New Stories Told while Trimming the Wick

The Hsu-Tang Library presents authoritative and eminently readable translations of classical Chinese literature, in bilingual editions, ranging across three millennia and the entire Sinitic world.

New Tales Told While Trimming the Wick by the talented scholar and poet of the Ming dynasty, Qu You (1347-1433), was the first work of fiction officially banned in China, but also the first internationally acclaimed collection of Chinese short stories. These tales often seem quite modern in their character development and plot intricacies, with characters facing ethical and moral challenges that are just as difficult to navigate today as they were over six hundred years ago. This collection is a crucial and delightful bridge between the classical tales of the Tang dynasty and Pu Songling's famous Strange Tales from Liaozhai in the Qing. Despite being fiction filled with supernatural elements, New Tales offers fascinating insights into the life and society of China during the turbulent transition between the Yuan and Ming dynasties.

Translated in full for the first time, with a contextual introduction to the stories and their author, historical and literary annotations to aid the reader, and bibliographical support, this volume introduces a collection of tales that have had a profound influence on literature across all of Asia.

Qu You (1347-1433), whose style name was Zongji and literary name Cunzhai, was a famous scholar and poet of the Ming Dynasty. He is the author of almost thirty books in different genres; however, only one-third of them are extant. New Stories Told while Trimming the Wick earned him the most fame and acclaim.

Zhenjun Zhang is Professor of Chinese and Coordinator of Asian Studies Program at St. Lawrence University, author of Buddhism and Tales of the Supernatural in Early Medieval China (2014), translator of Hidden and Visible Realms: Early Medieval Chinese Tales of the Supernatural and the Fantastic (2018), and co-editor (with Victor Mair) of Anthology of Tang and Song Tales: The Tang Song Chuanqi ji of Lu Xun (2020) and Classic Chinese Poems of Mourning and Texts of Lament (2024).

Sidney Sondergard is Piskor Professor Emeritus at St. Lawrence University. He is the translator of the complete English edition of Pu Songling's Strange Tales from Liaozhai (6 vols., 2008-2014). His essays have appeared in Studies in Philology, The American Journal of Semiotics, Studies in the Humanities, Theatre Survey, and Critique.

Trever McKay is Associate Professor of Chinese language and literature at Brigham Young University-Idaho, whose translations have appeared in Anthology of Tang and Song Tales: The Tang Song chuanqi ji of Lu Xun and Classic Chinese Poems of Mourning and Texts of Lament.