Project Gutenberg 2008-01-01 Public domain in the USA. 303 Wu, Jianren 1866 1910 吳趼人 吴趼人 Wu, Woyao Wu, Chien-jen Wu, Yanren 二十年目睹之怪現狀 Er shi nian mu du zhi guai xian zhuang Produced by Che-Wei Hsu "二十年目睹之怪現狀" by Jianren Wu is a historical novel written in the late 19th century. Set in Shanghai, the narrative paints a vivid portrait of the city's bustling and often morally questionable atmosphere, highlighting the lives of its inhabitants, including a central character referred to as "死裡逃生" (meaning 'barely escaping death'). He grapples with his disillusionment after years of reckless living amidst the decadence and deceit that has overtaken what was once a pure and simple way of life. The opening of the story introduces us to the lively and chaotic backdrop of Shanghai, bustling with merchants, shady dealings, and a rise in corruption. We meet the protagonist, a young man who has lived in Shanghai for over a decade, originally partaking in the city's extravagant lifestyle but ultimately realizing the dangers and emptiness of such a life. After a series of near-death experiences due to treachery and betrayal, he decides to withdraw from this life and seek a sincere existence elsewhere. He encounters a man selling a peculiar manuscript titled "二十年目睹之怪現狀" and feels an unexpected kinship with the material, prompting him to undertake a journey of revival and redemption through the shared stories of others, which he hopes to publish and disseminate. (This is an automatically generated summary.) zh Chinese fiction -- Qing dynasty, 1644-1912 Short stories, Chinese PL Text Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction 1689639 1689582 2024-10-10T11:09:15.503715 2023-09-11T03:45:18.860152 text/html text/html 1689632 1689575 2024-10-10T11:09:15.884737 2023-09-11T03:45:19.025144 text/html text/html 763073 2024-10-10T11:09:24.309643 application/epub+zip 787277 2024-10-10T11:09:18.099677 application/epub+zip 787277 2024-10-10T11:09:16.766684 application/epub+zip 1533394 2024-10-10T11:09:29.194589 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1501720 2024-10-10T11:09:23.552625 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1478156 2022-09-11T08:23:02.738392 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1669848 2024-10-10T11:09:15.075674 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 1669696 2008-01-01T07:21:48 text/plain; charset=utf-8 700295 2008-01-01T07:21:50 text/plain; charset=utf-8 application/zip 19079 2024-10-10T11:09:29.321575 application/rdf+xml 8269 2024-10-10T11:09:17.364654 image/jpeg 2465 2024-10-10T11:09:17.044653 image/jpeg 748956 2024-10-10T11:09:16.023641 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog zh.wikipedia