefore be regarded as a “type.” Bentley, “Authenticity and the Expanding Market,” 178.

47. Ibid., 177–178.

48. Vinograd, “Hiding in Plane Sight,” 149; Vinograd, “Cultural Spaces.” On Min Qiji and metapictures, see Wu Hung, The Double Screen, 243–259; Hsiao, The Eternal Present, 217–227.

49. Steinberg, “Velazquez’ Las Meninas.” I am particularly grateful to Stephen Whiteman for discussing these ideas with me.

50. Cervantes, Don Quijote, 51–53.

51. This word also carries a third meaning (and a different pronunciation, zang), which refers to Buddhist and Daoist scriptures. This meaning, however, does not appear relevant to the title of Li’s book.

52. Li Zhi, “Cangshu shiji liezhuan zongmu qianlun” 藏書世紀列傳總目前論 (Preface to the Combined “Dynastic Records” and “Biographies” Sections of A Book to Keep [Hidden]), in Cangshu; LZQJZ 4.1. For an alternative translation of this preface, see that of Pauline C. Lee in BBBKH, 317–319.

53. Liu Dongxing, “Liu Dongxing xu” 劉東星序 (Preface by Liu Dong-xing), in Li Zhi, Cangshu; LZQJZ 8.697.

54. Mei Guozhen, “Mei Guozhen xu” 梅國楨序 (Preface by Mei Guozhen), in Li Zhi, Cangshu; LZQJZ 8.698.

55. The first printed edition did not appear until 1599. Qian Maowei, Mingdai shixue, 337.

56. Li Zhi, “Yu Jiao Yiyuan” 與焦漪園 (To Jiao Yiyuan), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.17.

57. Lin Haiquan, Li Zhi nianpu, 363.

58. Li Zhi, “Yu Geng Zijian” 與耿子健 (To Geng Zijian), in Xu Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 3.135.

59. The Buddhist term “eyes of flesh” (rou yan; Sanskrit: māmsa-caksus) refers to the most mundane form of vision, which an utterly unenlightened person might possess. It represents the lowest of five levels. “Eyes of flesh” are followed by “eyes of heaven” (tian yan; Skt: dibbacakkhu), a kind of vision attainable through study and Chan meditation; “eyes of wisdom” (hui yan; Skt: prajña-caksus), the perception that all phenomena are empty; “dharma eyes” (fa yan; Skt: dharmacaksus), the insight possessed by bodhisattvas; and finally “Buddha eyes” (Fo yan; Skt: buddha-caksus), the complete understanding of a Buddha. Wu Rujun, Fojiao da cidian, 119.

60. Ziyun is the courtesy name of the philosopher Yang Xiong (53 BCE–ca.18 CE). Li Zhi, “Zi xu” 自序 (Author’s preface), in Fenshu; LZQJZ 1.1.

61. “Bao Ren Shaoqing shu” 報任少卿書 (Letter to Ren Shaoqing), in “Sima Qian zhuan” 司馬遷傳 (Biography of Sima Qian), ch. 62, in Ban, Hanshu, 3.62.1892.

62. Li Zhi, “Zhongyi Shuihuzhuan xu” 忠義水滸傳序 (Preface to The Loyal and Righteous Outlaws of the Marsh), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1:301–304.

63. The close filiation between A Book to Keep (Hidden) and The Left Scribe’s Records was not lost upon late Ming and early Qing scholars like Gu Dashao (b. 1576), who remarked that Li relied heavily on Tang’s text but added and deleted passages at will. On Li Zhi’s debt to Tang Shunzhi, see Li Defeng, “Li Zhi Cang shu yu Tang Shunzhi”; Qian Maowei, Mingdai shixue, 336–341.

64. Li Zhi, “Zi xu” 自序 (Author’s preface), in Fenshu; LZQJZ 1.1. On the authenticity of the “author’s preface,” see Huang Lin, “Fenshu yuanben de jige wenti”; Wu Guoping, “Ye tan Fenshu yuanben de wenti,” 46.

65. Zhang Wenda, “Shenzong shilu Wanli sanshi nian run er yue yimao like jishizhong Zhang Wenda shu he Li Zhi” 神宗實錄萬曆三十年閏二月乙卯禮科給事中張問達疏劾李贄 (Veritable record of the memorial impeaching Li Zhi, submitted by the supervising censor Zhang Wenda on the yimao day of the second intercalary month of the thirtieth year of the reign of emperor Shenzong), in Ming shilu 112.369.11.

66. Li Zhi, “Zi xu” 自序 (Author’s preface), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.1.

67. Ibid.

68. Lejeune, Le pacte autobiographique.

69. “Buveurs très illustres,” “vérolés.” Rabelais, Oeuvres complètes, 38–41. See also Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel, 7.

70. “Rompre l’os et sugcer la sustantificque mouelle.” Rabelais, Oeuvres complètes, 39. See also Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel, 8.

71. “Belles billes vezées,” “cerveau caséiforme.” Rabelais, Oeuvres complètes, 41. See also Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel, 9. For further discussion of Rabelais’s prefaces, see Gray, “Ambiguity and Point of View”; Coleman, “The Prologues of Rabelais.”

72. “Parens et amis: a ce que [l]’ayant perdu … ils y puissant retrouver aucuns traits de [ses] conditions et humeurs.” Montaigne, “Au lecteur,” in Les Essays, 3. See also Montaigne, “To the Reader,” in The Complete Essays of Montaigne, 2. On Montaigne’s participation in the process of publication, see Hoffmann, Montaigne’s Career, 94. On his relationship with his printer, Simon Millanges, see Hoffmann, “Wagering on Publication,” ch. 2 of Montaigne’s Career.

73. “Ce n’est pas raison que tu employes ton loisir en un subject si frivole et si vain.” Montaigne, “Au lecteur,” in Les Essays, 3. See also Montaigne, “To the Reader,” in The Complete Essays of Montaigne, 2. This passage is followed by a slightly misleading date. On the modification of this date in successive editions, as well as the questions this unreliable dating raises, see Delègue, Montaigne et la mauvaise foi, 29–30.

CHAPTER 3

1. Li’s head was shaved for the first time in the summer of 1588. That same summer, in the seventh month, Li learned of his wife’s death in far-off Fujian. However, I have not been able to determine whether the news reached him before or after he shaved his head. Ray Huang speculates that perhaps Li shaved his head first and that his wife’s shock on learning of his action may have hastened her demise. However, this chronology seems implausible, given the slow speed with which information traveled and the fact that Li’s wife died during the intercalary sixth month. LZQJZ 2.260n1, 12.2n3; Lin Haiquan, Li Zhi nianpu, 185–186, 194; Huang, 1587, 192.

The identity of the person who shaved Li is unknown. For the sake of simplicity, I speak of Li as shaving his own head. However, it was customary for senior monks to shave the heads of junior monks, so it is plausible that Li enlisted a member of the monastic community to shave him.

2. In many premodern societies, both East and West, sumptuary laws were deployed to maintain the social hierarchy. Hunt, Governance of the Consuming Passions, 140–141. Violations of these rules were often recorded—and parodied—in the literature of the period. Kwa, Strange Eventful Histories.

3. One notable exception is the eccentric literatus and member of the Taizhou branch of Wang Yangming’s School of the Mind, Deng Huoqu (1489–1578), for whom Li Zhi had the utmost respect. Wu Jiang, Enlightenment in Dispute, 100. Li mentions Deng frequently in A Book to Burn. For example, see “Wei Huang’an er shangren sanshou” 為黃安二上人三首 (Three essays for two monks of Huang’an), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.194–200, and “Gao jie shuo” 高潔說 (On loftiness and cleanliness), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.294–297.

4. On Li’s self-presentation and the difficulties of interpretation it raised, see Zhang Ying, “Li Zhi’s Image Trouble.”

5. On the rampant infractions of Renaissance sumptuary laws, especially in Elizabethan England, see Garber, Vested Interests, 25–40. Garber’s discussion focuses primarily on gender transvestitism.

6. “Wang zhi” 王制 (Royal regulations), in Liji 禮記 (Book of Rites) 5.170, 189; Legge, The Lî Kî, 27.217, 237.

7. “Xigong ershisi nian” 僖公二十四年 (Twenty-fourth year of Duke Xi), in Zuozhuan 1.280.

8. Xunzi, “Yuelun” 樂論 (On music), in Xunzi jicheng 20.264. My translation slightly modifies Knoblock’s in Xunzi, 3.87.

9. The Book of Changes (Yijing) also analogizes suitable raiment to orderly governance and states that in high antiquity, when the Yellow Emperor and the sage kings Yao and Shun “draped their upper and lower garments … heaven and earth were put in order.” “Xici xia” 繫辭下 (Appended phrases, part 2), in Zhouyi dazhuan jinzhu, 562. For a complete translation of this passage, see Wilhelm, I Ching, 356. Also cited and translated in Ko, “Bondage in Time,” 204. My translation differs slightly from Ko’s.

10. Jia, “Fu yi” 服疑 (Discourse on dress), in Xin shu, 44. Translation by Yuan Zujie in “Dressing for Power,” 185.

11. Rickett, Guanzi, 108–109. This passage also appears in the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu); Queen and Major, Luxuriant Gems, 268. Additionally, the Han historian Ban Gu (32–92 CE) stated, “The ancients used clothing to distinguish between the noble and the common and to illustrate virtue so as to encourage the imitation of good example.” Ban, “Yishang” 衣裳 (Garments), in Baihutong 2.18. Translation modified from Vollmer’s in Silks for Thrones and Altars, 8.

12. Yuan Zujie, “Dressing for Power,” 185.

13. Ibid., 186–187.

14. Jiang Yonglin, The Great Ming Code; Liu Xiaoyi, “Clothing, Food, and Travel,” 91.

15. Zhang Lu 張鹵, Huang Ming zhi shu 皇明制書 (The system of the august Ming), 1:52, cited and translated in Yuan Zujie, “Dressing for Power,” 187n20. On the role and purpose of sumptuary laws, also see Berry, The Idea of Luxury, 31.

16. D’Elia, Fonti Ricciane, 1:65–66, cited and translated in Peterson, “What to Wear?,” 404–405.

17. Yuan Zujie, “Dressing the State,” 201–203. See also McDermott, State and Court Ritual, 312. Craig Clunas exaggerates when he pronounces, “Sumptuary laws received no updating precisely at the time they were being most openly and consistently ignored,” during the late Ming period. Clunas, “The Art of Social Climbing,” 371. Additional laws were enacted up until the final years of the dynasty. For a complete list of these laws, see Lin Liyue, “Mingdai jinsheling chutan,” 76–84. See also Da Ming huidian 2.60–61.1017–1072.

Across Europe, infringements of sumptuary laws were also rising throughout the sixteenth century and laws struggled to catch up. In France, sumptuary legislation reached a climax between 1560 and 1580, with more than fifteen sumptuary statutes passed during this period. Laws regulating luxury goods also increased in the German states, England, and Switzerland. But these laws exerted little influence; clergy and merchants continued to dress gaudily in silks and other luxury fabrics nominally limited to the nobility. Moyer, “Sumptuary Laws,” 61–62.

18. Yuan Gun 袁袞, “Shihui” 世諱 (Taboos of the times), cited in Wu Cuncun, Ming Qing shehui, 72–73. See also Yuan Zujie, “Dressing for Power,” 201–202.

19. Wu Renshu, “Mingdai pingmin fushi,” 84, 73.

20. Admittedly, this phrase is meant to be taken figuratively. Li’s point is that contemporary Confucians, because they do not behave ethically, deserve neither to bear the title of Confucian officials nor to wear the corresponding uniforms. Li is not implying that actual outlaws dress up as Confucian officials. Li Zhi, “Luo Jinxi xiansheng gaowen” 羅近溪先生告文 (In memoriam Master Luo Jinxi), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.340. This phrase seems to riff on the idiom “beasts wearing clothes” (yi guan qin shou), which refers to uncouth, unmannered individuals. See also Yuan Zujie, “Dressing the State,” 201–202.

21. On the licit and illicit giving and receiving of robes bearing the restricted python insignia, both in the fictional narrative of The Plum in the Golden Vase (Jin ping mei) 金瓶梅 and in the world outside this novel, see Volpp, “The Gift of a Python Robe.” Volpp cites Shen Li (1531–1615) as writing, “Nowadays, no one pays attention to rank or status. Python robes and jade belts gleam on the steps to the throne room, and the flying-fish robe is everywhere on the streets.” Yiyutang gao 亦玉堂稿 (Manuscript from Jade-like Hall), translated in Volpp, “The Gift of a Python Robe,” 133. Elsewhere in this article, she mentions that the eunuch Liu Ruoyu (b. 1584?) accused the notorious eunuch Wei Zhongxian (1568–1627) of corruption and claimed that in his day even low-ranking officials wore python robes (157). On this subject, see also Yuan Zujie, “Dressing the State,” 97. Another example of contravening sumptuary laws, culled from contemporary fiction, may be found in Feng Menglong’s story “Song xiao guan tuanyuan po zhan li” 宋小官團圓破氈笠 (Young Mr. Song reunites with his family by means of a tattered felt hat), in Jingshi tongyan 警世通言 (Stories to caution the world).

22. Wang Yi, a scholar in the Han Imperial Library, is thought to have compiled the Chu ci 楚辭 (Songs of the South), one of the earliest anthologies of Chinese poetry. Although the exact nature of Wang’s editorial role is a matter of debate, he undoubtedly commented upon many of the poems in the collection and even added some poems of his own. Hawkes, Ch’u Tz’u, 2.

23. In ancient times it was customary for people to wear different types of jade ornaments, which marked their profession or status in society. A xi is a carved ornamental hook made of horn or bone. The sharp end could be used for untying knots. A jue is a flat doughnut-shaped jade disc, often with a narrow slit in the top. The round shape may have symbolized the resolution of doubt. “Nei ze” 內則 (Pattern of the family), in Liji 禮記 (Book of Rites), ch. 12.

24. Li Zhi, “Wu suo bu pei” 無所不佩 (Adorned with every mark of dignity), in Fenshu 5; LZQJZ 2.208–209. Elsewhere Li criticizes civil officials so ignorant and ineffectual that all they know of Confucianism is how to bow to one another politely: “When there is a crisis, they look at each other pale and speechless, [and] try to shift the blame.” Li Zhi, “Yin ji wang shi” 因記往事 (Written in commemoration of past events), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2.52–53. Translation by de Bary in “Individualism and Humanitarianism,” 223.

25. Wang Chong, “Shujie pian” 書解篇 (On literary work), in Lunheng 論衡 2.28.890. For an alternative translation of this passage, see Forke, Lun-Hêng, Part II, 229.

26. Ibid. I have silently modified Forke’s romanization.

27. Wang Gen was not entirely alone in desiring to wear ancient-style dress. Others, in some cases spurred by enthusiasm for the Return to Antiquity Movement, displayed similar enthusiasm. On the trend of wearing ancient-style clothing in this period, see Wu Renshu, “Mingdai pingmin fushi,” 70. See also his Pinwei shehua, ch. 3.

28. Huang Zongxi, “Chu shi Wang Xinzhai xiansheng Gen” 處士王心齋先生艮 (Biography of Wang Gen), in Mingru xue’an 32, 2: 709. Translation by Ching in Huang Tsung-hsi, The Records of Ming Scholars, 174.

29. Li Zhi, “Zan Liu Xie” 贊劉諧 (Appraisal of Liu Xie), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1:358–359. Translation by Pauline C. Lee in BBBKH, 140.

30. Li Le, Jianwen zaji 1.2.13. Another contemporary, Zhang Han (ca. 1511–ca.1593), bemoaned that “the customs of the present age have reached an extreme of extravagance.” Zhang Han, “Ji fengsu” 風俗紀 (Record of customs), in Songchuang mengyu 7, 122. Translation in Clunas, “The Art of Social Climbing,” 370.

31. Fan Lian 范濂, “Ji Fengsu” 記風俗 (Recording customs), in Yunjian jumu chao 雲間據目抄 (Record of observations made in Yunjian) 2 [1593], in Biji xiaoshuo daguan 13:110–111. Translation modified from Ko’s in “Bondage in Time,” 204.

32. Hong Wenke 洪文科, “Dai jin zhi lan” 戴巾之濫 (Excesses of apparel), in Yu kui jin gu 語窺今古 (Glimpses of the past and present), cited in Wu Renshu, “Mingdai pingmin fushi,” 87. In Europe, this scheme was more than a mere pipedream. In France actual “investigations into nobility” (recherches de noblesse) were occasionally conducted, in which officials required families to prove their noble status before being allowed to partake of luxury items restricted by sumptuary laws. In Italy municipalities appointed prosecutors to press charges against people who offended against sumptuary laws. Moyer, “Sumptuary Laws,” 68; Hughes, “Sumptuary Law,” 96.

33. Li Zhi, “Zhongyi Shuihu zhuan xu” 忠義水滸傳序 (Preface to The Loyal and Righteous Outlaws of the Marsh), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1:301–304. Compare Huiying Chen and Drew Dixon’s translation in BBBKH, 126.

34. Xingshi yinyuan zhuan 1.26.277–283, translated in Liu Xiaoyi, “Clothing, Food, and Travel,” 108–109.

35. Hunt, Governance of the Consuming Passions, 121.

36. “Il est malaisé de distinguer les nobles, d’autant que toute façon de gens portent leurs bonnets de velours, et tous des épées au côté.” Montaigne, Journal de Voyage, 125.

37. Stefano Guazzo, Civil Conversation (1586), cited and translated in Clunas, Superfluous Things, 50–51.

38. Stubbes, The Anatomie of Abuses, 71. Other instances of the difficulty of determining who is who in Renaissance Europe are recorded in Groebner, “Describing the Person,” and Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre.

39. de Santa María, República y policía christiana, 200. See also de Santa María, Policie Unveiled, 364–365.

40. “L’habit ne faict poinct le moine.” Rabelais, Gargantua, in Oeuvres completes, 39. Similarly, Shakespeare’s Queen Katherine in The Life of King Henry the Eighth comments that “all Hoods make not Monks” (III, i, 57).

41. For a discussion of soldiers’ costumes in this period, see Yuan Zujie, “Dressing for Power,” 198.

42. Wilson, The World in Venice, 102.

43. Jones and Stallybrass, Renaissance Clothing, 2.

44. Jonson, Timber, in The Works of Ben Jonson, 8.593.

45. Correspondences between verbal and sartorial signs have also been explored by modern, Western critics. See for instance, Lurie, The Language of Clothes; Barthes, Système de la mode; Hollander, Seeing through Clothes.

46. Li Zhi, “Yu Yang Dingjian” 與楊定見 (To Yang Dingjian), in Fenshu 2, LZQJZ 1.157–158. Liu Tong and Yu Yizheng, “Li Zhuowu mu” 李卓吾墓 (Li Zhuowu’s grave), in Dijing jingwulue, 367. During the Ming dynasty, this square headdress was worn by Confucian scholars who had not yet attained the rank of jinshi.

47. Bai Yinchang 白胤昌, “Li Zhuowu” 李卓吾, in Rong’anzhai sutan 容安齋酥譚 (Relaxed chats at Rong’an Studio), 10, cited in LZYJCKZL 2.171.

Although the majority of biographies of Li Zhi that I have examined agree that Li habitually clad himself in Confucian robes, some sources shed doubt on these claims. Yuan Zhongdao, for instance, reports that “those who spread malicious rumors contend[ed] that [Li Zhi], after shaving off his hair … , still wore the official cap.” He concludes by asking rhetorically, “Is this possible?” Yuan Zhongdao, “Li Wenling zhuan” 李溫陵傳 (Biography of Li Wenling), in Kexuezhai ji 17, 2:725. Translation by Haun Saussy in BBBKH, 333.

Additionally, the Qing scholar Peng Shaosheng (1740–1796) avowed that Li “cut his hair and abandoned the Confucian hat and garb.” However, Peng adds that when visitors came to the monastery and accused Li of “acting eccentrically and misleading the masses,” Li replied, “I am indeed an eccentric, so it is permissible for me to wear a Confucian hat!” This account is corroborated almost verbatim by Wu Yu (1872–1949), who noted that after shaving his head Li “immediately donned his former robes.” Peng Shaosheng, “Li Zhuowu zhuan” 李卓吾傳 (Biography of Li Zhuowu), in Jushi zhuan 2:43; Wu Yu, “Ming Li Zhuowu biezhuan” 明李卓吾別傳 (Unofficial biography of Li Zhuowu of the Ming dynasty), in Wu Yu wenlu 2:25. Even if Li Zhi occasionally wore garments or headgear other than those appropriate for Confucian officials, it seems likely that much of the time he presented himself in Confucian attire.

48. He Jiaoyuan, “Chu de shang” 畜德上 (Accumulating virtue, part 1), in Min shu 152, cited in LZYJCKZL 1.23. He Jiaoyuan’s text seems to be unstable; the Siku quanshu edition replaces this cited phrase with the words “he shaved his hair and lived beyond the bounds of civilization, covering his bald head with a cornered hat [typically worn by recluses].” He Jiaoyuan, “Chu de shang” 畜德上 (Accumulating virtue, part 1), in Minshu 152.30a, in Siku quanshu cunmu congshu 207.737.

49. Wang Keshou, “Zhuowu laozi mubei” 卓吾老子墓碑 (Old Man Zhuowu’s grave stele), in Jifu tongzhi 166.25ab.

50. “Xiao jing” 孝經 (The book of filial piety), ch. 1.

51. Weikun Cheng, “Politics of the Queue,” 126–127. On the significance of hair in imperial China, see also Godley, “The End of the Queue.”

52. Billeter, Li Chih, 202.

53. Martín de Rada, “The Relation of Fr. Martín de Rada,” in Boxer, South China, 282. On a similar theme, see the remarks of Fr. Gaspar da Cruz, O.P., translated in Boxer, South China, 138. For analysis of these passages, see Godley, “The End of the Queue,” 55.

54. Olivelle, “Hair”; Obeyesekere, Medusa’s Hair, 39.

55. Li Zhi, “Jingangjing shuo” 金剛經說 (On The Diamond Sūtra), in Xu Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 3.214–217. Translation altered very slightly from Jennifer Eichman’s in BBBKH, 273–75.

56. Even some Chinese Buddhist texts, mimicking Confucian discourse, referred to head shaving in derogatory terms. For example, the verse chanted when the final tuft of hair was removed from a novice monk’s head during the initiation ceremony was referred to as hui xing jie 毀形偈 (The verse of disfigurement).

57. Li Zhi, “Da Zhou Erlu” 答周二魯 (Reply to Zhou Erlu), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.214.

58. Wang Keshou, “Zhuowu laozi mubei” 卓吾老子墓碑 (Old Man Zhuowu’s grave stele), in Jifu tongzhi 166.25a–b.

59. Geng’s presumption that Li Zhi was wearing Buddhist robes is recorded in a letter from Li Zhi to Geng. Li Zhi, “Da Geng Sikou” 答耿司寇 (Reply to Justice Minister Geng), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.74.

60. On the late Ming trend of literati “escaping into Chan,” see Wu Jiang, Enlightenment in Dispute, 100–101.

61. Geng, “You yu Zhou Liutang” 又與周柳塘 (Another letter to Zhou Liutang), letter 20, in Geng Tiantai xiansheng wenji 1.3.363.

62. Li Zhi, “Gankai pingsheng” 感慨平生 (Reflections on my life), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2.108–120. In this letter, Li Zhi refers to Deng Yingqi by his sobriquet, Dingshi. For a partial translation of this essay see that of Martin Huang in BBBKH, 185–189.

63. Wang Keshou, “Zhuowu laozi mubei” 卓吾老子墓碑 (Old Man Zhuowu’s grave stele), in Jifu tongzhi, 166.25a–b. Emphasis mine.

64. Xu Jianping provides a contrasting analysis of this scene. He argues that by the time this encounter between Wang and Li took place, Li had already renounced his “wild,” anti-authoritarian lifestyle and wholeheartedly embraced Confucianism. Xu’s interpretation, however, overlooks the fact that Li’s head remained shaved at the time. Xu Jianping, “‘Kuangguai’ he ‘yu shi wu zheng,’” 28.

65. One passage in which Li refers to himself as a monk appears in Li Zhi, “Lisong Yaoshi gaowen” 禮誦藥師告文 (A petition of worship and recitation to the Medicine Buddha), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2.38–39. Several other sources repeat the claim that Li Zhi “cut his hair and became a monk.” Wu Yu attributes this remark to Xie Zhaozhe in “Ming Li Zhuowu biezhuan” 明李卓吾別傳 (Unofficial biography of Li Zhuowu of the Ming dynasty), in Wu Yu wenlu 2, 36. Tang Xianzu also refers to Li as both a “bald monk” and a “bald bodhisattva.” Tang Xianzu, “Li Shi quanshu zongxu” 李氏全書總序 (Preface to Mr. Li’s complete works), cited in LZYJCKZL 2.109. See also Wu Yuancui (fl. 1595), Lin ju manlu, unpaginated edition. Qian Qianyi (1582–1664) refers to Li Zhi as “the bald gentleman” in “Song Ying heshang baoenshi caoxu” 松影和尚報恩詩草序 (Preface to the Monk Song Ying’s poem on repaying kindness), in Muzhai youxueji 2.21.884. Even Matteo Ricci remarked in his diary upon Li Zhi’s peculiar baldness. D’Elia, Fonti Ricciane, 2.66–67.

66. Ray Huang, 1587, 194, 197, 218. Additionally, Li’s behavior was sternly criticized by the eminent monk Zhuhong (1535–1616) in “Li Zhuowu er” 李卓吾二 (Li Zhuowu, second essay), in Zhuchuang sanbi 竹窗三筆 (Jottings by a bamboo window, third volume), cited in BBBKH, 181n2.

67. Ray Huang, 1587, 197. For discussions of Li Zhi’s vegetarianism, see Li Zhi, “Lisong Yaoshi jing bi gaowen” 禮誦藥師經畢告文 (A petition upon completion of worshipful recitation of The Medicine Master Sūtra), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2:41–42, and “Shu Xiaoxiu shoujuan hou” 書小修手卷後 (Written at the end of Xiaoxiu’s [a.k.a. Yuan Zhongdao’s] hand scroll), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 3:201–203. Both texts are translated by Jennifer Eichman in BBKH, 175–177 and 267–269.

68. I borrow the phrase “Confucian monk” from Cheng Pei-kai, “Reality and Imagination,” 205.

Over a century after Li’s death, another of his biographers, Peng Shaosheng, wrote, “The fact that the recluse [Li Zhi] left home and did not abide by [Buddhist] prohibitions is not especially peculiar; but that, on the contrary, he would dress in a Confucian hat and robe [did strike me as odd]. Was this some kind of a joke?! Surely something must have motivated him to act this way. But if so, I lack the insight to know what it was.” Peng Shaosheng, “Li Zhuowu zhuan” 李卓吾傳 (Biography of Li Zhuowu), in Jushi zhuan 2.43.

69. “Li Zhi zhuan” 李贄傳 (Biography of Li Zhi), in Quanzhoufu zhi 3.54.44.

70. He Jiaoyuan, “Chu de shang” 畜德上 (Accumulating virtue, part 1), in Min shu 152.30a.

71. “Wang zhi” 王制 (Royal regulations), in Liji 禮記 (Book of Rites) 5.

72. Li Zhi, “Yu Zhou Youshan shu” 與周友山書 (To Zhou Youshan), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.133.

73. In the letter, Li claims, “My willingness to correct my errors truly comes from the depths of my heart. In the past, I unwittingly went astray because of my craving to become a Buddha. I did not knowingly transgress. Since my misdeeds were committed inadvertently, in principle, I ought to be forgiven. And since I’m willing to correct my errors right away, I even deserve to be provided with a gift of food, not merely pardoned” (emphasis mine). The flagrant hyperbole signals that this passage should be read ironically. Ibid., LZQJZ 1.133.

74. It is not certain whether or not Li actually let his hair grow on this occasion. In a poem composed in 1596 he proclaims that there is “no hair upon my head” and another, written two years later, confirms, “For years now I have let my hair fall to the shaving razor,” yet a text from 1601 refers to the author’s “white hair.” See Li Zhi, “Du shu le” 讀書樂 (The pleasure of reading, with a prologue) (1596), in Fenshu 6; LZQJZ 2.241; “Yuan ri Jilesi dayuxue” 元日極樂寺大雨雪 (Heavy rain and snow at the Temple of Paradise on New Year’s Day) (1598), in Fenshu 6; LZQJZ 2.330; “Mituo si” 彌陀寺 (Amitabha Temple), in Xu Fenshu 5; LZQJZ 3.355. Timothy Billings and Yan Zinan’s translations of these poems appear in BBBKH, 211–214, 228, and 298.

75. Yuan Zhongdao, “Li Wenling zhuan” 李溫陵傳 (Biography of Li Wenling), in Kexuezhai ji 2.17.721.

76. “Li Zhi zhuan” 李贄傳 (Biography of Li Zhi), in Quanzhoufu zhi 3.54.44. This narrative is repeated almost verbatim in a Jiaqing-era (1796–1820) record of the Li family history. LZYJCKZL 1.180.

77. Liu Tong and Yu Yizheng, Dijing jingwulue, 367.

78. Wang Keshou, “Zhuowu laozi mubei” 卓吾老子墓碑 (Old Man Zhuowu’s grave stele), in Jifu tongzhi 166.25a–b.

79. Li Zhi, “Gankai pingsheng” 感慨平生 (Reflections on my life), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2.110.

80. Ibid. In another letter, written to Liu Dongxing in 1590, Li reiterates that “shaving one’s head is not easy.” Li Zhi, “Da Liu Xianzhang” 答劉憲長 (Reply to District Chief Liu), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.61.

81. Li Zhi, “Gankai pingsheng” 感慨平生 (Reflections on my life), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2.110.

82. Li Zhi’s aspiration to free himself from social responsibilities is especially evident in his decision to present himself to Zhou Yi, the magistrate of Macheng, as a “sojourner-traveler,” the understanding being that “sojourners” incurred no social obligations. Ibid., 109. In a separate letter to Zhou Yi, Li describes the dispute between himself and Geng Dingxiang, saying, “I resolved to shave my hair [because] by fleeing to the depths of the mountains, I wanted to avoid competing with people of the world.… How could several strands of hair suffice to prevent me from meeting with the disapprobation of the masses?” Li Zhi, “Da Zhou Erlu” 答周二魯 (Reply to Zhou Erlu), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.214.

83. Li Zhi, “Yu Zeng Jiquan” 與曾繼泉 (To Zeng Jiquan), in Xu Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 3.149.

84. Ray Huang estimates that when Li returned to his home district to mourn his father’s death in the 1550s, he was obliged to take care of and feed over thirty relatives, even though he lacked the financial resources to do so. Huang, 1587, 192.

85. Li Zhi, “Ti fa” 薙髮 (On shaving my head), in Fenshu 6; LZQJZ 2.260. See also “Chutanji xu” 初潭集序 (Preface to Upon Arrival at the Lake), in Chutanji; LZQJZ 12.1.

CHAPTER 4

1. In invoking the comparison with Europe, one must proceed with caution, for each European country faced unique economic challenges. Economic and numismatic conditions even varied within countries due to imperfect channels of communication and transportation. Thus even the economic landscapes of the most highly developed coastal cities in China and Europe never perfectly mirrored one another.

2. The same source claims that Li may have been responsible for some of his own financial woes, since although he “took seriously every coin he earned, he also gave away vast sums as if they were grass.” Jiao, “Hongfu shu gaoshang ce hou” 宏甫書高尚冊後 (Written at the end of Li Zhi’s composition on loftiness), in Jiao shi bisheng 2.29b.

3. Li Zhi, “Zhuowu lunlue Dianzhong zuo” 卓吾論略，滇中作 (A sketch of Zhuowu, written in Yunnan), in Fenshu 3: LZQJZ 1.233–242.

4. Li Zhi, “Ziyou jie Lao xu” 子由解老序 (Preface to Su Che’s explication of Laozi), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.305–307.

5. Hawkes, “Exchange Value and Empiricism,” 79.

6. Fischer, Econolingua, 28.

7. For examples, see Fiero, “When the Coin Is Madness”; Wenzel, Changing Notions; Carey, “Donne and Coins”; Desan, Les Commerces de Montaigne; Woodbridge, Money and the Age of Shakespeare.

8. Doty, “Money” 42.

9. The theoretical literature on the correspondence between the semiotic systems of money and language is extensive. See, among other sources, Gray, “Buying into Signs”; Marx, Capital; Shell, The Economy of Literature; Heinzelman, The Economics of Imagination; Goux, Freud, Marx; Woodmansee and Osteen, The New Economic Criticism; Derrida, “White Mythology”; Hoey, “The Name on the Coin.” Earlier Western authors who have commented upon this analogy include Quintilian, Ovid, Nietzsche, Lessing, and Leibniz, among many others.

10. Braudel, The Wheels of Commerce, 196. For extensive information on the varieties of money circulating in early sixteenth-century Europe, see Munro, “Money and Coinage.” On the situation in France, see also Desan, L’Imaginaire économique, 40–52. On the situation in England, see Fischer, Econolingua, 23.

11. Wenzel, Changing Notions, 40.

12. Abbé Tollemer, Journal Manuscrit d’un Sire de Gouberville et du Mesnil-au-Val Gentilhomme campagnard, au Cotentin, de 1553 à 1562 (1897), republished as Analyse par l’abbé Tollemer du Journal Manuscrit d’un Sire de Gouberville, 45–46. On Shakespeare’s familiarity with foreign coins, see Sternlicht, “Shakespeare and Renaissance Coinage.” Like Shakespeare’s poetry, John Donne’s abounds in evidence of his familiarity with many varieties of coins. Carey, “Donne and Coins.” The accounts Montaigne kept during his travels likewise record his fluency with large numbers of foreign coins. Nakam, Les Essais de Montaigne, 50.

13. Ray Huang, Taxation and Governmental Finance.

14. Peng Xinwei, Zhongguo huobishi, 660–661. Primary sources that attest to this include Ye Mengzhu 葉夢珠 (b. ca. 1623), “Qianfa” 錢法 (Monetary laws), in Congshu jicheng xubian 50.537–538.

15. Dong, “Ban’er” 板儿 (Boards), in Bili zacun 碧裡雜存 1.58.

16. Hamilton, “American Treasure,” 35. See also Braudel, The Structures of Everyday Life, 459–460; Bodin, Response to Paradoxes, 16.

17. Von Glahn, Fountain of Fortune, 88, 99; Peng Xinwei, Zhongguo huobishi, 678–679.

18. Gu Yanwu, “Qianfa zhi bian” 錢法之變 (Changes to monetary laws) in Rizhi lu 2.11.664.

19. On the origins of international commerce in this period, see Von Glahn, Fountain of Fortune; Geiss, “Peking under the Ming”; Flynn and Giráldez, “Born with a ‘Silver Spoon.’”

20. Brook, Vermeer’s Hat, 160. On the types of foreign coins circulating in China in this period, see Peng Xinwei, Zhongguo huobishi, 661–663.

21. In England Henry VIII carried out the Great Debasement in the 1550s; in France, Henri III debased the national currency in 1577; and in Spain, Philip III debased the currency in 1602. The Spanish debasement was so radical that, in the words of one scholar, it removed “the last vestiges of intrinsic value” from the currency. Fiero, “When the Coin Is Madness,” 95–96. See also Glassman and Redish, “Currency Depreciation”; Potter, “Images of Majesty.”

22. Boyer-Xambeu et al., Private Money, 58–62. In France, the “naturalization” of foreign currencies ended with the major monetary reforms of 1577. Levasseur, Histoire du commerce, 225–226.

23. For a discussion of this image in the context of the expanding world trade in this period, see Brook’s chapter on “weighing silver” in Vermeer’s Hat. Other examples of early modern European pictorial representations of economic transactions or weighing money include Moneylender and His Wife by Quentin Metsys (1466–1530), The Money Changer and His Wife by Marinus van Reymerswaele (1490–1546), The Moneylender by Gerrit Dou (1613–1675), and Interior with a Woman Weighing Gold Coin by Pieter de Hooch (1629–1684).

24. P. de las Cortes, Relación del viaje naufragio y captiverio … (1621–1626), mentioned in Braudel, The Structures of Everyday Life, 454.

25. References to weighing silver abound in Chinese literature of the period. Some examples are Xingshi yinyuan zhuan ch. 1. A relevant passage from this chapter is translated into English in Von Glahn, Fountain of Fortune, 170. Feng Menglong’s “Maiyoulang du zhan huakui” 賣油郎獨占花魁, in Xingshi hengyan 3, which appears in Yushi mingyan, jingshi tongyan, xingshi hengyan, 18–42, translated by Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang as “The Oil-Peddler Wins the Queen of Flowers” in Feng, Stories to Awaken the World, 38–77. See also Feng Menglong, “Du Shiniang nuchen baibao-xiang” 杜十娘怒沉百寶箱, in Jingshi tongyan 32, in Yushi mingyan, jingshi tongyan, xingshi hengyan, 278–288, translated by Shuihui Yang and Yunqin Yang as “Du Shiniang Sinks Her Jewel Box in Anger,” in Feng, Stories to Caution the World, 547–565. See also Li Yu’s 李玉 opera Wan li yuan 萬里圓 (Thousand-mile reunion), in which silver is not only measured out as payment, but its quality is also tested by biting. Li yu xiqu ji, 3.1623. I am thankful to Paize Keulemans for bringing this reference to my attention. For analysis of the role of silver in Chinese literature of this period, see Ma Ning, The Age of Silver.

26. This analysis accords with the etymology of the Greek word for money, nomisma, from the root nomos, meaning “law”: in a smoothly functioning economy, the value of money is regulated by law. McKeon, Introduction to Aristotle, 409. Other European monetary theorists who elaborated on this idea are Girolamo Butigella (1470–15151), François Hotman (1524–1590), René Budel (1530–1591), Jakob Bornitz (1560–1625), and Geminiano Montanari (1633–1687).

27. Jin Xueyan, “Jin Shao zai zoushu” 靳少宰奏疏 (Memorial submitted by Governor Jin Shao), in Ming jingshi wenbian 299, cited in Xiao, Gudai huobi sixiangshi, 267.

28. Von Glahn, Fountain of Fortune, 110–111, 149–151.

29. Gao Gong, “Muzong” 穆宗, in Ming shilu 44.6b–7b, cited and translated in Von Glahn, Fountain of Fortune, 112.

30. Liu Yingqiu 劉應秋 (1547–1620), “Yu da situ Shi Dongquan shu” 與大司徒石東泉書” (Letter to the grand minister of education, Shi Dongquan), in Chen Zilong, ed., Liu Wenjie gong ji 劉文節公集, in [Huang] Ming jingshi wenbian 6.4716. Translation modified from Von Glahn, Fountain of Fortune, 153–154.

31. On the Price Revolution, see Fisher, “The Price Revolution.”

32. Ye Mengzhu (b. ca.1623), “Shihuo yi” 食貨一 (Food and commodities, part 1), in Congshu jicheng xubian 50.530.

33. Gu Yanwu, “She xian fengtu lun” 歙縣風土論 (On the local customs of She county), in Tianxia junguo libingshu 2.9.712. Translation modified from Peterson, The Bitter Gourd, 70. Accounts from contemporary France outline similar misfortunes after the monetary debasement of 1577. Families went bankrupt; some starved. Nakam, Les Essais de Montaigne, 32–33.

34. Li Zhi, “Fu Deng Dingshi” 復鄧鼎石 (Reply to Deng Dingshi), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.123.

35. Li Zhi, “Zhuowu lunlue Dianzhong zuo” 卓吾論略滇中作 (A Sketch of Zhuowu, written in Yunnan), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1:234. Translation by Pauline C. Lee in BBBKH, 79. In another essay, Li singles out for praise a merchant who “does not vary the price of oil [based on the customer to whom he is selling].” That Li deemed such behavior worthy of comment indicates how prevalent price gouging had become. Li Zhi, “Li sheng shi jiao wen” 李生十交文 (Mr. Li’s Ten Kinds of Association), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.354.

36. Li Zhi, “Shu Jin Chuan Weng shoujuan hou” 書晉川翁壽卷後 (Written to Old Mr. Jin Chuan at the end of the volume in honor of his birthday), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1:180.

37. Li Zhi, “Fuguo mingchen zonglun” 富國名臣總論 (Preface to “Famous ministers who enriched the country”), in Cangshu 17; LZQJZ 5.386.

38. Li Zhi, “Liu Yan, miao ren” 劉晏, 妙人 (Liu Yan, extraordinary individual), in Cangshu 17; LZQJZ 5.396.

39. Several decades later, as economic woes continued unabated, Gu Yanwu spoke in similar terms, nostalgically describing a mythic, prehistoric society in which wealth was measured in staple goods like grain and cloth, commodities whose value, Gu naïvely asserted, was immune to fluctuation. Gu Yanwu, “Qian liang lun shang” 錢糧論上 (Discourse on money and grain, part 1), in Gu Yanwu shiwen xuanyi, 181.

40. Li Zhi, “Da Liu Fangbo shu” 答劉方伯書 (A letter in reply to Provincial Officer Liu), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.131. The letter, composed in 1591, is addressed to Liu Dongxing, an imperial censor whose biography is recorded in the Ming dynastic history. A close friend of Li’s, and the recipient of several pieces included in A Book to Burn, Liu Dongxing composed prefaces for Li’s Book to Keep (Hidden) and Dao gu lu 道古錄 (Record of the antiquity of the Dao), also known as Ming deng dao gulu 明燈道古錄 (Record of the bright lamp of the antiquity of the Dao).

41. Verbal sleights of hand like this abound in Li’s writings. A similar example may be found in Li’s ironic use of the term renzhe 仁者, “benevolent people,” in his letter “Da Geng zhongcheng” 答耿中丞 (Reply to Censor Geng), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.41.

42. Li Zhi, “Yu Jiao Ruohou” 與焦弱侯 (To Jiao Ruohou), in Fenshu 2, LZQJZ 1.152–153. Similar observations about the instability of personal identity over time may be found in the writings of the painter and playwright Xu Wei, who inscribed the following statement on a portrait of himself: “I was born fat but by the time I was capped I had become so emaciated that I could no longer bear the weight of the clothes I was dressed in. By the age of thirty, I had again gradually grown fat. I had already passed my fiftieth year by the time the idiotic figure you see depicted here was drawn. Yet who can say that this idiotic figure of the present will not again become as emaciated as before, like the drying up of a mountain marsh? To seek me out by means of this portrait would be akin to marking the side of the boat at the place where the sword fell into the stream.” Campbell, “Madman or Genius,” 206.

43. Li Zhi, “Chutanji xu” 初潭集序 (Preface to Upon Arrival at the Lake), in Chutanji; LZQJZ 12.1. Emphasis mine.

44. Xu Jianping makes a similar point in his “‘Kuangguai’ he ‘yu shi wu zheng,’” 27.

45. Potter, “Images of Majesty,” 70.

46. “Plusieurs personnes indifféremment prennent et allouent les monnayes d’or et d’argent, tant du coing de France qu’estrangères.” Cri des monnaies of 1554, cited in Levasseur, Histoire du commerce, 223.

47. Counterfeiting was officially prohibited in England in 1615 and 1618, and even the importation of counterfeit money was outlawed in 1625. Sargent and Velde, The Big Problem, 265.

48. Bruce Rusk’s study of the shape of silver taels provides an insightful analysis of techniques used for assaying silver in the late Ming. Rusk, “Silver, Liquid and Solid.”

49. Xie Zhaozhe, “Wubu si” 物部四 (Objects, part 4), in Wuzazu 2.357.

50. Counterfeiting of identity, social class, and gender all pervade late Ming fiction and drama. Analyses of the subject of monetary counterfeiting in early seventeenth-century British literature include Forman, “Material Dispossession” and Nugent, “Usury and Counterfeiting.”

51. The penalty for counterfeiting paper currency was beheading. For privately casting copper coins, the punishment was strangulation. Clipping or grinding copper coins as well as counterfeiting silver or gold coins was punishable by beating. Jiang Yonglin, articles 382–383 of The Great Ming Code, 210–212.

52. Von Glahn, Fountain of Fortune, 97.

53. Ibid., 86. Albert Chan, The Glory and Fall, 283. A similar situation is known to have arisen in 1561, when Eloi Mestrell, who had previously worked at a mint in Paris, moved to England, where he manufactured counterfeit money for eleven years before he was hanged for his crime. Carey, “Donne and Coins” 152n4.

54. Li Zhi, “Pengyou pian” 朋友篇 (On friendship), in Fenshu 5; LZQJZ 2.227–228.

55. Ibid., LZQJZ 2.227.

56. Li Zhi, “Yu Jiao Ruohou” 與焦弱候 (To Jiao Ruohou), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.153.

57. Li Zhi, “Pengyou pian” 朋友篇 (On friendship), in Fenshu 5; LZQJZ 2.227; Mengzi (Mencius), 1A1.

58. Student Huang has been identified as Huang Kehui (1524–1590). Li’s decision to suppress Huang’s given name and accentuate instead his status as a self-proclaimed student supports the idea that Li regarded Huang as representative of the phony Confucian “scholars” so numerous in his day. LZQJZ 1.121n9; Chen Cunguang, “Li Zhi feiyi ‘shanren,’” 315; Lin Haiquan, Li Zhi nianpu, 217–218.

59. Li Zhi, “You yu Jiao Ruohou” 又與焦弱侯 (Another letter to Jiao Ruohou), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.119. For an alternative translation of this passage, see de Bary, “Individualism and Humanitarianism,” 205.

60. Ray Huang, 1587, 194; Chow, “An Avatar.” Jiao Hong explicitly denies this claim, stating that “throughout his life, Li Zhi was never willing to borrow from others.” However, this assertion seems to have been motivated more by Jiao’s desire to defend Li’s reputation than by strict adherence to facts. Jiao, “Hongfu shu gaoshang ce hou” 宏甫書高尚冊後 (Written at the end of Li Zhi’s composition on loftiness), in Jiao shi bisheng 2.29a–b.

61. Analects 8.13.

62. For discussions of the late-Ming discourse on “mountain men” see Chen Wanyi, Wanming xiaopin, 43–59, 88; Hung, The Romantic Vision, 62; de Bary, “Individualism and Humanitarianism,” 205; Cahill, The Compelling Image, 137; Wai-yee Li, “The Collector,” 284; Park, Art by the Book, 22–24; Chen Cunguang, “Li Zhi fei yi ‘shanren’”; Luo, “From Imperial City to Cosmopolitan Metropolis,” 109–110.

63. Shen Defu’s Wanli yehuo bian devotes several chapters to mountain men 23.584–587).

64. Li Zhi, “You yu Jiao Ruohou” 又與焦弱候 (Another letter to Jiao Ruohou), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.119.

65. Ibid., emphasis mine.

66. Li Zhi, “Gao jie shuo” 高潔說 (On loftiness and cleanliness), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.294–295; Li Zhi, “Ji jing you shu” 寄京友書 (Letter to a friend in the capital), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.171.

67. Li Zhi, “Da youren shu” 答友人書 (Reply to a friend’s letter), in Fenshu 2, LZQJZ 1.143.

68. Doty, “Money” 42.

69. Li Zhi, “Gao jie shuo” 高潔說 (On loftiness and cleanliness), in Fenshu 3, LZQJZ 1.295.

70. This is an allusion to Zhuangzi’s comments on men exiled to the far southern region of Yue: “A few days after they have left their homelands, they are delighted if they come across an old acquaintance. When a few weeks or a month have passed, they are delighted if they come across someone they had known by sight when they were at home. By the time a year has passed, they are delighted if they come across someone who even looks as though he might be a countryman.” Zhuangzi, “Xu wu gui” 徐無鬼, in Zhuangzi duben 24; Zhuangzi, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, 262.

71. Li Zhi, “Gao jie shuo” 高潔說 (On loftiness and cleanliness), in Fenshu, 3; LZQJZ 1.294–295.

72. Li Zhi, “Li xiansheng shi jiao wen” 李先生十交文 (On Mr. Li’s ten kinds of association), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.355.

73. Li Zhi, “Gao jie shuo” 高潔說 (On loftiness and cleanliness), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.294.

74. Ibid.

75. Li Zhi, “Li sheng shi jiao wen” 李先生十交文 (On Mr. Li’s ten kinds of association), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.354.

76. Li Zhi, “Wu si pian” 五死篇 (On five types of death), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2.69. For more detailed analysis of this passage, see Martin Huang, “The Perils of Friendship.”

CHAPTER 5

1. Chia, “Three Mountains Street,” 112. For more explicit comparisons of European and Chinese print culture see Brokaw, “On the History of the Book”; Blair, Too Much to Know. On printing practices in this period and their influence in Europe, see Eisenstein, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change; Febvre, L’Apparition du livre; Chartier, L’Ordre des livres; Pallier, Recherches sur l’imprimerie; Martin, Livre, pouvoirs et société.

2. Xiuranzi 修髯子, “Sanguozhi tongsu yanyi (jielu)” 三國志通俗演義 (節錄) (The romance of the three kingdoms [excerpts])] (1522), cited and translated in McLaren, “Constructing New Reading Publics,” 159.

3. Erasmus, “Festina lente/Make haste slowly,” in The Adages II, i.1, 145.

4. Sanchez, Quod nihil scitur, cited and translated in Blair, Too Much to Know, 57.

5. Yang Yucheng, “Qimeng yu baoli,” 911.

6. Roughly speaking, Gournay’s prefaces may be divided into two kinds: the long preface, which extends over fifty pages and which appeared in the editions of 1595, 1625, and 1635, and the short preface, a mere half-page in length, which replaced the longer preface in the editions of 1598, 1600, 1602, 1604, and 1611. Since discrepancies exist among the various versions of the long preface, I concentrate on the first (1595) edition, in which Gournay, as a woman and a first-time editor, had the most at stake in establishing the reliability of her text. This version makes the strongest bid for the book’s authenticity. Gournay, Oeuvres, 1.273. On the history and interpretation of Gournay’s preface, see Desan, Montaigne dans tous ses états, 193–216; Bau-schatz, “Marie de Gournay’s ‘Préface’”; Boase, The Fortunes of Montaigne, 52.

7. The Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci remarked in his diary upon “the exceedingly large numbers of books in circulation [in China] and the ridiculously low prices at which they are sold,” as well as upon the differences in techniques of book printing in China and Europe. Ricci, China in the Sixteenth Century, 21. Some books could be obtained for the price of several winter melons. Greenbaum, Chen Jiru, 64. This calculation is based on appendices 3 and 4 in Chow, Publishing, Culture and Power, 260–263. For more detailed information on book prices in this period, see Dennis, Writing, Publishing, and Reading, ch. 5.

8. Cynthia Brokaw has argued that the reading public expanded more quickly in China than in Europe. One reason for this was that Chinese parents, eager for their sons to succeed on the examinations, were willing to invest in their education; this phenomenon had no direct corollary in Europe. Brokaw, “On the History of the Book,” 11. On the expanding readership in China in this period, see McLaren, “Constructing New Reading Publics.” On the growth of reading publics in Europe in this period, see Chartier, “Publishing Strategies,” 149–159.

9. Ye Sheng, “Xiaoshuo xiwen” 小說戲文 (Novels and plays), in Shuidong riji 21.21a–b.

10. Meskill, Ch’oe Pu’s Diary, 155.

11. McLaren, “Constructing New Reading Publics,” 160.

12. Erasmus, Paraclesis, in Olin, Christian Humanism, 96–97.

13. Grendler, “Printing and Censorship,” 25–26.

14. Rosenthal and Jones, The Clothing of the Renaissance World, 11.

15. Grendler, “Printing and Censorship,” 28.

16. Ming printing is often classified in three types: official printing (guan ke), commercial printing (fang ke), and private printing (si ke or jia ke). Chia, Printing for Profit.

17. K. T. Wu, “Ming Printing and Printers,” 229.

18. Ling Mengchu, Feng Menglong, and other notable literati also cited errors in slipshod editions of musical and dramatic texts. Zeitlin, “Between Performance, Manuscript, and Print,” 274. However, the phenomenon of printers’ mistakes was not unique to the Ming. Plenty of Song dynasty scholars also expressed frustration about typographical errors. For examples, see Cherniack, “Book Culture,” 47–51; Wagner, “Twice Removed from the Truth,” 36–37.

19. Xie Zhaozhe, “Shibu yi” 事部一 (Matters, part 1), in Wuzazu, 1.381. On the Jianyang printing business, see Chia, Printing for Profit.

20. Shen Zijin, “Ouzuo: Qiexiao cike sha fengjing shi” 偶作：竊笑詞客煞風景事 (An occasional piece: Laughing at a poet’s overkill), in Shen Zijin ji 203. For a complete translation of the lyric in which this line appears, see Zeitlin, “Between Performance, Manuscript, and Print,” 264.

21. Lu Xinyuan 陸心源, “Yigutang tiba” 儀顧堂提拔 (Colophon on the Hall for Gazing Appropriately), cited and translated in He Yuming, Home and the World, 2n2.

22. “Tu excuseras les fautes de l’Imprimeur: car tous les yeux d’Argus ny verroient assez clair.” Ronsard, Les Quatre Premiers Livres de la Franciade, cited in Hoffmann, Montaigne’s Career, 87–88n10. See also Rigolot, “The Renaissance Fascination with Error.”

23. “Autant qu’il y aura d’ancre et de papier au monde.” Montaigne, “De la Vanité” 3: 9, in Les Essays, 946. See also Montaigne, “On Vanity” in The Complete Essays of Montaigne, 721. Although Montaigne stated that he only added to his essays and never deleted from them, this was not, in fact, the case.

24. Bacon, The Essays, 55.

25. “Cinquiesme edition augmentée d’un troisieme liure et de six cens additions aux deux premiers.” Desan, Montaigne in Print, 41.

26. “Edition nouvellement prise sur l’exemplaire trouué apres le deceds de l’Autheur, reueu & augmenté d’un tiers outre les precedentes impreßions.” Ibid., 51.

27. According to the Qing literatus Zhang Fang, “In the mid-Ming, the regulations were clear and enforced; the official style was unified; most books were printed and circulated by the Bureau of Rites.” Huike Tang Song miben shu lunlüe 徽刻唐宋秘本書論略 (Overview of Tang and Song dynasty rare books printed in Huizhou), cited in Miao Yonghe, Mingdai chubanshi, 401.

28. Brokaw, “On the History of the Book,” 18; Alford, To Steal a Book, 13–19; Chow, “Writing for Success,” 135; Hok-lam Chan, Control of Publishing, 23.

29. Son, “Writing for Print.” See also Brook, The Confusions of Pleasure, 170.

30. Li Zhi, “Da Jiao Yiyuan” 答焦漪園 (Reply to Jiao Yiyuan), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.17.

31. Li Zhi, “Shizi xu zhi xu” 釋子須知序 (Preface on what a Buddhist ought to know), in Xu Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 3.168. These comments were repeated nearly verbatim by the literatus Zhang Dafu (1554–1630), who affirmed that Li’s “brush was always moist and his ink stone always wet.” Zhang Dafu, “Bu ke yi” 不可已 (Unstoppable), in Meihua caotang ji 10.12.

32. Li Zhi, “Laoren xing xu” 老人行序 (Preface to The Actions of an Old Man), in Xu Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 3.177. From the perspective of hindsight, the word jin 禁 takes on an ironic meaning since it means “stop” but also “ban.” Li Zhi’s books were banned in 1602 and again in 1625.

33. Many of Li Zhi’s letters mention sending manuscripts to friends and seeking their comments and suggestions. On the widespread practice of circulating manuscript letters in late Ming China, see Brook, “The Public of Letters.”

34. He Yuming, Home and the World, 7; Brokaw, “On the History of the Book,” 19.

35. Ma Jinglun, “Yu Li Linye dujian zhuan shang Xiao sikou” 與李麟野都諫轉上蕭司寇 (To Minister of Justice Xiao, care of Capital Censor Li Linye), in Li Wenling waiji 281–282.

36. Zhang Chao, Chidu oucun 尺牘偶存 (Letters that happen to have been preserved), 11.12b, cited and translated in Son, “Between Writing and Publishing Letters,” 889–890. Additionally, some contemporary artists are reported to have viewed the unauthorized reproduction of their paintings with equanimity. When someone informed the popular painter Shen Zhou (1427–1509) that his works were being widely forged, Shen allegedly replied, “If my poems and paintings, which are only small efforts to me, should prove to be of some aid to the forgers, why should I hold a grudge?” Zhu Yunming 祝允明, Ji Shitian xiansheng hua 記石田先生畫 (A record of the paintings of the Gentleman of the Stony Field), 8r, cited in Fong, “The Problem of Forgeries,” 100. I have slightly altered Fong’s translation.

37. Jardine, Worldly Goods, 155–156. He did, however grouse about pervasive typos. Hoffmann, Montaigne’s Career, 85.

38. See the instructions for the printer in the Edition de Bordeaux. Philippe Desan, private communication, April 30, 2009.

39. Lang Ying, “Shuce” 書冊 (Volumes), in Qixiu leigao 45.664–665. My translation here differs only slightly from Ding Naifei’s in Obscene Things, 53.

40. Zhang Nai, “Du Zhuowu laozi shu shu” 讀卓吾老子書述 (Upon reading Old Zhuowu’s writings), in Li Zhi, Xu Fenshu; LZQJZ 3.420.

41. Yuan Zhongdao, “Da Yuan Wuyai” 答袁無涯 (Response to Yuan Wuyai), in Kexuezhai ji 3.24.1041.

42. Similar acts of literary piracy, albeit using different forms of technology, can be traced as far back as ancient Rome. White, “Bookshops.”

43. Jardine, Worldly Goods, 158; Head, The English Rogue, ch. 23, 205. See also Johns, The Nature of the Book, ch. 2.

44. Yuan Zhongdao, “Da Yuan Wuyai” 答袁無涯 (Reply to Yuan Wuya), in Kexuezhai ji 3.24.1041.

45. Ding, Obscene Things, 55. On the fiction and drama commentaries attributed to Li Zhi, see Rolston, Traditional Chinese Fiction, 31–33; Rolston, How to Read, 356–363; Plaks, Four Masterworks, 513–517; Lin Yaling, “Ye Zhou xiaoshuo pingdian xilun”; Guo Lixuan, “Lun Liu Xingxi kanben ‘Li Zhuowu xiansheng piping Xixiangji.’” Wu Yinghui’s manuscript in progress “Books in Pairs” and Robert Hegel’s essay “Performing Li Zhi” provide compelling interpretations of these forged commentaries.

46. On the forgeries of the “Li Zhi” commentaries on Shuihu zhuan 水滸傳 (Outlaws of the marsh), see Irwin, The Evolution of a Chinese Novel, 79–80.

47. Chow, Publishing, Culture, and Power, 139–142.

48. Within a decade, Yu Xiangdou sold the book Gujin lishi dafang jian bu 古今歷史大方鑒補 (Mirror and supplement to general principles of ancient and modern history) under the names of Li Tingji, Ji Cheng, and Yuan Huang. Ironically, however, Yu complained bitterly when his own writings were “[re]printed by people hunting for profit.” Wu Yuantai 吳原泰, Dongyouji, ba-xian zhuan yin 東遊記、八仙傳引 (Preface to Journey to the East and Biography of Eight Immortals), cited in Miao Yonghe, Mingdai chubanshi, 404.

49. Greenbaum, Chen Jiru, 203.

50. Rusk, “The Rogue Classicist,” 34, 271. See also Wang Fansen, “Ming-dai houqi de weizao”; Rusk, “Artifacts of Authentication,” 180–181.

51. Yang Chenbin, “Tan Mingdai shuhua zuowei”; Yang Xin, “Shangpin jingji”; Laing, “Suzhou Pian and Other Dubious Paintings”; Fong, “The Problem of Forgeries.”

52. Bentley, “Authenticity in a New Key,” 40.

53. Clunas, Pictures and Visuality, 33. Elsewhere Clunas avers, however, that books clearly “formed part of the cocoon of material possessions which were one of the defining marks of élite status.” Clunas, “Books and Things,” 136.

54. Egan, “On the Circulation of Books,” 10. Timothy Brook estimates that the largest private library in the mid-Ming may have belonged to Ge Jian, who owned ten thousand titles, not ten thousand fascicles. Brook, The Confusions of Pleasure, 169. See also Wu Han, Jiang Zhe cangshujia, 205.

55. Li Zhi, “Da Zhi dui yu” 大智對雨 (Watching the rain with Da Zhi), in Xu Fenshu 5; LZQJZ 3.398.

56. Martin, The French Book, 57–58. Peraita, “Marginalizing Quevedo,” 39.

57. Hu Yinglin, “Jingji huitong” 經籍會通 (Classics condensed), in Shao-shi shanfang bicong 4.46. For further discussion of late-Ming book collecting, see Rusk, “The Rogue Classicist,” 117–128.

58. Chen Baoliang and Wang Xi, Zhongguo fengsu tongshi, 482.

59. “Multitudo voluminum facilitatem inveniendi aufert … his inspice quos libros tibi emere habeas; Bibliopola, quam listam empturo dare, quo sub ordine imprimere libros atque compaginare.” Nevizzano, Inventarium librorum in utroque iure hactenus impressorum (1522), cited and translated in Balsamo, Bibliography, 31. On the care with which early modern European readers assembled their personal libraries, see De Smet, Les Humanistes et leur bibliothèque.

60. Wu hu laoren, “Zhongyi Shuihu quan zhuan xu” 忠義水滸全傳序 (Preface to The Complete Loyal and Righteous Outlaws of the Marsh), in Ma Tiji, Shuihu ziliao huibian, 9. Translation modified from that of Ding in Obscene Things, 62.

61. Grafton, Forgers and Critics, 31.

62. “Non enim eruditis solum sed quibuslibet hunc Indicem collegimus, ut etiam rudes inde tamquam a praeceptore muto de authoritate utilitateque singulorum librorum, et contra, admoneantur.” Gesner, Bibliotheca universalis, sive Catalogus omnium scriptorum locupletissimus, in tribus linguis, Latina, Graeca et Hebraica: extantium et non extantium, veterum et recentiorum in hunc usque diem, doctorum et indoctorum, publicatorum et in Bibliothecis latentium … (1545), cited and translated in Balsamo, Bibliography, 36. Of course, despite Gesner’s rhetoric concerning the usefulness of his book to readers of all kinds, his massive compilation and the ones mentioned below were probably priced well beyond the means of all but the wealthiest bibliophiles.

63. “Plusieurs usurpent & s’attribuent le labeur d’autruy, & ce livre les descouvrira.” “Je [les] déteste, & abhorre autant qu’autre qui vive de mon siècle.” La Croix du Maine, “Préface,” in Les Bibliothèque Françoise, xxij, lxv. B 1857 509, vols. 1–2, Houghton Library.

64. “Je ne me suis pas contenté d’avoir mis en icelles Bibliothèques Latine & Françoise, le catalogue des oeuvres, ou escrits de chacun autheur: mais outre celà j’y ay compris chez qui ils font imprimez, en quelle marge ou grandeur, en quelle année, combien ils contiennent de feuilles, & sur-tout le nom de ceux ou celles ausquels ils ont esté dediez, sans y obmettre toutes leurs qualitez entieres: Et outre celà j’ay mis le commencement ou premiere ligne de leur ouvrage & composition, & en quel temps les autheurs d’iceux vivoient, & plusieurs autres menues recherches, que je ne raconte pas icy, lesquelles toutefois j’ai observées in iceux Catalogues.” Ibid., lviij.

65. “Il a écrit un nombre infini d’Almanachs & Prognostications, lesquelles étoient tellement reçus, & se vendoient si bien, que plusieurs en ont fait à son imitation, & ont emprunté le nom dudit Nostredamus, pour qu’elles eussent plus grand vogue et reputation.” La Croix du Maine, “Michel de Nostre Dame,” in Les Bibliothèques Françoises, vol. 2: 133–134.

66. Dai, “China’s Bibliographic Tradition,” 11, 29–30.

67. Shen Defu, “Jimo guwan” 籍沒古玩 (Registering and confiscating antiques), in Wanli yehuo bian 1.8.211.

68. Hu Yinglin, “Jingji huitong” 經籍會通 (Classics condensed), in Shao-shi shanfang bicong 4.47.

69. Qian Xiyan, “Yan shu” 贋書 (False books), in Xi xia 3.32b. On Ye Zhou’s impersonation of Li Zhi, see Hegel, “Performing Li Zhi.”

70. Qian Xiyan, “Yan shu” 贋書 (False books), in Xi xia 3.32b.

71. Little is known about Zhang Nai, but Wang Benke hailed from Xin’an district in Anhui and in 1594 moved to Dragon Lake to study with Li Zhi. In Another Book to Burn Li addresses letters to Wang under his sobriquet Dingfu 鼎甫. Xu Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 3.21, 137, 140–141.

72. Desan, Montaigne dans tous ses états, 196. Desan describes the exact manner in which the texts were altered.

73. Ken Keffer points out that Gournay’s efforts to establish a single edition of the Essays as definitive actually violated the spirit of the original work, since Montaigne was committed to augmenting and expanding his work indefinitely. Keffer, “La Textomachie,” 140.

74. Jiao Hong, “Li shi Xufenshu xu” 李氏續焚書序 (Preface to Mr. Li’s Another Book to Burn), in Li Zhi, Xu Fenshu; LZQJZ 3.419.

75. Wang Benke, “Xu ke Li shi shu xu” 續刻李氏書序 (On reprinting Mr. Li’s writings), in Li Zhi, Xu Fenshu; LZQJZ 3.421.

76. This phrase alludes to a story involving the monk Zhang Sengyou 張僧繇 of the Liang dynasty (sixth century). Upon the wall of the Anle Temple in Jinling, he painted a dragon. As soon as he painted the pupils of the dragon’s eyes, the dragon soared into the sky and flew away. This story is recounted in Zhang Yanyuan, Lidai minghua ji 7.148.

77. This common adage derives from an anecdote told in the Lü Buwei Chunqiu 呂不韋春秋 (Annals of Lü Buwei): When paddling a boat, a dim-witted man from the state of Chu accidentally dropped his oar into the water. Oblivious to the fact that his boat was moving, he made a notch in the gunwale, saying, “This is to mark the spot where the oar sank.”

78. Zhang Nai, “Du Zhuowu laozi shu shu” 讀卓吾老子書述 (On reading the works of Old Man Zhuowu), in Li Zhi, Xu Fenshu; LZQJZ 3.420. The following chapter discusses eyes as organs of discernment.

79. Ibid.

80. Jiao Hong, “Li shi Xufenshu xu” 李氏續焚書序 (Preface to Mr. Li’s Another Book to Burn), in Li Zhi, Xu Fenshu; LZQJZ 3.419. The phrase I have translated as “not worthy of discussion” occurs in the sentence “[Li Zhi’s] genuine books are important, but fakes are not worthy of discussion” (zhen shu zhong er yan shu keyi wu bian) 真書重而贗書可以無辨. Since the character bian 辨 literally means “to distinguish,” it would be tempting to translate this sentence as “[Li Zhi’s] genuine books are important, but it’s not necessary to distinguish between [genuine and] fake editions.” However, this reading directly contradicts Zhang Nai’s opinions expressed elsewhere in the preface. More likely, the character 辨 is a misprint for its homophone bian 辯, meaning “to discuss.” A nearly identical phrase—with the character 辯 used (correctly) instead of 辨—occurs in Li Zhi’s letter “Da Zhou Liutang” 答周柳塘 (A Response to Zhou Liutang), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.220. Needless to say, it is ironic that this sort of misprint would have crept into a preface that lauds Wang Benke for his meticulous editorial work!

81. Wang Benke, “Xu ke Li shi shu xu” 續刻李氏書序 (On reprinting Mr. Li’s writings), in Li Zhi, Xu Fenshu; LZQJZ 3.421.

82. The legend is recorded in “Tang wen” 湯問 (The Questions of Tang), in Liezi 列子 5.

83. In the 1595 version Gournay writes, “I am not myself except insofar as I am his daughter” (Je ne suis moy-mesme que par où je suis sa fille). Gournay, Oeuvres, 1.281.

84. “C’est à moy d’en parler [de sa religion], car moy seule avois la parfaicte cognoissance de cette grande ame [celle de Montaigne], et c’est à moy d’en estre creue de bonne foy.” Gournay, Oeuvres, 1.303. This sentence, appearing in the 1595 edition, was struck from later editions, but the sentiments it conveys were not. In the 1635 edition Gournay boasts of the “unique acquaintance that I have with this work” (connaissance toute particuliere, que j’ay de cét Ouvrage). Gournay, Oeuvres, 1.340.

85. “Une autre luy-mesme.” Gournay, Oeuvres, 1.281.

86. Wang Benke, “Xu ke Li shi shu xu” 續刻李氏書序 (On reprinting Mr. Li’s Writings), in Li Zhi, Xu Fenshu; LZQJZ 3.421.

87. Jiao Hong, “Li shi Xufenshu xu” 李氏續焚書序 (Preface to Mr. Li’s Another Book to Burn), in Li Zhi, Xu Fenshu; LZQJZ 3.419.

88. Zhang Nai, “Du Zhuowu laozi shu shu” 讀卓吾老子書述 (On reading the works of Old Man Zhuowu), in Li Zhi, Xu Fenshu; LZQJZ 3.420.

89. “Desrobeurs et frippeurs de livres.” This phrase was omitted from later editions. Gournay, Oeuvres, 1:327. For a discussion of Marie de Gournay’s editorial “paranoia,” see Desan, Montaigne dans tous ses états, 196.

90. “[Son impression] l’a [Montaigne] plus qu’exactement suivy.” This phrase was struck from later editions. However, on the same page, Gournay wrote, “In addition to the natural difficulty of correction that presents itself in the Essays, the copy [from which I worked] had so many others that it was no small undertaking even to read it.… In sum, having said that [the book] needed a worthy guardian, I dare boast that it needed, for its own good, none other than myself. (Outre la naturelle difficulté de correction qui se void aux Essays, ceste copie en avoit tant d’autres que ce n’estoit pas legere entreprise que la bien lire.… Somme, apres que j’ay dict qu’il [le livre] luy falloit un bon tuteur, j’ose me vanter qu’il ne luy en falloir, pour son bien, nul autre que moy.) Gournay, Oeuvres, 1.330.

91. Desan, Montaigne dans tous ses états, 195.

92. Johns continues, “The consequences for both authorship and the reading of printed materials were substantial.… To modern historians it often appears that the introduction of printing led to an augmentation of certainty, with uniform editions and standardized texts providing the sure fulcrum with which intellectual worlds could be overturned (or protected). To contemporaries, the link between print and knowledge seemed far less secure.… In the realm of print, truths became falsehoods with dazzling rapidity, while ridiculous errors were the next day proclaimed as neglected profundities.… Far from fixing certainty and truth, print dissolved them.” Johns, The Nature of the Book, 171–172.

CHAPTER 6

1. Iser, “The Reading Process”; Jauss, Toward an Aesthetic of Reception, 23.

2. The phrase is borrowed from Fish, “Literature in the Reader,” 75.

3. Ge, “Authorial Intention,” 5. See also Martin Huang, Snakes’ Legs, 25–26.

4. Martin Huang, “Author(ity) and Reader,” 62. Sally Church concurs, emphasizing that Jin Shengtan’s fiction and drama commentaries aimed to convince readers of the “correctness” of his interpretations. Church, “Beyond the Words,” 77. However, Kai-wing Chow points out that book editions that purveyed contrasting commentaries may have encouraged readers to adopt a more “open attitude” toward even such revered texts as the Confucian classics. Chow, “Writing for Success,” 138.

5. Scholes, Protocols of Reading, 8.

6. Li Zhi, “Du shu le, bing yin” 讀書樂并引 (“The pleasure of reading,” with a prologue), in Fenshu 6; LZQJZ 2.240. Translation by Timothy Billings and Yan Zinan in BBBKH, 211. Another description of Li’s constant reading appears in Li Zhi, “Yu Jiao Ruohou” 與焦弱侯 (To Jiao Ruohou), in Xu fenshu 1; LZQJZ 3.124.

7. Li Zhi, “Du shu le, bing yin” 讀書樂并引 (“The pleasure of reading,” with a prologue), in Fenshu 6; LZQJZ 2.240. Translated by Timothy Billings and Yan Zinan in BBBKH, 214.

8. Liu Dongxing 劉東星, “Liu Dongxing xu” 劉東星序 (Preface by Liu Dongxing), in Li Zhi, Cangshu; LZQJZ 8.697; Jiang Yihua, “Ji Li Zhuowu” 紀李卓吾 (Record of Li Zhuowu), in Xitai manji 2.31a.

9. Jiang Yihua, “Ji Li Zhuowu” 紀李卓吾 (Record of Li Zhuowu), in Xitai manji 2.31a.

10. Yuan Zhongdao, “Li Wenling zhuan” 李溫陵傳 (Biography of Li Wenling), in Kexuezhai ji 2.17.721. Translation by Haun Saussy in BBBKH, 327.

11. Jiang Yihua, “Ji Li Zhuowu” 紀李卓吾 (Record of Li Zhuowu), in Xitai manji 2.31a. Li himself avowed, “My hands are a blessing, for even though I am a septuagenarian I can still write commentaries in small print.” “Du shu le, bing yin” 讀書樂并引 (“The pleasure of reading,” with a prologue), in Fenshu 6; LZQJZ 2.240. Translation by Timothy Billings and Yan Zinan in BBBKH, 211.

12. Yuan Zhongdao, “Li Wenling zhuan” 李溫陵傳 (Biography of Li Wenling), in Kexuezhai ji 2.17.721. Translation by Haun Saussy in BBBKH, 327.

13. Wu Yinghui’s study of the “Li Zhuowu” commentaries spuriously attributed to the historical Li Zhi reveals fascinating parallels between the literary style of the fictional persona of the commentator “Li Zhuowu” and the personality of the historical Li Zhi. Wu Yinghui, “Books in Pairs,” ch. 1.

14. Yang Yucheng, “Qimeng yu baoli,” 914.

15. Li Zhi, “Cangshu shiji liezhuan zongmu qianlun” 藏書世紀列傳總目前論 (Preface to the combined “Dynastic Records” and “Biographies” sections of A Book to Keep [Hidden]), in Cangshu; LZQJZ 4.1. Compare Pauline C. Lee’s translation in BBBKH, 317–318.

16. Li Zhi, “Du shu le, bing yin” 讀書樂并引 (“The pleasure of reading,” with a prologue), in Fenshu 6; LZQJZ 2.240. This translation very slightly modifies that of Timothy Billings and Yan Zinan in BBBKH, 211–212.

17. Mengzi 5A42. Translation by Owen in Readings in Chinese Literary Thought, 24.

18. Liu Xie, “Zhi yin” 知音 (An understanding critic), in Wenxin diaolong 48,. Translation slightly modifies Shih, The Literary Mind, 262, and Ge, “Authorial Intention,” 6.

19. “Xi ci zhuan” 系辭傳 (Appended sayings), in Yijing. Translation slightly modifies Owen, Readings in Chinese Literary Thought, 31.

20. The prominent Song scholar Zhu Xi, among others, urged readers not to be content with surface (skin-deep) meanings but, through careful rereading, to enter as fully as possible into the mind-sets of ancient writers. Gardner, Learning to Be a Sage. See also Gardner, “Transmitting the Way,” 158–159. Lianbin Dai argues that the methods of reading Zhu Xi advocated continued to exert a powerful influence well into the Ming period. Dai, “Books, Reading, and Knowledge.” See also Yu Li, “A History of Reading,” 91.

21. In “Yu Jiao Ruohou” 與焦弱侯 (To Jiao Ruohou) Li Zhi repeats the assertion that through reading he comes face to face with authors from the past. Xu fenshu 1; LZQJZ 3.124. Similar assertions may be found in the writings of Zhu Xi among other premodern Chinese scholars. Gardner, Learning to Be a Sage, 129.

22. Li Zhi, “Chutanji xu” 初潭集序 (Preface to Upon Arrival at the Lake), in Chutanji; LZQJZ 12.1.

23. Li Zhi, “Ti Kongzi xiang yu Zhifo yuan” 題孔子像於芝佛院 (An inscription for the image of Confucius in the Cloister of the Flourishing Buddha), in Xu Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 3.309. Translation by Pauline C. Lee in BBBKH, 290.

24. Li Zhi, “Yu youren lun wen” 與友人論文 (Discussing literature with a friend), in Xu Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 3.21.

25. de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life, 169. Steven Zwicker articulates clearly the ways in which the experience of reading in early modern Europe both resembles and diverges from the type of reading de Certeau envisions. Zwicker, “What Every Literate Man Once Knew,” 84–85.

26. Li Zhi, “Tongxin shuo” 童心說 (On the childlike mind), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.276–279.

27. Li Zhi, “Cangshu shiji liezhuan zongmu qianlun” 藏書世紀列傳總目前論 (Preface to the combined “Dynastic Records” and “Biographies” sections of A Book to Keep [Hidden]), in Cangshu; LZQJZ 4.1. Translation by Pauline C. Lee in BBBKH, 318.

28. Ibid., LZQJZ 4:1; Pauline C. Lee offers an alternative translation in BBBKH, 317.

29. Li Zhi, “Da Geng Zhongcheng” 答耿中丞 (Sent in reply to Senior Censor Geng), in Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 1.40–41. Timothy Brook provides an alternative translation in BBBKH, 38.

30. For a discussion of this passage and its context see Lee, Li Zhi, 85. For analysis of the concept of “learning for oneself” see de Bary, Learning for Oneself, especially 43–70.

31. Li Zhi, “Tongxin shuo” 童心說 (On the childlike mind), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.276–279. Translation by Pauline C. Lee and Rivi Handler-Spitz in BBBKH, 109.

32. Li Zhi, “Cangshu shiji liezhuan zongmu qianlun” 藏書世紀列傳總目前論 (Preface to the combined “Dynastic Records” and “Biographies: sections of A Book to Keep [Hidden]), in Cangshu; LZQJZ 4.1.

33. Liu Dongxing, “Liu Dongxing xu” 劉東星序 (Preface by Liu Dong-xing), in Li Zhi, Cangshu; LZQJZ 8.697.

34. Ibid.

35. Yuan Zhongdao, “Li Wenling zhuan” 李溫陵傳 (Biography of Li Wenling), in Kexuezhai ji 2.17.719–725.

36. Li Zhi, “Cangshu shiji liezhuan zongmu qianlun” 藏書世紀列傳總目前論 (Preface to the combined “Dynastic Records” and “Biographies” sections of A Book to Keep [Hidden]), in Cangshu; LZQJZ 4.1.

37. Jardine and Grafton, “Studied for Action,” 30.

38. “L’humaniste lit la plume à la main. Il surcharge les marges des ouvrages lus de réflexions personnelles, marques manifestes d’une appropriation personnelle des textes lus.” Vernus, Histoire d’une pratique ordinaire, 23. See also Cave, “The Mimesis of Reading”; Zwicker, “What Every Literate Man Once Knew,” 84.

39. Glidden, “Recouping the Text,” 148.

40. To be sure, in both Europe and China the attitude that classical texts conveyed the wisdom of the ancients persisted well into the sixteenth century and beyond. European scholars continued to scour ancient texts for nuggets of wisdom to apply to their daily lives. And in China, the conservative methods of reading advocated by Zhu Xi remained influential throughout the Ming. However, in both regions, more critical modes of reading also gained adherents. Grafton, “The Humanist as Reader,” 203; Zwicker, “What Every Literate Man Once Knew,” 84–85; Dai, “Books, Reading, and Knowledge,” 280; Yu Li, “A History of Reading,” 121; Handler-Spitz, “Provocative Texts.”

41. Carruthers, The Book of Memory, 162.

42. Mengzi (Mencius), 5A42. Translated by Owen in Readings in Chinese Literary Thought, 24.

43. Ann Blair emphasizes the incremental nature of the shift from reverential reading to more adversarial reading in early modern Europe and insists that most marginalia from this period were simply reading notes intended to facilitate retrieval of specific passages. Blair, Too Much to Know, 59, 71; Zwicker, “The Reader Revealed,” 14–15.

44. “Un suffisant lecteur descouvre souvant és escrits d’autruy des perfections autres que celles que l’autheur y a mises et apperceues, et y preste des sens et des visages plus riches.” Montaigne, “Divers Evenements de Mesme Conseil” 1: 24, in Les Essays, 127. See also Montaigne, “Various Outcomes of the Same Plan,” in The Complete Essays of Montaigne, 93.

45. “J’ay leu en Tite-Live cent choses que tel n’y a pas leu … et, à l’aventure, ce que l’auteur y avoit mis.” Montaigne, “De l’institution des enfans” 1: 26, in Les Essays, 156; translation modified from Frame’s “Of the Education of Children,” in The Complete Essays of Montaigne, 115.

46. Jin Shengtan, “Du diliu caizi shu Xixiangji fa” 讀第六才子書西廂記法 (On reading the sixth book of genius, The Romance of the Western Chamber), in Jin Shengtan quanji 3.19. Translation modified from Martin Huang’s in “Author(ity) and Reader,” 59.

47. For further examples of early modern European readers responding to texts in idiosyncratic and occasionally humorously aggressive ways, see Grafton, “The Humanist as Reader,” 208; Grafton, “John Dee Reads,” 35; Jardine and Grafton, “Studied for Action”; Zwicker, “The Reader Revealed,” 13; Sharpe, “Uncommonplaces?”

48. Xu Wei, “Shi shuo xu” 詩說序 (Preface on poetry), in Xu Wei ji 2.19.521–522.

49. Cervantes, Don Quijote, 9.

50. A quotation from Montaigne’s essay “Of the Education of Children” (De l’institution des enfans) illustrates this point. To support an argument in favor of skepticism, Montaigne cites a single line from Dante’s Inferno: “Questioning, no less than knowing, pleases me.” In its original context, this line suggests a rather different meaning. In the Inferno, Dante speaks these words after having asked Virgil, his guide, about the punishments of Hell. After Virgil replies in detail, Dante responds, “You do content me so when you solve [or answer my questions] / that questioning, no less than knowing, pleases me.” In the Inferno, this quotation, far from advocating skepticism, rewards the guide for having provided a conclusive answer. Montaigne deliberately disregards this original meaning, preferring to bend the words creatively to his own purpose. Montaigne’s deployment of this technique is analyzed in Rendall, “Mus in Pice,” 70–71.

51. He Yuming and Kathryn Lowry also discuss ways in which the disorderly visual presentation of material on the printed pages of joke books and song books encouraged readers to embark on creative reinterpretations of their own. Shang, “Jin Ping Mei,” 193; He Yuming, Home and the World, 2–3; Lowry, The Tapestry of Popular Songs, 66–67.

52. Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, Jin Ping Mei cihua 1.8.89. For an analysis of the way this excerpt functions snatched from its original context and inserted into the novel, see Shang, “Jin Ping Mei,” 197–198.

53. Given the uncertain attribution of the numerous “Li Zhuowu” commentaries on fiction and drama, the discussion centers on works whose authorship is less disputed. Jiao Hong, in his preface to Another Book to Keep (Hidden), also disputed the authenticity of portions of that work. Jiao Hong, “Xu cangshu xu” 續藏書序 (Preface to Another Book to Keep (Hidden), in Li Zhi, Xu cangshu, LZQJZ 11.358.

54. Li Zhi, “Si shu ping xu” 四書評序 (Preface to Commentary on The Four Books), in Si shu ping, LZQJZ 21.1.

55. Analects 9.4. My translation alters that of Lau, 96.

56. He Xinyin, “Da zhanguo zhu gong Kongmen shidi zhi yu zhi bie zai luo yiqi yu bu luo yiqi” 答戰國諸公孔門師弟之與之別在落意氣與不落意氣 (Response to various Warring States Confucian masters and disciples’ discussions of losing or sustaining one’s spirit), in He Xinyin ji 3.54. For analysis of He’s interpretation and its influence on Li, see Billeter, Li Chih, 150; Anne Cheng, “Les Métamorphoses,” 217–218.

57. Chow, “Writing for Success,” 142–143.

58. Qu You (1341–1427) also argued in his preface to Jian deng xin hua 剪登新話 (New stories to [read while you trim] the lamp) that stories could substitute for the classics. Yuan Fengzi made a similar point in his 1547 preface to San guo zhi zhuan 三國志傳 (The narrative of the Three Kingdoms). McLaren, “Constructing New Reading Publics,” 157–158. Within a few generations, sentiments of this kind had become quite widespread and were expressed in the writings of Jin Shengtan and later Zhang Zhupo. For discussion of Jin Shengtan’s views, see Church, “Beyond the Words,” 9; for discussion of Zhang Zhupo’s views, see Shang, “Jin Ping Mei,” 216.

59. Li Zhi, “Tongxin shuo” 童心說 (On the childlike mind), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.277. Translation by Haun Saussy in BBBKH, 109.

60. Li Zhi, “Bai yue” 拜月 (The pavilion for worshiping the moon), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2.132–133. Translation by Huiying Chen, in BBBKH, 191.

61. Li Zhi, “Zhongyi Shuihuzhuan xu” 忠義水滸傳序 (Preface to The Loyal and Righteous Outlaws of the Marsh), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.301–304. Emphasis mine.

62. Li Zhi, “Hong fu” 紅拂 (Red duster), in Fenshu 4; LZQJZ 2:133–134. Translation by Huiying Chen in BBBKH, 193. For the comments of Confucius, see Analects 17.9.

63. Qian Maowei, Mingdai shixue, 336.

64. Mei Guozhen, “Mei Guozhen xu” 梅國楨序 (Preface by Mei Guozhen), in Li Zhi, Cangshu; LZQJZ 8.698.

65. Wu Congxian, “Shigang pingyao xu” 史綱評要序 (Preface to Outline of History with Critical Comments), in Xiao chuang zi ji 4, 402.

66. Lü Buwei (291?–235 BCE) was chancellor to the first emperor of China. He inveigled his way into the court by arranging for the empress dowager, a lewd old woman, to have an illicit affair with a man whose penis was exceedingly large. Sima Qian, “Lü Buwei liezhuan” 呂不韋列傳 (Biography of Lü Buwei), in Shiji 85. Li Yuan (third cent. BCE), in order to advance his own career, ordered that the prime minister of the state of Chu, Chun Shenjun, be assassinated. Sima Qian, “Chun Shenjun liezhuan” 春申君列傳 (Biography of Chun Shenjun), in Shiji 78. Li Si (ca. 280–208 BCE) served as prime minister to the notoriously cruel and autocratic first emperor of the Qin dynasty, Qin Shihuang. In an effort to quash opposition from Confucian scholars, this legalist advisor proposed that the first emperor “burn [Confucian] books and bury [Confucian scholars alive].” The emperor implemented this policy, which later garnered harsh criticism from centuries of Confucian scholars, beginning with Sima Qian. Li Zhi borrows the title of A Book to Burn from this phrase. Sima Qian, “Li Si liezhuan” 李斯列傳 (Biography of Li Si), in Shiji 87. Feng Dao (882–954) was reviled for having served under several dynasties. Zhuo Wenjun (second cent. BCE) eloped with the great poet, musician, and historian Sima Xiangru. Sima Qian, “Sima Xiangru liezhuan” 司馬相如列傳 (Biography of Sima Xiangru), in Shiji 117. Sang Hongyang (d. 80 BCE) served under Emperor Wu of Han (156–87 BCE), helped the Han government solidify its monopolies over salt and iron, and so bolstered the economic stability of the empire. He was assassinated when he came under suspicion for having been involved in a plot to overthrow the emperor. Ban, Hanshu 38.

67. Zhang Wenda, “Shenzong shilu Wanli sanshi nian run er yue yimao like jishizhong Zhang Wenda shu he Li Zhi” 神宗實錄萬曆三十年閏二月乙卯禮科給事中張問達疏劾李贄 (Veritable record of the memorial impeaching Li Zhi, submitted by the supervising censor Zhang Wenda on the yimao day of the second intercalary month of the thirtieth year of the reign of emperor Shenzong), in Ming shilu 112.369.11.

68. Ibid.

69. Li Wenling ji 李溫陵集 (The Collected Writings of Li Wenling) included in its pages A Book to Burn, A Book to Keep (Hidden), and several other titles. The synopsis continues, “To this day, [Li’s writings] have exerted a deleterious effect on both customs and people’s minds. For this reason Li Zhi deserved to be executed and his books destroyed.” Yong, “Li Wenling ji, ershi juan, Jiangsu Zhou Houyu jia cangben” 李溫陵集二十卷江蘇周厚堉家藏本 (The collected works of Li Wenling in twenty fascicles. Edition from the collection of Zhou Houyu of Jiangsu), in Siku quanshu zongmu 2.178.1599.

70. Jiao Hong, “Jiao Hong xu” 焦竑序 (Preface by Jiao Hong), in Li Zhi, Cangshu; LZQJZ 8.696.

71. Yong, “Chutanji, ershi juan, neifu cangben” 初潭集二十卷內府藏本 (Upon Arrival at the Lake in twenty fascicles. Edition from the imperial collection), in Siku quanshu zongmu 1.131.1120.

72. Jiang Yihua, “Ji Li Zhuowu” 紀李卓吾 (Record of Li Zhuowu), in Xitai manji 2.31a. For more examples, see Zhuhong 褚宏, “Li Zhuowu” 李卓吾, in Zhu chuang suibi 竹窗隨筆 (Casual jottings by the bamboo window), cited in LZYJCKZL 2.161; Zhou Yingbin 周應賓, “Li Zhuowu” 李卓吾, in “Shi xiao pian” 識小篇 (Short essays), cited in LZYJCKZL 2.165; Shen Defu, “Huang Shenxuan zhi zhu” 黃慎軒之逐 (The expulsion of Huang Shenxuan), in Wanli yehuo bian 1.10.171–171; Wang Fuzhi, “Sao shou wen” 搔首問 (Scratching my head in perplexity), in Chuanshan yishu 17.9923; Wang Hongzhuan, “Li Zhi” 李贄, in Shan zhi 4.15b; Fang Yizhi, “Ming jiao” 名教 (Confucian teachings), in Dongxijun, 129.

73. Li Zhi, “Yu Zhou Youshan shu” 與周友山書 (To Zhou Youshan), in Fenshu 2; LZQJZ 1.133. This letter recounts Li Zhi’s experience being harassed by an angry mob at the Yellow Crane Pavilion in Wuchang in 1591. Li attributes the accusation that he “behaves eccentrically and deceives the multitudes” to the thugs that attacked him.

74. Gu Xiancheng, “Dangxia yi” 當下繹 (Impromptu interpretations), in Gu Duanwen gong yishu 顧端文公遺書 (The remaining writings of Mr. Gu Duanwen), 14.

75. Jiang wrote, “For some time now I have had an obsession with books, but I found fault with this imprint [of Li’s writings] for repudiating the classics and creating chaos out of order. Fearing that it might pollute my bookshelf, I decided not to add it to my collection.” Jiang Yihua, “Ji Li Zhuowu” 紀李卓吾 (Record of Li Zhuowu), in Xitai manji 2.31b. Similar accusations continued to be voiced in the early Qing dynasty. For instance, Gu Yanwu decried Li Zhi as a “betrayer of the sages.” Gu Yanwu, “Li Zhi” 李贄, in Rizhi lu 2.18.1070.

76. Wang is quoting Li’s immodest estimation of his own words here. Li Zhi, “Yu Zhou Youshan” 與周友山 (To Zhou Youshan), in Xu Fenshu 1; LZQJZ 3.47.

77. Refers to Zhuangzi, “Tian di ” 天地 (Heaven and Earth), in Zhuangzi 12; Zhuangzi, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, 141.

78. Wang Benke, “Xu ke Li shi shu xu” 續刻李氏書序 (On reprinting Mr. Li’s writings), in Li Zhi, Xu Fenshu; LZQJZ 3.421.

79. Qian Qianyi, “Jiashulun juye zashuo” 家塾論舉業雜說 (Random jottings on private school discussions of preparing for exams), in Muzhai youxueji 45, 3:1509. Zhang Shiyi, “Jidaoxin” 集導辛 (Collected views on bitterness), in Yuelutang ji 8.123.

80. Zhu Shilu, “Zhu Shilu xu” 祝世祿序 (Preface by Zhu Shilu), in Li Zhi, Cangshu; LZQJZ 8.699.

81. Jiao Hong, “Jiao Hong xu” 焦竑序 (Preface by Jiao Hong), in Li Zhi, Cangshu; LZQJZ 8.696.

82. Chen Renxi, “Cangshu xu” 藏書序 (Preface to A Book to Keep [Hidden]), in Wumengyuan ji, section “Ma si” 馬四 (Horses, part 4), unpaginated edition.

83. Confirming this interpretation while slightly restricting its scope, another preface writer to A Book to Keep (Hidden) averred that readers should feel free to differ from Li’s judgments, provided that their interpretations be grounded in a firm ethical foundation. He wrote, “If [a reader] is capable of governing with benevolence as a genuine Confucian scholar, then even if he says that [Li Zhi’s] judgments betray the sages, [Li] would not object.” Zhu Shilu, “Zhu Shilu xu” 祝世祿序 (Preface by Zhu Shilu), in Li Zhi, Cangshu; LZQJZ 8.699.

84. Jiao Hong, “Jiao Hong xu” 焦竑序 (Preface by Jiao Hong), in Li Zhi, Cangshu; LZQJZ 8.696. The phrase “dan mu yu zhi” 旦暮遇之 alludes to Zhuangzi, “Qi wu lun” 齊物論 (Discussion on making all things equal), in Zhuangzi 2. The line in the original is: “After ten thousand generations, a great sage may appear who will know [the meaning of contradictory assertions], and it will still be as though he appeared with astonishing speed.” Zhuangzi, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, 48.

85. I have seen no early editions of Li’s writings that contain marginalia written by contemporary hands. However, Yuan Hongdao is reported to have jotted down his responses in the margins of Li’s texts. Hung, The Romantic Vision, 190.

86. Wu Congxian 吳從先, “Shigang pingyao xu” 史綱評要序 (Preface to Outline of History with Critical Comments), in LZYJCKZL 2.113.

87. Li Zhonghuang 李中黃, “Lun wen” 論文 (On literature), in Yilou si lun 逸樓四論 (Four discourses by Li Yilou), cited in LZYJCKZL 2.157.

88. Yuan Zhongdao, “Li Wenling zhuan” 李溫陵傳 (Biography of Li Wenling), in Kexuezhai ji 2.17.719–725. Translation by Haun Saussy in BBBKH, 330.

89. Wang Hongzhuan, “Li Zhi” 李贄 in Shan zhi 4.15b.

90. Li Zhi, “Tongxin shuo” 童心說 (On the childlike mind), in Fenshu 3; LZQJZ 1.276–279.

91. Marginal comment on “Fu Zhou Nan shi” 復周南士 (Reply to Zhou Nanshi). This comment is repeated twice in the letter. Library of Congress’s Ming edition of Fenshu, 18–19.

92. Chambers, “Commentary in Literary Texts,” 327, 335.