Real Life in China at the Height of Empire – Revealed by the Ghosts of Ji Xiaolan

Toward the end of the eighteenth century Ji Xiaolan, widely regarded as the most eminent scholar and foremost wit of his age, published five collections of anecdotes and discourses centring on the interaction between the mundane and spirit worlds, but also including purely earthly life stories and happenings. Some items represent Ji’s own thought and experiences, but the majority were supplied by others, Ji acting only as recorder. Settings range socially from the milieux of peasants, servants and merchants to those of governors and ministers, and geographically extend to the far reaches of the Qing empire. Contents may dwell on comedy or tragedy, cruelty or kindness, corruption or integrity, erudition or ignorance, credulity or scepticism; several items borrow ghost stories to satirize men and manners; some straightforwardly examine current beliefs and practices. Taken together, this miscellany presents a picture of the contemporary world unmatched in its scope and variety of perspectives, and in this way comes nearer to depicting “real life” than novels or institutional histories.

To impose order on this heterogeneous material, the selected items are grouped under topical headings. Each of these sections has a preface which explains general context, and where appropriate draws cultural comparisons. The introduction to the whole book appraises Ji Xiaolan’s own career and the atmosphere in which he lived. In order to make its matter further accessible to anyone who might chance upon this work, scholarly apparatus is reduced to a minimum and readability made the priority for the translation.