Li Ju-Chen


Li Ju-Chen

 

(also named Sung-shih). Born circa 1763; died circa 1830. Chinese writer and philologist.

Li Ju-chen was the author of the satiric novel Flowers in the Mirror (1828), which combined aspects of fantasy, the “scholarly novel,” and the travel novel. In this work he advocated women’s equality and criticized the pedantry of scholars who isolated themselves from life. Flowers in the Mirror is written in slightly archaic language, which borders on the colloquial. The few but expressive details impart a high degree of authenticity to the allegorical narrative. Li Ju-chen wrote the study on Chinese phonetics Mirror of Phonology and a number of essays.

WORKS

In Russian translation:
Tsvety vzerkale. Foreword by O. L. Fishman. Moscow-Leningrad, 1959.

REFERENCES

Semanov, V. I. Evoliutsiia kitaiskogo romana. Moscow, 1970. Pages 46–59.
“Hsü Shih-nien, Lüeh t’an, Ching hua yüan.” Chungkuo ku-tien hsiaoshuo p’inglun chi. Peking, 1957.
Chung-kuo wen-hsüeh shih, vol. 4. Peking, 1957. Pages 196–201.
Chung-kuo hsiao-shuo shih kao. Peking, 1960.