Literati Storytelling in Late Medieval China (Modern Language Initiative Books) - Hardcover

Luo, Manling

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0295994142 ISBN 13: 9780295994147

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 2015

Synopsis

Scholar-officials of late medieval China were not only enthusiastic in amateur storytelling, but also showed unprecedented interest in recording stories on different aspects of literati life. These stories appeared in diverse forms, including narrative poems, “tales of the marvelous,” “records of the strange,” historical miscellanies, and transformation texts. Through storytelling, literati explored their own changing place in a society that was making its final transition from hereditary aristocracy to a meritocracy ostensibly open to all. Literati Storytelling shows how these writings offer crucial insights into the reconfiguration of the Chinese elite, which monopolized literacy, social prestige, and political participation in imperial China.

About this title

Review:

A masterful study of a rich corpus of narrative material. . . . A major contribution to our understanding of later Tang literary and social history.

Author: Ronald Egan, Stanford University

From the Author:

Manling Luo is assistant professor of Chinese literature at Indiana University.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0295994142
• ISBN 13: 9780295994147
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240