Awakening from Romance

'When luck runs out, gold loses its colour; when the time comes, even iron shines.' Awakening from Romance is a collection of eight stories of love affairs, marriages and fortunes that turn upside down: a rice-huller who becomes rich, a beauty who chooses her own husband, a rake who learns too late. Lively and unsentimental, it shows early-Qing storytellers at their most playful. This is a complete new English translation, with names in modern pinyin and the text rendered as plain, readable English prose. Each story stands alone and can be read in a sitting, and together they give a lively picture of everyday Chinese life: markets, inns, temples, courts and bedrooms. These vernacular stories were the popular reading of Ming and Qing China, sold cheaply and read aloud, and very few have been translated into English before.