Classical Fiction · LT603

Vernacular Stories

Vernacular storytellers' prompt-books reflecting urban culture and morals.

5works

2dynasties

3authors

Song

960–12792 works
  1. Popular Stories from the Capital · The Carved Jade GuanyinAnonymous (Song Storyteller)Qu Xiuniang eloped with jade artisan Cui Ning, but was captured and beaten to death by the Prince of Xian'an. Her faithful ghost refused to disperse, living with Cui Ning as wife as before. When discovered, Xiuniang's ghost manifested in wrath, dragging the treacherous warden to the underworld—a love that defied death.
  2. Popular Stories · The Wrongful Execution of Cui Ning / Fifteen Strings of CashAnonymous (Song Storyteller)A single playful joke and fifteen strings of cash cost four human lives. A muddle-headed magistrate forced false confessions under torture, wrongfully beheading Cui Ning and Second Sister. Even when the true culprit Lou Ashu was unmasked and the wrong vindicated, dead bones could never return to life—a timeless warning against judicial negligence.

Ming

1368–16443 works
  1. Stories to Awaken the World · Du Shiniang Sinks the Jewel Box in AngerFeng MenglongTrapped in the bitter sea of brothels, I met you, hoping to grow old together. Little did I expect you would be seduced by slander, selling me for a thousand pieces of silver. I possessed a jewel casket worth ten thousand gold; now I plunge it into the river, never to leave a penny to a treacherous heart! Speaking thus, she leapt into the river and died.
  2. Stories to Caution the World · Yu Boya Smashes the Zither for His SoulmateFeng MenglongShattering the jasper zither, phoenix tail grows cold; with Ziqi gone, for whom should I play? Smiling faces abound in spring breeze, yet finding a true soulmate is hard beyond hard. Boya smashed his zither before Ziqi's grave and severed its strings, never playing zither again for the rest of his life.
  3. Slapping the Table in Amazement · The Fortunate Merchant and the Dongting Red OrangesLing MengchuThe unlucky merchant Wen Ruoxu spent a single silver tael on Dongting red oranges to sail overseas, selling them in the Kingdom of Jili for a thousand ounces of silver; on a deserted island he picked up a giant turtle shell, selling it to Persian merchants for fifty thousand taels—a miraculous reversal of fortune that amazed the world.