The Flatfish
In Chinese poetic tradition, the flatfish (比目魚) swims always in pairs - one eye to each side, two creatures moving as one. It is among the oldest emblems of inseparable lovers in the classical canon. This novel takes that image and unfolds it into a sweeping tale of devotion, injustice, and the strange persistence of the soul.
When two young lovers choose to drown themselves rather than submit to the cruelty of a wealthy oppressor, their deaths set in motion something far stranger than mere revenge. Bribed magistrates, mercenary witnesses, and a community willing to barter silence for silver expose the rot beneath the late imperial social order. But beyond the courts - beyond the rivers themselves - their story is far from finished. The Lord of the Waters has heard them. And the cosmos remembers what men prefer to forget.
What follows blends:
- Sharp social satire of corruption, greed, and judicial farce
- Romantic tragedy in the great tradition of Chinese vernacular fiction
- Supernatural reckoning drawn from the mythic realms beneath the water
- A tale of metamorphosis and reunion that reaches across the boundary between the living and the dead
By turns furious, tender, satirical, and luminous, The Flatfish moves with the swiftness of folk storytelling and the weight of moral fable. It resists easy categorization - at once a courtroom drama, a love story, a critique of power, and a myth of transformation.
This new English edition by Valentin Sarić preserves the rhythm and texture of the original while bringing its voice clearly into contemporary reading. For readers of classical Chinese fiction, mythic narrative, and stories where romance and justice refuse to be separated, The Flatfish offers an experience equal parts cutting and consoling.
Two souls. One pair of fins. A justice the world refused them - granted at last by the depths.
At a glance
About the series
Rediscover the great epics, mysteries and chronicles of dynastic China: gods and generals, swindlers and scholars, courtesans, ghosts and emperors, in complete English translations.
