author
Can Lu
1494–1551
A Ming-dynasty writer remembered for lively storytelling, he blended history, anecdote, and the uncanny in ways that still feel vivid today. His surviving work opens a window onto the literary culture and curiosities of sixteenth-century China.
1 Audiobook
庚巳編
by Can Lu
About the author
Born in 1494 and dead in 1551, Lu Can was a Chinese author of the Ming dynasty, also recorded as Lu Ts'an and by the style names Ziyu and Junming. Library authority records identify him as having earned the jinshi degree in 1526, placing him among the educated scholar-official class of his time.
He is best known for Geng si bian (庚巳編), a collection of anecdotes and strange tales. Modern catalog and public-domain records describe the book as a gathering of narratives that mix history, folklore, and supernatural material, which helps explain why his writing can feel both learned and entertaining.
Lu Can is also associated with other literary works, including Lu Ziyu ji and Chun qiu Hu shi zhuan bian yi, showing that his interests reached beyond anecdotal writing. Even from the limited surviving records, he stands out as a writer whose work preserves the texture of Ming-era reading, storytelling, and belief.