
In a small Shaanxi village where only the Zhao and Fang lineages dwell, the promise of a government post becomes the community’s obsession. When a retired scholar, Wang Ren, is hired to teach the children, his strict lessons quickly produce a handful of promising pupils, including the bright‑minded third son of the Fang household. The village buzzes with hope as Zhao’s grandson secures a place among the successful candidates of the provincial examination, a triumph that instantly elevates the Zhao family’s standing.
Fang’s patriarch, eager to ride the wave of prestige, arranges a marriage link with the Zhao clan and throws lavish celebrations, while Wang’s blunt encouragement turns into a heated clash with Fang’s son, who questions the true value of official rank. The story captures the restless ambition, petty rivalries, and the absurd lengths ordinary people will go to climb the bureaucratic ladder, all told with sharp humor and a keen eye on the social customs of the era.
Language
zh
Duration
~11 hours (652K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Vivian Chan
Release date
2017-05-21
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1867–1906
A sharp, energetic voice from the late Qing era, he used fiction and journalism to poke at social pretenses and official failures. Best known today for satirical novels, he helped shape modern Chinese popular writing at a moment of rapid change.
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