Ling, Mengchu 1580-1644 creator text utu 2018 monographic zh 1 online resource : multiple file formats "初刻拍案驚奇" by Mengchu Ling is a collection of vernacular short stories composed in 1627 during the late Ming dynasty. This two-volume work contains seventy-eight tales drawn from folk legends, romances, and unofficial history. The stories capture extraordinary events hidden within ordinary life, featuring merchants, hawkers, prostitutes, thieves, and other common people rather than emperors and heroes. Written in vernacular Chinese, the collection explores themes of love, marriage, and commerce while reflecting the social changes of seventeenth-century China through vivid characters and surprising plot twists. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slapping_the_Table_in_Amazement Release date is 2018-06-02 Produced by Xiaoman Chiu Original publication data not identified Chinese fiction -- Ming dynasty, 1368-1644 PL Original publication data not identified https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57248 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57248 UtSlPG 260607 20260610134323.0 57248