Feng Menglong (Feng Meng-lung) 馮夢龍 1574-1646

Feng was a well-known compiler of anthologies of popular literature in the Ming dynasty. Born into a scholarly family in present-day Suzhou, he was recognized as an outstanding literary talent in his youth. In his middle years he began to collect and edit popular fiction, poetry, and jokes, and was also a respected playwright and editor of plays. His publications include collections of jokes, collections of classical-language stories and anecdotes, some revised versions of novels, and the San yan 三言 collections of stories: Yushi mingyan 喻世明言 [Stories to enlighten the world], Jingshi tongyan 警世通言 [Stories to caution the world], and Xingshi hengyan 醒世恆言 [Stories to awaken the world].

Works available in English:

  • Chinese Love Stories from "Ching-shih" (Li Huayuan Mowry). Hamden, Conn.:
       Archon Books, 1983.
  • Four Cautionary Tales from a Collection (ed. by Feng Menglong) (Harold
       Acton and Lee Yi-hsieh). New York: Ace Books, 1931; London: J. Lehmann,
       1947.
  • Lazy Dragon: Chinese Stories from the Ming Dynasty (by Feng Menglong and
       Ling Mengchu) (Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing
       Co., 1981.
  • Stories from a Ming Collection: Translations of Chinese Short Stories Published
       in the Seventeenth Century     (compiled by Feng Menglong) (Cyril Birch). New
       York: Grove Press; London: Bodley Head, 1958; New York: Grove Press, 1968;
       Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1978.
  • Stories Old and New: A Ming Dynasty Collection (compiled by Feng Menglong)
       (Shuhui Yang and Yungin Yang). Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000.
  • The Chinese Femme Fatale: Stories from the Ming Period (Anne E McLaren).
       Broadway, New South Wales: Wild Peony, 1994.
  • The Courtesan's Jewel Box: Chinese Stories of the Xth-XVIIth Centuries (by
       Feng Menglong and others) (Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang). Beijing: Foreign
       Languages Press, 1957.
  • The Perfect Lady by Mistake and Other Stories (William Dolby). London: P.
       Elek, 1976.
  • Wisdom's Way: 101 Tales of Chinese Wit (Walton C. Lee). Jamaica Plain,
       Mass.: YMAA Publication Center, 1997.

    Studies and Biographies:

  • Shuhui Yang, Appropriation and Representation: Feng Menglong and the Chinese
       Vernacular Story    . Ann Arbor, Mich.: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1998.
  • Huayuan Li Mowry, Ch'ing-shih and Feng Menglong. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI, 1983.

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