Vignettes from the Late Ming: A Hsiao-p’in Anthology

by Yang Ye (Translator)

This anthology presents seventy translated and annotated short essays, or hsiao-p'in, by fourteen well-known sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Chinese writers. Hsiao-p'in, characterized by spontaneity and brevity, were a relatively informal variation on the established classical prose style in which all scholars were trained. Written primarily to amuse and entertain the reader, hsiao-p'in reflect the rise of individualism in the late Ming period and collectively provide a panorama of the colorful life of the age. Critics condemned the genre as escapist because of its focus on life's sensual pleasures and triviality, and over the next two centuries many of these playful and often irreverent works were officially censored. Today, the essays provide valuable and rare accounts of the details over everyday life in Ming China as well as displays of wit and delightful turns of phrase.

Genres: China

216 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[Grady · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was mostly lost on me, although it is carefully translated and curated and would probably be very useful to someone with a better understanding of the historical context. It’s an anthology of writers from the Late Ming, typically writing about their homes and gardens, places they’ve travelled, or friends and literati. There is very little drama. The different authors and their selections all run together for me, and I found it alternately charming in a vague way and then just terribly boring.

[Genna · Rating 4 out of 5]

My almost complete inability to focus on the introduction without nodding off is a good bit of why I chose this for my most recent insomnia book. Once I got to the actual translations, however, it was lovely, though also made for a good insomnia book because they were the sort of peaceful meditations which, while they did not put me to sleep, definitely lulled me into the sort of calm from which sleep can naturally progress.