What is it about?
Traditional Chinese vernacular fiction such as The Water Margin (Shuihu zhuan) is often assumed to be "popular" literature. However, the earliest printed editions of The Water Margin appeared among the elite circles of the Ming court. This paper considers why such elite figures might have printed, circulated, and read vernacular literature in that early era.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
This article questions common assumptions about the traditional Chinese novel and its origins.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: ‘The Wuding Editions’: Printing, Power, and Vernacular Fiction in the Ming Dynasty, East Asian Publishing and Society, April 2017, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/22106286-12341302.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
