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“Journey to the West” is probably the most famous and best-loved novel in China and is considered one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature. Its place in Chinese literature is roughly comparable to Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey in Western literature. Wikipedia sums up the book’s role perfectly, saying, “Enduringly popular, the tale is at once a comic adventure story, a humorous satire of Chinese bureaucracy, a spring of spiritual insight, and an extended allegory in which the group of pilgrims journeys towards enlightenment by the power and virtue of cooperation.”

Folk tales are immensely popular in China. Passed down orally over the centuries from grandparents and parents to children, they serve as an unwritten handbook for living in society. Within every Chinese folk tale is an underlying moral message derived from one of the three major schools of spiritual thought–Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.

The Last King of Shang is a retelling, in modern Chinese, of the classic novel Investiture of the Gods. It is a gripping story set in ancient China, weaving together mythology, magic, and heroism. It is a story of the rise and fall of powerful gods and mortals amidst a backdrop of political intrigue and celestial conflict. Seduced by Daji, his beautiful fox demon concubine, the Shang king brings his kingdom to the brink of ruin through cruelty and neglect.

These six wonderful folk tales are based on stories told by Norman Hinsdale Pitman in A Chinese Wonder Book, originally published in 1918. Pitman collected and published several collections of folk tales and other Chinese books. We have taken the liberty of retelling all six stories to be appropriate for a modern audience, and to use a limited vocabulary, most of which are in the standard 1200-word HSK4 vocabulary.

These four tales are based on very old stories collected and retold by Lin Yutang in Famous Chinese Short Stories, originally published in 1948. Lin wrote dozens of books in Chinese and English, and has been recognized for his witty and warm style of writing, and for bringing Chinese culture to an English-speaking audience. We have selected four of his best stories for inclusion in this book, and have retold them to appeal to modern listeners and use a limited vocabulary of just 700 different Chinese words.