Vignettes from the Late Ming

by Yang Ye

This anthology presents seventy translated and annotated short essays, or hsiao-pin, by fourteen well-known sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Chinese writers. Hsiao-pin, characterized by spontaneity and brevity, were a relatively informal variation on the established classical prose style in which all scholars were trained. Written primarily to amuse and entertain the reader, hsiao-pin reflect the rise of individualism in the late Ming period and collectively provide a panorama of the colorful life of the age.