{"product_id":"more-swindles-from-the-late-ming-sex-scams-and-sorcery-9780231212458","title":"More Swindles from the Late Ming: Sex, Scams, and Sorcery","description":"\u003cp\u003eA woman seduces her landlord to extort the family farm. Gamblers recruit a wily prostitute to get a rich young man back in the game. Silver counterfeiters wreak havoc for traveling merchants. A wealthy widow is drugged and robbed by a lodger posing as a well-to-do student. Vengeful judges and corrupt clerks pervert the course of justice. Cunning soothsayers spur on a plot to overthrow the emperor. Yet good sometimes triumphs, as when amateur sleuths track down a crew of homicidal boatmen or a cold-case murder is exposed by a frog. These are just a few of the tales of crime and depravity appearing in \u003ci\u003eMore Swindles from the Late Ming\u003c\/i\u003e, a book that offers a panorama of vice--and words of warning--from one seventeenth-century writer. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis companion volume to \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Swindles: Selections from a Late Ming Collection\u003c\/i\u003e presents sensational stories of scams that range from the ingenious to the absurd to the lurid, many featuring sorcery, sex, and extreme violence. Together, the two volumes represent the first complete translation into any language of a landmark Chinese anthology, making an essential contribution to the global literature of trickery and fraud. An introduction explores the geography of grift, the role of sex and family relations, and the portrayal of Buddhist clergy and others claiming supernatural powers. Opening a window onto the colorful world of crime and deception in late imperial China, this book testifies to the enduring popularity of stories about scoundrels and their schemes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eZhang Yingyu (fl. 1612-1617) lived during the Wanli period (1573-1620) of the Ming dynasty. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBruce Rusk is an associate professor of Asian studies at the University of British Columbia. He is coeditor of \u003ci\u003eLiterary Information in China: A History\u003c\/i\u003e (Columbia, 2021), among other books. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eChristopher Rea is a professor of Asian studies at the University of British Columbia. His books include \u003ci\u003eChinese Film Classics, 1922-1949\u003c\/i\u003e (Columbia, 2021). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRusk and Rea are the translators of \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Swindles: Selections from a Late Ming Collection\u003c\/i\u003e (Columbia, 2017).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50901938110738,"sku":"9780231212458","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_fedad147-f708-42cc-9509-5088db318b13.jpg?v=1738442923","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/more-swindles-from-the-late-ming-sex-scams-and-sorcery-9780231212458","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}