A masterpiece from the Ming dynasty, Wu Ching-tzu's The Scholars ranks with Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, and the Water Margin as one of the greatest classic novels of China. The Scholars is the first Chinese novel of its scope not to borrow any characters from history or legend and it is the first work of satiric realism to achieve an almost complete disassociation from the religious beliefs of the people. Departing from the impersonal tradition of Chinese fiction, Wu abandons such established narrative formulas as folk songs and poetic verse in favor of autobiographical experiences, descriptive realism, and characters modeled after his friends and relatives―elements that combine to give this critique of the Confucian civil service system an unprecedented immediacy and humor.

The Scholars

Literature & Fiction

Wu, Ching-Tzu

United States

Columbia University Press

The Unofficial History of the World of the Literati, this classic novel, written in the Chinese vernacular and published around 1750, is Wu Ching-Tzu's account of many friends (and enemies), academics all, who struggle to cope with the burdens of a Confucian society and the difficulties of the Civil Service Exam. It's book that appeals in every era. Under Mao, the work was taught to mainland students, not for the comedy, but to educate on the failings of "the Old Way." Follow this author as he charts through faculty, of good morals and bad, with noble objectives and venal ones, on a Ming Dynasty romp you'll find impossible to put down.

The Scholars (Grosset's Universal Library)

Teen & Young Adult

Grosset&Dunlap

Scholars

Yang, Xianyi

Shih-Fa, Cheng

Gladys Yang

Cheng & Tsui

Subtitled: The Unofficial History of the World of the Literati, this classic novel, written in the Chinese vernacular and published around 1750, is Wu Ching-Tzu's account of many friends (and enemies), academics all, who struggle to cope with the burdens of a Confucian society and the difficulties of the Civil Service Exam.  It's book that appeals in every era. Under Mao, the work was taught to mainland students, not for the comedy, but to educate on the failings of "the Old Way."  Follow this author as he charts through faculty, of good morals and bad, with noble objectives and venal ones, on a Ming Dynasty romp you'll find impossible to put down.

Classics

Disruptive Pub

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wu, Ching-Tzu. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Wu, Ching-Tzu