Description
Book SynopsisContrary to the usual sympathetic image of Kang Youwei found in historical studies, The Big Cheat offers a starkly negative portrayal of Kang. Its author, Huang Shizhong, a late Qing revolutionary and prolific author of over 20 novels, depicts Kang as a lifelong master fraud. His attack on Kang sheds light on the reform-revolution divide featured in every narrative about the rise of modern China. Huang’s novel stands as a period testimony to the political and ideological struggles for China’s future during the last years of the Qing dynasty before it fell in 1912. This is the first English language edition of the novel, translated by Luke S. K. Kwong, who offers an extensive introduction contextualizing Huang's novel in historical perspective.
Table of ContentsTranslator’s Preface Notes on the Translation Translator’s Introduction Preface by Suogong [Lu Xin], Master of My Humble Abode 1 Scoundrel Kang Makes a Fool of Himself at the Academy; Savant Miao Composes His New Work at His Beijing Residence. 2 Crossing Paths with a Scoundrel Costs Miao Jiping His Manuscript; Failure to Become Academy Head Leaves Kang Youwei Distraught 3 The Phony Sage Obsessed with Fame Receives His Provincial Degree; Failed Exam Candidates Propose Banalities in Group Policy Petition. 4 Censor Yu Adamantly Rejects Any Contact with the Unbridled Scholar; The Shrewd Mama-Maid Boards the Ship to Go after the Unruly Drifter. 5 Pedant Kang Rhapsodizes about His Flight from Debt in Dreadful Poem; Censor An Bases His Impeachment of the Phony Sage on Reported Facts. 6 In Pursuit of Scholarship, Zhu Yixin Calls Attention to Historical Origins; His Life Abruptly Cut Short, Chen Qianqiu Goes Prematurely to His Grave. 7 His Commitment Shifts When He Writes a Letter to the Revolutionaries; Pretense to Transmit Doctrines Ends in a Moonlit Trek up a Barren Hill. 8 Talk of Sagely Doctrines Is Distracted by Festive Moods and Sights; For Money, Homecoming Enables the Fight to Become Bureau Chief. 9 Feud over Bureau Seal Ends in Provincial Degree-Holder Kang’s Beating; Sly Plot to Fool Master Weng Is Calculated to Get Entry into Officialdom. 10 Weng Tonghe Is Tricked into Proposing Nominations of Talented Men; The Qing Empress-Dowager Is Terrified to Hear of Talk of Policy Reform. 11 Acting on Slander, the Emperor Dismisses All Board of Ceremony Ministers; The Sorcerer Conjures Up Chaos inside Palace Chambers with His Memorial. 12 Kang Changsu Holds a Grudge in Plotting against the Empress-Dowager; Tan Sitong Is Tricked by False Pretenses into Going to the Imperial Capital. 13 An Impromptu Letter Is Written to Feign Commitment to Revolution; A Heartless Lie Is Told about the Secret Edict to Mobilize the Army. 14 He Flees from Danger Alone after Getting Others in Trouble; An Honorable Man Goes to Beijing-Tianjin for the Rescue. 15 His Actions Fuel Factional Strife and Implicate Others in a Capital Crime; Dinner Invitation Is Spoiled by Fear of an Associate’s Telling the Truth. 16 Harassing Maid-Servers at Minister’s Residence Is a Breach of Etiquette; Failure to Show Proof of Secret Edict Leads to His Expulsion from Japan. Appendix: Huang Shizhong’s Death Works Cited Glossary
