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The Pearl Boat
The Pearl Boat is a cargo of eighteen stories about friendship, money and love: sworn brothers who betray each other, merchants caught by swindlers, poor scholars rescued by clever wives, and lovers who meet by chance on rivers and in temples. Xu Zhen writes with an eye for human weakness and a fondness for surprising endings. 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.
